Review: Sensei Porcupine Creek

Why book?

Toeing the line between self-improvement sabbatical and bona fide vacation, Sensei Porcupine Creek is the ideal getaway for the chronically over-achieving: a place where real R&R is achieved proactively, through science and strategy, and in utter seclusion.

Set the scene

Another name for Sensei Porcupine Creek could be “Davos in the desert.” Formerly the private estate of tech wizard and Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, Sensei’s co-founder, this intensely secluded retreat hidden at the foothills of the Santa Rosa mountains (studded with monumental Robert Indiana and Keith Haring sculptures from Ellison’s personal collection, no less) feels destined to be the escape of choice for high-net-worth individuals: the kinds of progressive CEOs and other erstwhile C-suite execs you could imagine making impassioned speeches about paradigm shifts to their global staff, and who are choosing to approach their quest for rest and relaxation with the same vigor and intention—and desire for cold, hard data—as they do their daily work. Not only that, but these are folks who could be anywhere, and they expect to feel as comfortable and cared for here as they do at home, whether they’re in their rooms, at the gym, or by the pool. But beyond top brass and the corporate retreats that will surely follow, Sensei Porcupine Creek will also be a no-brainer for wellness-obsessed Angelenos, who can hop in a car and be poolside in under two hours.

The backstory

Only the second outpost for Sensei, this is the brand’s first true standalone property, and marks its debut in the continental United States. (Its first, Sensei Lānaʻi, A Four Seasons Resort, opened in 2019. Similar to Porcupine Creek, the island of Lānaʻi is largely an Ellison holding.) Ellison and his co-founder, the world-renowned oncologist Dr. David Agus, came together several years ago, when a close mutual friend was dying of cancer; the experience bonded them, and catalyzed a mutual desire to give people scientifically proven tools to live longer, healthier lives. Over the years, they’ve partnered on a few similarly motivated ventures together, including the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, where Dr. Agus is founding director and CEO, but the retreats are the sole consumer-facing project.

Underpinning these retreats is the Sensei Way, a highly personalized, three-pronged approach to wellness that invokes the tenets of movement, nourishment, and rest. You can do as much or as little in the vein of each of these as you like, with packages that you can customize to what you’d like to focus on, and can be dialed up or down in intensity. I was booked into a Guided Wellness Experience—a three-night minimum package that, in addition to two private sessions focusing on mindset, nutrition, yoga, or fitness, also included two spa treatments. Before I arrived, I completed a straightforward but fairly comprehensive pre–arrival questionnaire that asked about my habits, goals, and health issues, and was guided through activity selection by a pre-arrival call. Once I was on property, I met my Sensei guide, Tegan, a PhD in psychology, and we talked through my intentions and how I might activate each of the three tenets during my stay. (I’d go on to have two more sessions with her, to track my progress and shift my schedule or selections.) The base-level resort experience, Discover Sensei, doesn’t include the guided experience, but rather, daily wellness credits that can be applied to one-on-one sessions, lessons, and spa treatments (group classes are also included); after that is the Guided Wellness Experience, followed by the optimal wellbeing experience, which has a five-night minimum, and tennis- and golf-specific programs. (The tennis facilities, which include two hard courts and one clay court, were built to match the professional courts of the nearby Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which hosts the annual BNP Paribas Tennis Tournament.) All are meant to be customized experiences that draw on the science-backed expertise of certified professionals, including exercise physiologists, nutritionists, and even former pro athletes.

The rooms

Like all of the other spaces throughout the property, my one-bedroom standalone casita, set in a small courtyard beside the Estate House, felt at once intimate, bright, and open, marrying a sort of discreet, Japanese-influenced minimalism with bright California clean. Framed by a vaulted ceiling and two floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that doubled as windows, features appeared in a parade of luxe natural materials—stone, linen, cotton, wood—in soothing neutral tones of cream and white, oatmeal and brown. Light, both natural and artificial, was abundant. (Evidently, lighting designer Barbara Bouyea, who worked on the Lānaʻi property, spent 24 consecutive hours in each of the spaces at Sensei Porcupine Creek, tweaking the various settings and optimizing them to guarantee the most flattering light possible at all times of day.) In addition to light switches in each designated space, including the bedroom, walk-in closet, vanity, and bathroom, there was also a small remote to open and close the blinds of the two sliding glass doors. (Though, I would’ve loved to have been able to control all of the lights from a single remote or SmartPad, so that I didn’t have to get out of bed if, say, I turned off my bedside light but realized the closet lights were still on.) The king-size bed, kitted out in shimmery 600-thread count sateen sheets, custom-made in Italy, couldn’t have been more comfortable, and the air conditioning (which I slept with at a frosty 65 degrees, and raised during waking hours) was strong and quick to respond to changes. I also appreciated the reusable glass bottles of still and sparkling waters, which were used throughout the property—a chic and eco-friendly solution to the plastic bottle conundrum. The minibar wasn’t fully in place yet during my stay, but there are plans to fill them with gratis snacks and drinks, plus alcoholic options for an extra charge. Rooms from $1,130 per night.

