The Cranwell Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, is undergoing a transformation – as well as a renaming.
The 380-acre resort on a hillside above Route 20 is in the midst of its most radical change since its original structures were built in the 19th Century. It all began when the Hyatt Corporation and its Miraval spa subsidiary bought the property for over $20 million in 2017.
“This property is a historic property, obviously, and as it has started to unfold, we’re building the new Miraval spa," said Luke Bloom, the resort’s program director. He spoke with WAMC in September after a hard hat tour of the new construction.
“The renovation stuff that we have just gone over inside of the building here and inside of the mansion started about a year ago or so, and was just recently completed, so the mansion is now coming back online and restored to its meticulous glory in its historic way, and that transformation, again, has been happening simultaneously when building the new Miraval,” said Bloom.
Cranwell will be third Miraval spa location, joining Tucson, Arizona, and Austin, Texas. Bloom says it will include a new state of the art, 30-room facility.
“We have a mind, body, wellness center which will house our yoga programming, a lot of our consultation rooms that will have some sound therapy booths in it – so acoustic rooms for crystal bowl healing and sound therapy type stuff,” he told WAMC.
There will also be a new fitness center for exercise and nutrition programming.
“And then over on the west side is all going to be outdoor programming, so we have a brand new equestrian center with 120 by 60 foot riding arena, we have a new ropes course going in across the street, developing a lot of lake and paddling programs, trail system over," said Bloom. "We have an apiary, a sustainable farm and garden.”
Outside of the physical renovation, Cranwell’s brand is about to shift with a new name along with its new owners – one that harkens back to its iconic, Tudor-style mansion’s origins in the Gilded Age.
“Although Cranwell has been here for a long time, Wyndhurst was the original name of this mansion and this manor, and keeping to its historic roots was, we thought, very important, particularly for this community,” Bloom explained.
The new, revamped Cranwell – well, Wyndhurst – is set for a soft opening in spring 2020, a bit later than the Miraval website’s statement that “the journey begins Winter 2019.”
“We’ll be employing a tremendous amount of people here, and ramping up to that, we’ll start that hiring process, probably three to four months out before our opening date,” said the program director.
Bloom says the process hasn’t been without its holdups.
“Anytime you’re constructing in New England, there’s going to be hurdles," he told WAMC. "Any time you’re renovating a property that has historic value – it was built in the 1800’s – up to modern code, there’s going to be hurdles. So I think logistically, some of those things have been challenging, but we’ve got a great team that’s taking care of it.”
Despite that, the new, Hyatt-owned vision of the Berkshire resort is aiming for nothing less than national prominence.
“It’s going to be one of the crown jewels in the country when it’s all said and done," said Bloom. "It’s been a bit of a process getting through it, but we’ve had great support for the town, we have great support for the community, and the fact is it’s going to be well earned by the time it’s all said and done. This is going to be a crown jewel. It’s going to be beautiful.”
