Under the watchful eye of a rose-crowned statue of Mary, the Meritage Hotel’s new underground spa, wine bar and event facility has opened for business.

Forty feet beneath both Mary and Napa’s notable Grapecrusher statue, visitors will find the 22,000 square foot Estate Wine Cave, divided into two elements.

The pampering portion of the cave is Spa Terra, a 9,000 square-foot, $7.5 million project including 10 spa treatment rooms, two couples therapy rooms for wet and dry treatments, steam grottos, soaking pools with water walls, a relaxation lounge and a menu of treatments and services with special options for men, teens and pregnant women. Lunch and wine service is also available.

Wine tasting and events will fill the other half of the Meritage’s underground facility, called the Estate Wine Bar.

At a recent grand opening event, the cave buzzed with the voices of hundreds of visitors, including developers, hotel guests, staff, community leaders and local artisans who helped excavate, build, plaster and design the cave itself.

“People are curious,” said Meritage spokeswoman Tori Wilder. They want to know, “A spa in a cave? How is that going to work?”

Dave Provost can tell you. Provost, president of Bacchus Caves, is the guy who literally dug a hole into the hill, excavating 15,000 tons of earth to create the cave. “This cave is insane,” he said, at the grand opening.

“Putting in Jacuzzis and steam rooms and locker rooms and showers underground is very unusual,” he said.

“The owner was great, they spared no expense doing this cave right,” said Provost.

The project took 11 months, he said. “It was by far the most involved project we’ve done.”

Brady Mitchell of Brady Mitchell Construction Inc. created the interior of the cave.

“The real challenge is that you’re confined to whatever’s been excavated,” he said. “You have to be flexible working within the space,” he said.

Jeff and Jason Luke of Luke Construction in Napa plastered the interior, designed to look like aged cave walls. It was an unusual project, said Jeff Luke. “You can’t tell the difference between the cave and the walls,” he said.

The plastering job was “not quite an interior but not quite an exterior. It had its own geometry and contours,” said Jason Luke. The brothers plastered 60,000 feet of interior space over three months. It was the biggest job yet for the three-year-old business. “It was definitely the most unusual,” said Jason Luke.

Meritage developer, Pacific Hospitality Group’s CEO Tim Busch graciously welcomed his guests at the grand opening. Busch, a Southern California attorney, businessman and philanthropist who owns a range of companies, said he’d always wanted to own a resort and winery in Napa Valley.

“I very much like the lifestyle of the hospitality business combined with wine, especially in the U.S. wine mecca of Napa,” wrote Busch in an e-mail. “Napa is a Europe in Northern California; charm, joy and relationships.”

Busch seemed genuinely appreciative of the local tradespeople who helped create this one-of-a-kind facility. He commissioned a 6x4 foot painting of himself with the main crew who worked on the cave.

“I wanted each to be proud of what they did,” wrote Busch.

Walking past the portrait, visitors encounter rounded archways that separate the echoing event facility from the tranquil Spa Terra.

Victoria Boscarino is the spa director. Boscarino, from Italy, said the rounded cave interiors give “a sense of being in a cocoon — you feel you are protected and connected to Mother Earth. It’s open and airy at the same time,” she said.

The cave certainly was cozy, not clammy or cold. Soothing music, aromatherapy, cashmere-like blankets and candles added to the relaxing effect. The rooms are decorated in “Old World Florentine” style, using wrought iron, brick and an earth-tone palette.

Built on an eight-acre private vineyard, the Meritage resort opened in July 2006. In addition to the Estate Wine Cave, the resort features 158 guestrooms, meeting facilities, and a private wedding chapel.

Next door are the Vino Bello timeshare residences. The Vino Bello is owned by Shell Vacations but jointly managed and serviced by the Meritage.

Pacific Hospitality Group, developer and manager of the Meritage resort, manages a portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts including the Crowne Plaza Anaheim Resort near Disneyland, Doubletree Hotels in Irvine and Santa Ana, and Havasu Inn at Lake Havasu in Arizona.

This article initially appeared in the May 26, 2007 Napa Valley Register