Some hotel restaurants are so good, guests will want to stay the night just so they can eat there again the next day. That's certainly true of Baron of Beef, the restaurant at Echo Canyon Spa Resort in Sulphur. Though the only people allowed to eat here are resort guests, owners Joseph and Carol Van Horn have created an experience so inviting that visitors would love it even without the restaurant.

Inside and out, Echo Canyon Resort Spa in Sulphur is built with relaxation in mind. Photo by Lori Duckworth

The Van Horns are both chefs, so it's little wonder they've made their business so food-forward. While Joseph has passed the cooking duties to the staff, he's still extremely focused on Echo Canyon's cuisine.

Choices only add stress. Baron of Beef alleviates all that by giving diners everything. Photo by Lori Duckworth

Dinner begins with an intoxicating blend of hibiscus peach juice, to which guests can add champagne for a stone-fruit mimosa of sorts. The combination is so tasty that diners sometimes get a pitcher of juice and a bottle of bubbly to make their own back in the room.

Guests at Baron of Beef are served all three of that evening's entrées, so there's no point worrying about choosing among a light, flaky Alaskan halibut filet covered with cream sauce, a fork-tender ten-ounce beef filet topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions, and a smoky roasted duck breast glazed in a sauce made from plums grown on the property.

Whether beef, duck, chicken, or elk, the restaurant only brings in cuts that are guaranteed to have excellent texture so the staff can concentrate on bringing out the best flavors possible. And with desserts like a lemon zing cake topped with blackberry sauce and chocolate truffle cake, the need to conserve at least a little space is vital. But if someone is still somehow hungry after such a bountiful meal, the kitchen in the manor building stays open twenty-four hours a day and is stocked with complimentary snacks and drinks.

Decadent desserts are the norm at Baron of Beef inside Echo Canyon Resort Spa in Sulphur. Photo by Lori Duckworth

With fifteen rooms including a multi-bed suite that's popular for a ladies' weekend, even a full house at Echo Canyon is far from cramped. Visitors enjoy the pool; playing table tennis; wandering among the fruit-bearing peach, apricot, fig, and banana trees; downing a libation at the bar; or laying down for a Haleakala Blitz massage in the Aloha Spa. Most rooms have king-sized beds, and all fifteen have high-end mattresses that swallow sleepers in a cocoon of comfort; amenities like fresh flowers, chocolate-covered strawberries, a sprinkling of rose petals, bottles of wine, and in-room jacuzzi tubs large enough for two and filled with the bromide water that put Sulphur on the map.

Get pampered into a state of bliss at the Aloha Spa. Photo by Lori Duckworth

Staying in a bad mood at Echo Canyon Spa Resort isn't impossible, but the Van Horns and the staff are working hard to make sure it's as improbable as it can be.

"This is Happyville," Joseph says. "We want everyone to be happy and not kill the mood for everyone else."

Written By

Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.