Mirbeau mixes spa experience, old-world splendor

The Mirbeau Inn & Spa takes inspiration from Claude Monet's artistic sensibility

In this story: 'We wanted warmth' Tailor-made experience Different seasons, prices Fine dining RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Gail O'Neill

SKANEATELES, New York (CNN) -- It's only a five-hour drive from New York City, but when you get to the Mirbeau Inn and Spa, you may feel like you've flown to France.

GALLERY Take a tour of Mirbeau

Here's a sampling of Mirbeau Inn & Spa's midweek prices, which are for double occupancy. They include a continental breakfast and full access to spa facilities. Weekend prices are higher. April 1-May 31 $195 to $285, or $800 for a three-room suite June 1-September 5 $295 to $385, or $1,100 for suite September 6-October 31 $195 to $285, or $800 for suite November 1-March 31 $160 to $220, or $800 for suite Contact Mirbeau at 851 West Genesee Street, Skaneateles, New York, 13152. Web site: www.mirbeau.com. Phone: (877)-MIRBEAU.

The 10,000-square-foot luxury spa, located 25 miles southwest of Syracuse in New York's Finger Lakes region, is named after Octave Mirbeau, an art critic and close friend of the painter Claude Monet.

In an area known for its storybook setting and 19th-century homes, the inspiration for Mirbeau is decidedly French.

"The whole concept here is to provide a setting which is much more like an estate -- a private estate that you would be coming back to, to visit a friend, or someplace you have visited and perhaps coming back to enjoy again," managing partner Gary Dower said.

'We wanted warmth'

Architect Andrew Ramsguard was charged with setting the tone, and he came up with a unique solution to give the new sanctuary -- which opened in May 2000 -- a feeling of old- world authenticity.

Salvaging lumber from a local, 19th-century barn that had recently been leveled, he recycled the wood, using it to trim the exteriors of the main house and guest cottages. The barn even made its way indoors, in the form of beamed ceilings.

"What we've seen different places was marble and brass and cold, and we wanted warmth, natural fibers, warm colors," said Mirbeau partner Linda Dal Pos. "That is something we found missing in other spas, so we really designed it more from a customer standpoint."

Tailor-made experience

When guests settle in at Mirbeau, they create their own spa experience.

An array of treatments is available to spa visitors

"We're not here to tell you `This is what you eat. This is how you relax. This is how you work out,'" Dal Pos said. "We will design it all around you. If you want to just work out in our active side of our spa, you're welcome to. If you don't want to burn a calorie while you're here, that's perfectly OK."

Of course, for type A personalities, Mirbeau does offer personal training sessions in a state-of-the-art fitness center, or you can take anything, from yoga to kickboxing in the motion studio. But if low-impact is more your speed, enter the inner sanctum to sample what American Spa Magazine calls one of the best new resort spas in the country.

"The majority of our guests are coming for a weekend getaway where they're really looking to get some relief out of their hectic lifestyle," spa director Darcie De Bartelo said. "I want our guests to leave with a sense of renewal."

Different seasons, prices

Spa guest William Blossom was expecting to do just that.

"You're catered to, it's luxurious, and it's just comfortable. Relaxing, and we need to relax. We don't relax enough," he said.

Prices vary depending on the season. "Life's Intermission," a three-night package, offers a chateau-style room with a fireplace, three 50-minute spa treatments, breakfast, lunch and a four-course dinner and a variety of health and fitness options. The package cost listed on the spa's Website at press time was $756 per person.

If you like that comfy bed or the extra-soft towel, the fine linens and fabulous goose down are all for sale as part of Mirbeau's retail program, as are many of the paintings.

Fine dining

The Mirbeau also is renowned for its restaurant, which Esquire magazine cited as one of the best new restaurants in the country.

Esquire magazine's John Mariani named the restaurant at Mirbeau "one of the top new restaurants in the country" in the December issue

"Every three months we change the menu, which gives a great ability to take advantage of the local New York State apple when it's in season, the venison when it's in season, the suckling pig when it's in season, and I think that really makes it a lot of fun for our diners and myself," executive chef Edward Moro said.

"In our kitchen we do something a little different. We try to do like balanced cuisine. We want to make a seamless experience to gives you healthy dining without you actually noticing it."

At Mirbeau, service is what keeps guests coming back for seconds.

"We've tried as hard as we can to take away every care, concern and worry that a guest may have while staying here. That is our goal, put simply," general manager Toby Franklin said.

"It's my belief that a guest will forgive a technical mistake, but they'll never forgive a bad-service attitude," he said. "And so we value personality to be far more important than experience because you can teach technique, but you cannot teach personality."

Frontier spirit meets high life in Jackson Hole
February 9, 2001
A Desert Rest for the Soul
January 4, 1997

New York State tourism
Mirbeau Inn and Spa
Skaneateles Chamber of Commerce

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.