Every golf marriage eventually arrives at the same negotiation. You want 18 holes. She wants a day where nobody asks her where the car keys are. Most resorts pretend to solve this with a "spa" that turns out to be a hotel room with a massage table and a scented candle. Sundara Inn & Spa in Wisconsin Dells actually solves it, and it happens to share a property line with one of the best public courses in the state.
Here is how our trip shook out. I teed it up next door at Wild Rock. My wife checked into Sundara with the girls, booked a signature treatment and stayed the night. By the time I walked off 18, she had reached a level of calm I have not seen since before we had kids. I had reached a level of three-putts I would rather not discuss.
Why Sundara Works
Sundara opened in 2003 on an 80-acre stand of pines off Canyon Road, a few minutes and a whole universe away from the waterpark chaos the Dells is famous for. The name is Sanskrit for beautiful, and the founders built it on the idea that the coasts should not have a monopoly on destination spas. Fair point. Nobody in Milwaukee or Chicago should have to fly to Arizona for a decent hot stone massage.
The rules are what make it. Sundara is adults only, 18 and up. Phones, smart watches and cameras are banned from the common areas. There are spaces for quiet conversation and spaces for no conversation at all. There are no day passes, so the only people walking around in robes are overnight guests and day guests who booked treatments. Translation: no bachelorette party shrieking at the pool bar. If your idea of a good time is a phone-free afternoon in a robe, this is your place. If your idea of a good time is checking the Packers score every eleven minutes, go play golf. Which brings us to me.
The Signature Treatment
The wife went with the Signature Body Polish and Massage, an 80-minute treatment built on Sundara's own product line. It starts with a Himalayan salt body polish, moves into a full-body massage and finishes with the signature shea butter, all made with ingredients native to the Dells area. It runs $265, plus a mandatory 20 percent service charge, so budget for it and do not act surprised at checkout.
If she wants the full production, the Elements Hydrotherapy Massage is the move: salt polish, a Vichy shower rinse, then a healing stone massage, 90 minutes for $275. The standard Sundara Signature Massage runs $195 for 50 minutes or $255 for 80, with the aromatherapy oil and pressure customized on the spot. One note for the guys: Sundara does not do deep tissue. If your back is wrecked from 36 holes, book the Arnica Massage, which is built for sore muscles, and leave the cracking to your chiropractor.
Every treatment should start with the Purifying Bath Ritual, which might be the best thing on the property. It is a five-step, self-guided circuit: a rainfall shower with a sandstone body polish, a rose and sandalwood steam room, a cool rainfall rinse, an essential oil hot pool with jets and a cold plunge. Repeat as needed. It is co-ed and silent, so bring a swimsuit and leave the small talk in the car. Show up an hour before your appointment and give the ritual at least 30 minutes.
Where the Girls Stayed
The play for a girls overnight is a Vanya Reserve. Vanya is Sanskrit for "in the woods," and these suites sit off on their own in the pines, connected to the main building by a skywalk so nobody has to put on real shoes to get to the spa. Each one has a king featherbed, a queen pullout and two twin pullouts, which means it sleeps six. There is a fireplace, a wet bar, a Kohler spa shower and the headliner: a screened-in balcony with a private outdoor hot soak and its own fireplace. Picture a group of women in robes, a bottle of wine and a hot tub in the trees, and you understand why I was not invited.
Couples should look at the GolfSide Reserves, which have the same setup with Wild Rock on the other side of the screen. Overnight guests get the run of the place from 8 a.m. on arrival day until 9 p.m. on departure day, so a one-night stay plays more like two days.
Beyond the suites, overnight guests get a heated infinity pool that stays open year-round, an indoor/outdoor pool with a swim-up bar and fire feature, a silent room, a meditation trail, hammocks and Trek bikes in season and a couple miles of private hiking trail. The Savanna Patio has six fire pits, which is apparently where the girls solved most of the world's problems.
Dinner in a Robe
Nava, the on-site restaurant, takes its name from the Sanskrit word for fresh and handles breakfast, lunch and dinner for registered guests. The dinner menu runs from wild-caught Alaskan halibut to braised short rib, with a plant-based spaghetti and "meatballs" for anyone keeping it clean. There is a full bar with spa cocktails, mocktails and fresh-pressed juices. You can eat in your robe. Make a reservation.
Where to Play: Wild Rock Golf Club
While she was in the steam room, I was standing on the sixth tee at Wild Rock, the highest point on the property, wondering how a course this good ended up next door to a spa. Wild Rock was designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, the same team behind Erin Hills, host of the 2017 U.S. Open. It opened in 2008, and Golf Magazine named it the No. 5 best new course of the year.
The routing winds through a former quarry, pine woods and old farmland, complete with a preserved red barn. The elevation changes are big, the forced carries are real, and from the tips it stretches to 7,414 yards. Play the tees your handicap deserves, not the ones your ego picked. The bentgrass greens come out of Wisconsin winters in great shape, which is more than you can say for most of us.
Sundara guests get 10 percent off Wild Rock tee times. Book online and mention it at the pro shop. If you finish with daylight and dignity left over, the Woods is a nine-hole, par 31 short course on the same property.
Staying longer? Trappers Turn and its 27 holes are a few minutes away, and Sand Valley is about an hour north if you want to turn a spa weekend into a full Wisconsin pilgrimage.
After the Round
Once the wife has been fully restored and you have been fully humbled, the Dells has plenty for the evening. Field's at the Wilderness is a classic Wisconsin supper club with a serious wine cellar, which means a brandy Old Fashioned before dinner is not optional. Wollersheim Winery, a short drive south in Prairie du Sac, dates to the 1840s and pours a Prairie Fume worth taking home. And if you want to lose money in a way that does not involve a 3-wood, Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells is a few minutes down the road.
The Verdict
Is Sundara the best golf and spa getaway in Wisconsin? For couples where one person golfs and the other wants absolutely nothing to do with golf, I have not found a better setup. You get a Hurdzan and Fry course across the property line, she gets a nationally recognized spa where nobody is allowed to take a phone call, and everybody meets at the fire pit at sunset. It is not cheap, and that 20 percent service charge stings a little. But compared to flying to Scottsdale, it is a bargain, and you are home in time for Monday.
Book the spa treatments when you book the room. Weekends fill up fast, and you do not want to explain to the girls why they got the Tuesday 8 a.m. slot.
