The Essex Resort & Spa

The Essex Resort & Spa in Essex Junction is built around food — it houses a cooking academy alongside the lodging and spa, which is an unusual combination and the property’s defining feature.

Essex Junction sits just east of Burlington in the Champlain Valley, close enough to the city to be practical and far enough to feel rural. The Winooski River runs nearby, and the Green Mountains rise to the east.

Resort spas generally offer thermal facilities alongside treatments — sauna, steam, and somewhere to rest — arranged so guests can use them around other activities rather than as a single booked appointment. The scale exceeds what a standalone day spa can manage, and the hours run longer because the property does.

Vermont’s climate gives heat therapy a different weight than it carries in milder places. From November to March the state is cold and dark, and a hot room stops being a luxury and becomes something closer to maintenance. This is the climate northern bathing cultures were built for.

Confirm whether spa access is available to non-residents and whether thermal facilities require a treatment booking.