Favorite Hotels: The Mayflower Inn & Spa

A Journey to the Mayflower Inn & Spa

On the eve of the holiday season last November, I received an unexpected and delightful gift: an invitation for an overnight stay at The Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT. This visit was part of the launch of a new wellness program called the Joy of Wellbeing by Auberge Collection. The timing was perfect. My shoulders were already tense with stress, so the idea of a quick yet restorative country escape felt like a warm, sage-scented hug. Days later, I packed a tote and headed north for 24 hours of deep rest and spiritual centering.

The century-old Mayflower is a two-hour drive from New York City, and the last 45 minutes of the journey resemble a Grandma Moses painting come to life. Winding past dazzling foliage, cherry-red farmhouses, pointy white church steeples, and frost-covered hills felt like traveling back in time. Pulling into the inn’s crunchy gravel driveway and stepping out to the smell of crisp country air and burning firewood only added to the nostalgic charm. The 30-room property, distinguished by its classic gray shingles and sloping gambrel roofs, sits on 58 forested acres and exudes bucolic, New England charm (squint and you could be in Old England, too). There are three cottages holding guest rooms; a main house with two restaurants; and a minimalist 20,000-square-foot spa, the Retreat, that whispers quiet luxury and feels like the set for a streaming drama starring Nicole Kidman.

A Transformation of Elegance

Just as actresses get glow-ups, so do hotels. In 2018, the Mayflower joined the ultraluxe Auberge Collection, and in 2020, it underwent a transformation by interior design star Celerie Kemble. She reimagined the historic property, which was built in 1894 as a private boys’ school and converted into an inn in 1920, from top to bottom in her fresh and feminine way. Traditional Colonial rooms were updated into serene cocoons filled with botanical-print fabrics and wall coverings, paper flower arrangements, and layers of warm lighting.

An Evening of Connection and Comfort

The evening began with cocktails and mocktails with my fellow joy seekers in the Parlour, a saffron-hued sitting room with a crackling fire. We then dined on the enclosed porch off the inn’s main dining room. The glowing room buzzed with a mix of guests and locals enjoying seasonal, locally-sourced dishes from chef Luke Dowdy, a Jean-Georges alum. After my warm grain salad with autumn vegetables, succulent roast chicken, and warm fruit crumble, I dashed through the chilly night to my room in a nearby cottage and sank into a dreamless sleep, too tired to even reach for my ear plugs and eye mask.

A Morning of Reflection and Growth

The next morning, after breakfast in the sun-drenched dining room, we convened at the spa for a guided meditation with a local teacher named Gemma Gambee Lewis, followed by the main event: tapping into joy with best-selling author and spiritual teacher Gabby Bernstein. Her latest book is calledSelf Help. Seated on low cushions in our loose yoga clothes, we closed our eyes as Bernstein guided us in her direct, down-to-earth way to imagine what was getting in the way of our contentment. Holding our figurative hands, she invited us to look at the obstacle, really look at it, and to make peace with it—to consider it already cleared from our path.

I couldn’t possibly replicate her teachings here, but let’s just say that tears flowed, deeply-ingrained fears were voiced, and we ended the workshop thoroughly grounded, with a collective sense of newfound clarity. I’m at a major crossroads in my life, and relief washed over me as I realized that I can take my white-knuckled hands off the wheel sometimes—that autopilot, or doing less, could actually be my salvation.

A Spa Experience for Deep Relaxation

How to seal in all this good stuff? With a spa treatment called the Deep Calm, of course. Per the description, this massage begins by activating the vagus nerve (the longest nerve in the system that connects your brain, heart, and digestive system) so that “muscles soften, breath returns, and the mind begins to release long-held patterns of vigilance.” I floated off to la la land for 90 minutes and stirred back to life in perhaps the Mayflower’s most famous space: the Retreat’s relaxation lounge. The one area that—thankfully, and for good reason—did not get an update in 2020, it’s a soaring room filled with deeply squishy white arm chairs that hold you like a baby while you sip tea and gaze at the woods through a wall of massive windows.

Part of me dreaded heading back to the city after this, but another part of me felt energized and ready to go. Ready for just about anything, in fact.