In the bathroom, which felt more like a small spa than a place to perform the perfunctory acts of washing up, I was delighted to find a Toto toilet, hidden away in its own small stall, along with a teak Ofuro soaking tub, and a shower with three attachments: rainfall, regular, and handheld. The water pressure was good, and remained hot—and I liked how discreetly the shower water drained into the crevice where the tub is set, so that there were no visual interruptions. I was also positively giddy to have my own private hot tub out back, which no one else (barring maintenance) could reach or see—perfect for solo moonlight dips.

Food and drink

There are two dining options at the resort: the first is the Sensei by Nobu menu, a collaboration between Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Dr. David Agus that marries classic Nobu flavors with local ingredients. This partnership, which spans breakfast, lunch, and dinner, works well on a few levels. Not only is the food delicious (Nobu lovers rejoice: some of the restaurant’s beloved classics appear here, like the black cod miso and the rock shrimp tempura), but there’s enough range between offerings for guests to either keep things light, indulge, or coast somewhere in between. (Again, there are specialists here who can offer pointers about eating habits and help you to build an eating plan if you like, but there are no strict regimens to speak of.) It’s also completely exclusive; the dining spaces, including the sushi bar, the second option, are open only to guests of the resort. And lastly, lest you think room service and poolside meals are lesser experiences, think again: in both scenarios, dishes are delivered with the same panache, often revealed from beneath gleaming white cloches.

I tried almost every item on the menu during my stay, and was impressed by virtually everything that Chef “Weezy,” Seeun We, the resort’s South Korea-born executive chef cooked up—even and especially the breakfast dishes. (The jidori egg hot pot, a magic dish of fluffy steamed eggs topped with caviar, fried shiitake mushrooms, crème fraîche, and dashi, can’t be missed; nor can the kaya toast, a plate of lightly toasted Shokupan bread, layered with coconut jam, cut up into grilled cheese-like bites and served with an eggy white pepper soy dipping sauce.) Before heading to Rancho Mirage, We cut her teeth in Nobu kitchens around the world, including New York, Malibu, and Bodrum; at this outpost, she marries California-style cuisine with the Japanese and Peruvian influences Nobu is known for, incorporating local ingredients where possible. (Items like the date cake, for instance, use local dates, a boom crop in Palm Springs.) The head sushi chef, Takahiro Masuno, excels at his craft, and was a joy to chat with over dinner at the sushi counter. (Items from the sushi bar are available throughout the day, but dining in is dinner-only.) As it turns out, this is a sort of homecoming for Masuno, who was born in Japan but grew up in the Greater Palm Springs area. When he was offered the position, one of the first things he did was ask his mentor, an elder statesman of sorts, to work with him at the property; you can watch them work side by side, the student now the master.

The spa

“Rest” is one of the cornerstones of the Sensei experience—and one of the strongest expressions of this tenet is at the spa. There’s a substantial list of treatments from which guests can choose, from gua sha facials and reflexology to table Thai and Shiatsu; but what I found especially interesting about the treatments was the way each of my practitioners were in dialogue about my needs, and how it helped to inform my sessions in different ways. In my initial treatment session with my massage therapist Kaleo, for example, I divulged that I’d slept on my back weirdly a few weeks ago, and had a pain that would come and go; he then relayed that to Michelle, my yoga teacher, who was able to tailor our session to help stretch that part of my body.

I opted to try two different experiences—one, a slightly more traditional massage (albeit with some luxe upgrades), and the other a more targeted, tech-driven experience that utilized Sensei’s proprietary thermal mapping technology. In the first, a 90-minute calming body cocoon, Kaleo began with a short breathing exercise, then alternated between dry brushing different parts of my body, dribbling them with melted candle wax oil—a blend of shea butter, avocado oil, and coconut extract—and massaging it in. He wrapped me up from chest to toe, then ended with a short foot and scalp massage. I left feeling warm, sleepy, and completely loosened up.

The second, a thermal body mapping and massage, employed Sensei’s own thermographic technology. Using a standing, craned-neck gadget that vaguely resembles the one dentists use to x-ray your mouth, Kaleo created a heat map of my entire body, and was able to point out spots where the tissue was overactive; in the subsequent massage, he targeted them specifically, and reset the circulation around them. You rarely, if ever, get to actually see the problem areas of your body (unless something is so wrong with them that it requires an MRI) and generally, what you ask your therapist to work on in a massage is really only a best guess—so it was both fascinating and satisfying to see where my body was holding this tension, and feel it actively release.

