As travelers look for more ways to experience wellness on their journey, hotels are continually inventing new experiences, classes, technology and even entire floors devoted to your wellbeing while traveling. Here are some of our favorite choices for a happy and healthy 2022 out on the road.
Maldivian Immersion
The Maldives has welcomed its first nature immersive wellbeing retreat, JOALI BEING. This debut retreat offers a transformational journey to “weightlessness” on the secluded island of Bodufushi in Raa Atoll.
Drawing on both modern science and long-honored traditions, guests are led on a guided journey of self-discovery and renewal. At the center of the retreat’s curated offerings and transformative experiences lies the Four Pillars of JOALI BEING – Mind, Microbiome, Skin and Energy – used as a guide to personalizing each individual’s journey.
With 68 beach & over-water villas, a few highlights include:
Immersion programs that are designed to rebalance the Four Pillars with a customized journey tailored towards areas of strength and vitality, mental clarity and wellbeing, hormonal balance, women’s health, as well as movement and alignment for good health + immunity.
A focus on sustainability, designed with a commitment to preserving, respecting and connecting with the local landscape, built using Biophilic design principles – allowing the island’s wild forest to remain untouched. They are also home to a turtle conservation sanctuary as well as a Reef Restoration Project and coral nursery.
Expert practitioners, including a dedicated team of naturopaths, therapists, nutritionists, and movement experts that work with guests every step during one’s stay to help set intentions, nurture with empathy, and co-create moments of transcendence.
A culinary arts program with a focus on an Earth-to-Table initiative and offerings expertly curated alongside nutrition experts, bespoke dining destinations, personalized nutrition sessions, co-created menu recommendations and interactive nutritional cooking classes
Up to the Wellness Floor
As one of the world’s epicenters for looking and feeling your best, at the celebrity haven of Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, only a full Wellness Floor would do.
On the new floor, you will find a spa, wellness guestrooms and suites, a private fitness suite, WELL office, fitness center and a lobby-level wellness meeting room.
What makes this wellness floor so great? How about room amenities such as guided meditations narrated by Deepak Chopra, sulfate-free bath amenities by LATHER, and Alo Yoga equipment for a start. You’ll also find Rabbit air purification systems, energizing light to aid with regulating circadian rhythm, water de-chlorinators and purification systems, hypoallergenic wood floors, and sound machines. The floor also features a treadmill, Hydrow rowing machine, Peloton bike, medicine ball and weights, and a Soul Cycle bike.
Also recently launched at the spa is the Eco-luxury Organic Ayuna Facial which is based on well-aging techniques and green technology. Ayuna products are made with 100 percent natural, non-toxic ingredients that deliver youthful results in a safe way while focusing on hydration, firming and purifying concerns. Highlights include starting with a cleaning bar, before a cream-in-oil peel, sculpting massage and ending with a volcanic mask.
Sports Performance Packages
Leading wellness brand Sensei, just launched two new sports performance packages in January 2022 under the already successful Optimal Wellbeing Program (OWP), which launched earlier in 2021.
Golf and tennis enthusiasts can travel to the secluded Hawaiian wellness retreat, Sensei Lānaʻi, a Four Seasons Resort, founded by Larry Ellison and Dr. David Agus, with the goal of helping people live longer healthier lives. This secluded, tranquil location is where you can enhance overall health and wellbeing while honing in on strengthening your game through a highly tailored itinerary designed by Sensei Guides and sports instructors and utilizing data captured by the WHOOP band. As with the original, the Golf and Tennis Optimal Wellbeing Programs leverage technology to track and analyze each guest’s unique health data, as well as consultation with exercise physiologists, nutritionists and mindfulness coaches and other practitioners. This data is then layered in with additional golf and tennis performance metrics through detailed video analysis and instruction.
Discover Your Energy Flow
This February, Auberge Resorts in Costa Rica will focus on the elevated state of human experience and performance that comes from being truly connected with your body at an immersive retreat, Find Your Energy Flow with Dr. John Amaral runs from February 6 to 11, 2022. In this exclusive experience at THE WELL at Hacienda AltaGracia, guests will be guided in daily body and energy work to both create and sustain new levels of energy, clarity and fulfillment. Whether you are working through physical limitations, navigating emotional blocks or looking to deepen your spiritual connection, this curated offering of sessions and activities are designed to help you experience transformation across your mind, body and soul.
Yoga in the Jungle
Careyes in Mexico is bringing back its popular Visiting Yoga Practitioner Program through mid-April 2022. Many are Alo Yoga Ambassadors, and all are incredible instructors. The yoga sessions are conducted in the beautiful Casa Corazon jungle studio villa and range from chakra healing dance to meditation and breathwork.
Wellness Amid the Vines
The Meritage Resort & Spa and sister property Vista Collina Resort in Napa, California feature Spa Terra in the heart of wine country. This spa is positioned underground in the Estate Cave, a 22,000-square-foot enclave with stunning copper and stone water walls. In addition, you can embark on vineyard yoga hikes on Saturdays ending at the “Crusher” statue atop the hill, then trek down to the vineyard deck for stretching and meditation, while taking in the panoramic views of the valley – and, of course, a glass of wine can also be arranged. Guests can start the new year feeling refreshed and rejuvenated with the Renew, Revive, and Rejuvenate Retreat, three-day wellness escape from Jan. 21 to Jan. 23, featuring a tailored schedule of wellness evenings including sound healing, chakra balancing, yoga, meditation, sage healing, health-focused foods and more.
