Spa day in Vals, Switzerland

Guests go for a dip in the spa’s outdoor pool. Its designer, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, wrote this about Therme Vals: “Our spa is no fun fair with the latest technical gadgets, water games, jets, sprays and slides but focuses on the quiet, primary experience of bathing, cleansing, relaxing ... the feeling of water and physical contact with primordial stone.”  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

Clouds obscure the mountain near Therme Vals. The midcentury modern hotel, left, is connected to the spa by an underground tunnel. The expanse of grass is actually the roof of the spa — part of the architect’s plan to incorporate the natural into his design.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

From the outside, peeking into Zumthor’s beautifully realized vision of water and stone. Guests at Therme Vals’ hotel have exclusive access to the spa for part of the day; the rest of the time, anybody can use it.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

The picture windows in the lobby bar at the spa offer breathtaking views of the Vals Valley, which is popular with skiers in winter and hikers in summer. Blessed with a hot spring rich in calcium sulfate and hydrogen carbonate, Vals has long attracted health-seekers.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

Stone-roofed barns dot the landscape near the spa. Water and stone are all around the Vals Valley, factors that influenced architect Zumthor’s design. He explored the materials at hand, chiefly gneiss, and experimented with different ways of cutting it, including massive ceiling blocks with skylights and polished planks for flooring.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

The Hotel Therme has accommodations in several buildings, all near the spa, but the most desirable ones are in the spa’s midcentury modern building, where the rooms are known as temporaries and feature a sparse decor — a bed, a chair and not much more.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

While at the spa, sample the locally bottled Valser water. According to a book about Therme Vals, taking the water in ancient times was a ritualized affair. It included washing in a spring, drinking the water and sleeping, a phase the Romans called incubatio.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)

At Therme Vals, dining is formal in the appropriately named Red Room. Too fancy? The less formal Restaurant Chessi, situated in a building below the spa, offers moderately priced pasta dishes and local fare. There is also a bar in the main building that serves sandwiches and salads.  (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)