The neighborhood/area

The resort is in an incredibly secluded pocket of Rancho Mirage, a city in the Greater Palm Springs area, about 20 minutes from the Palm Springs airport. The drive in—through arid strips of desert studded with date palms and strip malls, and through the Magnesia Falls Cove neighborhood, where angular, flat-roofed homes embody Palm Springs’s signature mid-century modern aesthetic—gives a great sense of place; but beyond architectural tours, vintage furniture scouting trips, and hikes on the neighboring San Jacinto mountain, there’s probably not much you’d be compelled to leave the property for (minus the nearby In-N-Out). The two best-known nearby resorts are probably L’Horizon Resort & Spa, which is less wellness, more mid-century high-design in Palm Springs proper, and the Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, right up the road, which is a more conventional resort experience with nearly 250 keys.

The service

Staff are kind but watchful, and always at the ready. Even the practitioners and professionals, including the yoga instructor and tennis teacher, offered to help me carry my belongings or accompany me as I walked from activity to activity. In some instances, I felt a bit too fawned over—having someone add sugar and milk to my morning coffee as I watched, embarrassed, for instance—and while it’s hardly something to complain about, I imagine the clientele that stays here will expect razor-sharp and anticipatory service, albeit dispersed in a slightly more low-key fashion. That said, I did appreciate how quick the experiences desk and its attendant specialists were to answer my texts, and how speedily they were able to assess requested changes to my schedule if I wanted to do something different (or not do anything at all!) and send things to my room, from extra water bottles to fresh towels.

What’s more, Sensei isn’t your standard hospitality brand—rather, it represents the confluence of the fields of science, technology, and hospitality—and while the hospitality staff largely come from leading hotel- and restaurant brands, the fleet of guides and practitioners who have been tapped to work here come from all walks. Maybe they’ve spent a decade running their own yoga studio, or have a PhD in psychology, or have served as a personal trainer for a high-profile clientele—so while they understand and can meet a high set of expectations, the delivery feels a little less conventional, in the best sense.

For families

The property is, in essence, adults-only—guests must be 16 and over. And while the experience is best-suited to grown-ups, it wouldn’t be entirely out of pocket to bring older teens here. There are a handful of multi-bedroom villas that can accommodate entire broods comfortably, and while parents might spend the day in one-on-one fitness training sessions and luxe spa treatments, teenagers can take tennis lessons from former pro Caroline Vis and lounge by the pool—and the whole posse can reconvene over dinner at Nobu, followed by an early-morning hike the next day. It wouldn’t be your conventional family getaway, to say the least—but it’s definitely workable for parents who need to juggle time for themselves and time with the family.

Eco effort

There are quite a few green initiatives around the property, including an all-electric fleet of golf carts, an irrigation system supplied by the resort’s own well, and the aforementioned glass water bottles, which guests can refill at stations across the property; but some of the more impressive undertakings include its partnership with the Rancho Mirage non-profit Bighorn Institute, through which it maintains a watering hole to support the flock of bighorn sheep that lives and grazes nearby, and its palm tree “retirement” area. When any of the more than 4,000 palm trees on property get older, and age out of their prime from a landscaping point of view, they can be relocated to one of three desert oases on the property. These areas mimic a natural desert oasis environment, where trees are clumped together and left to grow naturally, producing fruit and nourishing the local wildlife. The golf course, which stretches across nearly 75 acres, also uses a state-of-the-art drip irrigation system that works to minimize water use, while the landscaping across the property was carefully designed to incorporate plant life that can thrive in a desert environment and requires less water consumption.

Accessibility

All of the dining venues and wellness facilities (including the yoga and fitness pavilions and spa treatment rooms) are accessible from within the first floor of the Estate House and the surrounding grounds; the Estate House, along with the Casitas, offer ADA rooms. There are also chair lifts for the pool and hot tub.

Anything left to mention?

This was my first real wellness experience—something that, for many years, I considered a bit woo-woo and self-indulgent, an often-expensive, socially sanctioned form of navel-gazing. But I was pleasantly surprised by Sensei’s approach to wellbeing. There are no mandates about what you must do or eat, no cultish zealousness imparted by the various practitioners—only an experience guided by what you want or think you need, supported by a kind and capable staff. I tried things I’d never done before, including wall yoga—a rope-facilitated session that allowed me, for the first time, to truly feel like I nailed the Warrior II pose—and my very first tennis lesson, given by a former pro tennis player, no less—and still found time for good old-fashioned R&R at the beautiful pool and spa, followed by excellent meals. If I could go back in time, I’d probably spend more time poolside, on a plush lounge chair in one of the hidden, terraced alcoves; eating lunch in the shade, and being brought a steady stream of diet cokes and cold water, was certainly a high point.

I left with a Guide to Growth—a recap of what I’d done and the takeaways of my various sessions, written by my instructors, including, for example, stress-reduction strategies and breathing techniques I could use at home. I spent time in nature, I breathed fresh air, I pushed myself to try new things—and while I can’t say that I left feeling all-the-way well, I did leave feeling better. I think that’s the most that any wellness experience can really offer—the rest is up to you.