Casinos and Body Wraps
Atlantic City, NJ is probably the last place on your mind for wellness escape but the two-story Immersion Spa at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa provides personalized services for a transformative detox. The space is complete with lounges, steam rooms, lap pools, and 16 luxurious experience rooms. This location provides guests with the “cosmopolitan lifestyle” with 360-degree views of the city seen through floor-to-ceiling windows from the spa’s lap pool and fitness center. New treatments include the Teatox Body Treatment, an Earl Grey detoxifying body wrap, followed by a Vegan Activated Charcoal Coconut Tea Masque, and finishing off with a 50-minute Swedish Massage. The Egyptian Milk and Honey Body Float, a deep moisturizing treatment using high-quality oils and goat milk-based moisturizing creme while guests lie and “float” weightlessly on a soft pack table and the Moor Mud Body Float, a deep tissue massage treatment following a mineralized mud exfoliation treatment.
And, another famous gambling destination, Las Vegas, now holds one of the top spas on the planet with rituals from around the globe thanks to Resorts World Las Vegas .
Awana Spa actually offers the first and only Art of Aufguss Treatment in the U.S. This experience features a 30-minute themed theater program in a heated room with aromatherapy, choreographed music, lighting and even dancing towels.
You can also book a “passport,” which includes a two-hour journey of exploration across six vitality pools and the Fountain of Youth which also houses a heated Crystal laconium room, tepidarium chairs, and the experiential Rain Walk. The LED screens transport guests to various picturesque destinations.
For a bachelorette-bachelor party weekend or birthday bash, book the Foot Spa Lounge which can be reserved for up to 20 people. The therapies concentrate on specific ailments such as jet lag, sleep health, muscle recovery and whatever is ailing you.
Float Away at Ocean Spa
We found one of the most unique wellness experiences at Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands – one of the only floating spas in the world. Located in the Ocean Spa where the all-encompassing treatments take place as you float along on the water barge style spa. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irma destroyed the original location, however many of the materials used to build the new spa were salvaged and are now afloat near Jost Van Dyke’s White Bay Beach. As owner Dale Mapp has said, “Beauty comes in many forms and out of the most-dire circumstances. Storms don’t always come to disrupt our lives, they come to clear a path for us.”
Raindrop Therapy
If you are embarking on a trip to El Dorado Seaside Palms In the Riviera Maya region of Mexico, you might be in search of nearby Tulum ruins, but you can also take a journey of the mind, body, and spirit at Náay Spa. Built on the Mayan principles of Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind, each treatment is personalized with unique ingredients and aromas for a truly enlightening experience. Try the Raindrop Holistic treatment, where guests are immersed in an Ayurvedic “Raindrop” therapy. Rich with a variety of therapeutic benefits, guests will undergo a series of relaxing massage techniques paired with plant synergies concentrated in nine different scents ranging from cypress, wintergreen, basil and mint.
Winter Wellness
After a day on the slopes at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, take the winter-wonderland experience into the spa with new, elevated après ski activities and treatments tailored to help soothe your muscles and your mind. You can add the copper tub experience to any treatment, which includes a ‘journey through the forest’ with a blend of native essential oils designed to release deep stress and tension while stimulating your immune system, or a chocolate facial loaded with antioxidants.
Hopping Hot Springs
A longtime SoCal desert escape, Greater Palm Springs, has long served as a wellness haven as well. Desert Hot Springs is home to some of the purest hot and cold mineral springs in the world, thanks to an underground aquifer beneath the city.
New in the area is Azure Palm Hot Springs Resort & Day Oasis which opened this past spring, offering 40 overnight accommodations, including spa suites with private mineral spring tubs, as well as fresh-flowing geothermal mineral pools with the San Jacinto Mountains as the backdrop.
Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells just unveiled a $9 million renovation this January. With a commitment to wellness, the resort’s award-winning WELL Spa offers 9 treatment rooms with specialty treatments inspired by the surrounding desert, eucalyptus-infused steam rooms, outdoor meditation dens and hot and cold-soaking pools.
Later in 2022, the city of Rancho Mirage will welcome Sensei Porcupine Creek, which will convert a 230-acre private estate into an ultra-luxury wellbeing experience. The property will offer a spa, nutrition, movement, and other wellness and sports programs paired with a state-of-the-art diagnostic center, yoga and fitness pavilions, a relaxing swimming pool and the culinary delight of Sensei by Nobu.
And, Visit Greater Palm Springs will launch a digital “Wellness Pass” in early January that will offer the community and visitors discounts, incentives, and more on fitness and yoga studios, spas and hot springs and health and wellness retail.
Wellness is on the Menu
About an hour North of Los Angeles, the Ojai Valley Inn’s Farmhouse—which was established as a leading culinary collaboration center in 2019—has just announced the first round of its 2022 Guest Chef Dinners featuring some of the industry’s most celebrated names. From California to Paris, Michelin to Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux awards, each upcoming chef-partner introduces a thought-provoking and industry-leading approach to food and wine.
Kicking off 2022, LA’s James Beard Award and Michelin-recognized Chef Nancy Silverton of Mozza Group—and The Farmhouse’s culinary ambassador— is teaming up with cardiac surgeon and dietary expert Dr. Steven Gundry to prepare a multi-course wellness dinner guided by his health principles and highlighting the complexity of the human digestive system on February 5, at 6:30 p.m. To book a seat at the table visit farmhouseojai.com.
