Girls’ Spa Getaway to Excelsior Springs, MO

I don’t know about you but visiting a REAL spa – where you wear the robes and spend the day and get truly pampered – has been on my dream vacation list for years. It finally happened and it was glorious!

My cousin, Jennie, went to The Elms Hotel and Spa with some friends and suggested it as a weekend getaway for her, her sisters, me and our moms. It took us about .5 seconds to jump on board, haha!

How Do You Get to The Elms Hotel and Spa?

The Elms is in Excelsior Springs, MO – literally just outside of Kansas City on the northeast side. It’s a piece of cake to get to. The town is small and quaint and the roads are twisty and windy, but that makes it different and fun.

They all live in Nebraska, I live in Texas now, so it was a good meeting spot. They left from the Omaha metro area so it was a short drive – just over 3 hours. Not bad at all! I-29 straight south, turn East on Hwy 69 and bam! You’re there.

It was about 8 hours for me but you know I love a road trip so I was all about it (give me all the podcasts & audiobooks!). I had several different routes I could take. On the way there, I went to Joplin and took I-49 North. On the way home, I had more time and wanted a more scenic route so at Joplin, I went South towards Fayetteville and Fort Smith and drove through Arkansas. I 1000% recommend. NW Arkansas is so beautiful.

Where to Stay in Excelsior Springs

While I titled this post a spa weekend in Excelsior Springs, it’s basically a post about The Elms Hotel and Spa. So, naturally, that is where you will be staying, haha! I can’t say enough how beautiful this old hotel is. It’s historic and charming but isn’t frumpy or dumpy in the slightest. It’s been well maintained.

All of the rooms are slightly different, which I love. We had three rooms, and some had a bigger living room, some had a bigger bar/kitchenette area, and some had a bigger bedroom or bathroom. We all loved that!

The original structure was destroyed twice so this version was built in 1912. The marble in the lobby is hand-laid Italian marble that took a year and a half to lay! It honestly felt like I was stepping into a lodge in Upstate New York.

You do not have to leave the hotel for anything. There is a restaurant on-site, a coffee shop, 3 hot tubs, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, seating on the terraces, a lounge, and of course, event rooms.  There was a corporate party there on Friday night and a wedding there on Saturday. Both looked really fun and it was the perfect venue for them!

The Elms Spa

The spa is located in the basement. There’s a cute little gift shop and someone checks you in and then gives you the tour. There’s a grotto you can enjoy before/during/after your spa treatments with its own hot tub, cold plunge shower, a dry sauna and a steam sauna.

We each picked our own spa services but then my cousin called them and they were able to get it so we all started at the same time and we even received a 10% group discount since there were six of us. Some of us picked two treatments and some three.

I started with a 50-minute CBD massage – it was wonderful. So relaxing and the massage therapist was great about asking beforehand about pressure and pain points. Then I enjoyed an 80-minute Fountain of Youth facial. It was divine. I almost fell asleep numerous times. And my last treatment was a 50-minute hanakasumi body ritual.

I didn’t know what a body ritual was exactly, but I wanted the full spa treatment. The massage therapist rubbed me down with oil and then used exfoliating gloves to buff me and then finished with a cocoa butter back massage.

I left there feeling like jelly. It was amazing. I started at 9am and finished at 1pm. Everything about the spa was top-notch. The robes were plush, the sandals were comfy, the snacks and drink options were yummy. It was exquisite! There are no phones allowed in the spa, so no pics, but it made it so relaxing.

Where to Eat in Excelsior Springs

The first night we were there, we ate at the on-site restaurant. We made a reservation since there were six of us. I don’t know if it’s required, but probably a smart thing to do to be safe. They offer a wide variety of food options, some of us got salmon, some got steak, and some got lobster ravioli. They had a nice selection of wine, and the environment was fun. We had a great dinner!

For breakfast, some of us ate breakfast at the restaurant and they said it was good. I just grabbed a pastry or coffee at the coffee shop in the lobby. Their coffee was really good (I had the iced mocha every time) and the Nutella croissant was bomb.

We got food to go from the pool bar and lounge a few times – all of it was good! We did venture out a few times too.

Dubious Claims Brewery is about three blocks away and a really fun atmosphere. I had a flight and we shared pizzas and nachos. Our favorites were the Mango Town and Raspberry Wheat beer and the Full Keg pizza. The staff was friendly, and it was a fun way to spend a Friday evening.

On Saturday, we had a lunch reservation at the Willow Spring Mercantile – dayumm! That place was delish! It gets really busy at lunch so you definitely should make a reservation. The upstairs is a gift shop full of different wine, beer, spirits and then fun gifty items like dish towels with funny sayings and wood snack boards. The restaurant is downstairs.

They offer typical lunch items, but the ingredients are fresh and just so dang good. I had the margherita flatbread pizza, three of us had half a sandwich and salad and two of us shared the charcuterie board. That thing was done up right! A little loaf of fresh bread, the Quark cheese is a German cream cheese and combined with the peach pepper jam was perfect. We were able to grab both upstairs before we left. This is a must-try place!

What to Do in Excelsior Springs

If you like to experience nature or get out for a morning run, we got up on Friday and drove to Watkins Woolen Mill State Park. It was a really pretty park – lots of trees, trails, a river running next to it. We walked the trails for about 30 minutes and it was a nice way to start the day!

There’s an exciting feature we didn’t know about at the hotel - it’s rumored to be haunted! It was even featured on SyFy’s Ghost Hunters in 2013. So, naturally (or should I say supernaturally, haha), we had to take the Paranormal Tour. It’s $20/person and you need to sign up in advance. We just signed up that afternoon at the front desk. It’s about 45 minutes and we didn’t experience anything spooky ourselves but the tales retold were interesting and fun!

We reserved Saturday for wine tasting and shopping. After our lunch at the Mercantile, we wandered the antique shops and boutiques downtown. Grace Wins is a hidden gem of a home décor store with reasonably priced, unique finds with a Magnolia vibe.

The first winery we went to was Fence Stile Vineyards and Winery. It’s a beautiful facility with a large inside area with a long counter for tastings and plenty of seating. You can make reservations – we didn’t – but it would probably be a good idea because it was pretty busy. There’s also a nice outdoor covered patio and they had live music. It was hot when we were there in early June but there was a nice breeze and we sat outside with some pineapple sangria (highly recommend!) and listened to the acoustic guitar singer. The wine was good and there was a nice variety of blends to try.

Then we headed over to Four Horses and a Dog. The building isn’t as large and it was packed! We did get lucky and get a table on the outside covered patio. The lady that helped us was super friendly and knowledgeable and was able to point us towards some of their wines we might like based on our taste. But honestly, the peach bellini was my favorite here, so good! And the raspberry wine spritzer was really good too. They also had picnic buckets – a snack tray that you build yourself. It was really fun to snack, drink good drinks and listen to the live music.

Every afternoon/evening we hung out at the pool. It was big enough that it never felt crowded and people in the Midwest are so nice, we made lots of new friends. There is a hot tub on each edge of the pool and another hot tub off to the side. It was blazing hot so we didn’t use them but plenty of people were.

The Perfect Girls’ Getaway!

If you’re looking for a spot in the Midwest to go with your girls, this is it! Or for a couple’s weekend – there were several couples there too. What I loved the most about it was that it felt like I was somewhere really different, special. Yet it was convenient to get to and enough variety of things to do we were never bored but also left feeling really relaxed. I’m so glad we went and hope you check it out too!

If you’re looking for other options for a girls’ weekend, check out this bestie trip to a Cranberry Bog - it was a blast!

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