Angel
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The exterior of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara Spa, a 42,000 square foot center.Ritz-Carlton
A new year means new resolutions. Typically, fitness tops the list alongside goals like traveling more and farther. There was a time when the two were mutually exclusive except to avid runners willing to lace up no matter the weather or extreme location. For the rest of us, a great gym and wellness program makes hitting this duo of aspirations a lot easier. Nowadays, hotels are catching up, building bigger, better, more comprehensive facilities replete with classes or in-room equipment and programming.
Of course, hotels aren’t doing this out of the goodness of their CEO’s hearts. As reported by Hotel Management earlier in 2018, the global wellness industry is a $3.7-trillion market more profitable than the pharmaceutical industry. And wellness tourism is a big chunk of that market. As further noted in the article, “travelers made 691 million wellness trips in 2015, 104.4 million more than in 2013.” Travel Agent Central reported that, according to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the wellness travel market is expanding 50 percent faster than the overall travel industry; wellness travelers spend 130 percent more than the average client; and millennials are an increasingly enthusiastic customers of the niche.
Here’s a list of hospitality brands investing in the wellness game while helping make travel and health priorities for you in 2019. Think of it as a win-win.
Six Senses operates 16 properties around the world from the Maldives to Portugal’s Douro Valley. From the beginning, Six Senses has made a strong push for health and wellness to be integrated into the guest experience. For example, the Douro Valley property debuted physician-designed cuisine headed for all resorts. Goals include eschewing inflammatory foods and reducing sodium to boost immunity and improve digestion. Basically, they do the math for you so you can relax and eat.
Taking the physical one plane higher to the mental, the newest property in Bhutan, opening fully in early 2019, will feature hikes to Buddhist temples and meditation pavilions for quiet reflection. An integrated “story-based” wellness circuit will lead guests to five singular lodges at which experiences, from food to the spa, will be form a multi-chapter story.
Starwood, now owned by Marriott, is turning Westin into a wellness-focused brand after research revealed guests will spend more on rooms with equipment. Select Westin hotels will outfit “workout” guest rooms with Peloton bikes and provide complimentary athletic gear.
The group also owns eco-friendly Element, a brand targeting environmentally conscious travelers who overlap with the health and wellness segment. Element features healthy food options in contrast to the traditional – and, frankly, terrible – packaged food continental breakfasts ubiquitous at American hotels.
In January, Hyatt spent $215 million to acquire Miraval Wellness Spas, a deal that brought the flagship location in Arizona under the Hyatt umbrella. A second acquisition further padded wellness offerings with Exhale Spa and Fitness company, an upscale brand with 25 locations across the U.S. and Caribbean. A Hyatt-commissioned study found that three quarters of its target travelers think mindfulness is important to overall wellness.
EVEN Hotel, created by Intercontinental in 2012, is a brand purpose-built for wellness. They boast 9 locations around North America including Brooklyn, the Garment District and Grand Central. Their target is to open 100 hotels in 5 years. How do they bake wellness into the experience? Big gyms, in-room fitness kits, relaxing work areas, and healthy dining options. The brand also hosts a website called Well Well Well that, for example, provides neighborhood guides covering healthy and sustainable restaurants nearby.
For in-room fitness, Kimpton supplies rooms with yoga mats. In fact, Kimpton was an early adopter, offering them almost five years ago. Equipment can be used in tandem with on-demand TV programming that guides guests through flow, power yoga or Pilates sequences.
Going one step further, Hilton Hotels & Resorts is bringing the gym into the guest room. For their full-service brands, they’ve designed a new room category called “Five Feet to Fitness” which includes 11 pieces of equipment and accessories allowing travelers to work out in private.
Omni Hotels offers something similar, with their on request “Get-Fit Kit” which includes a 5-pound kettlebell, mini contour weights, push-up bars, yoga mats, and a foam roller.
Danish brand Brøchner, which runs hip boutique hotels across Copenhagen, offers organic breakfast at every location, keeps fitness rooms open 24/7, and provides in-room smart TVs pre-programmed with yoga and exercise classes.
If you’d rather work out in a studio but in private, that technology exists, too. Take Relais & Châteaux property Ocean House in Rhode Island. Spa partner Oh! runs the adjacent fitness and movement center. When not in use, guests can swipe into the studio and tee up a virtual workout via Fitness on Demand. The touchscreen kiosk offers 100 virtual classes covering strength, balance, and flexibility.
Five-star brand Ritz-Carlton has long prioritized holistic health across offerings in spas, fitness centers, and cuisine. From pilates and yoga classes to morning meditations and a focus on organic, local foods in kitchens, each property will debut a new wellness program for 2019. For example, the Tahoe location now offers a Mountain Mindfulness Package, the Winter Wellness Experience, and CBD oil and balm spa treatment enhancements. The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, meanwhile, has a Rejuvenate You package that includes access to the 42,000 square foot spa.
Since fitness and health are also a state of mind, the Morgans Hotel Group provides guests a complimentary download of the Buddhify app, which supplies travel meditations, along with access to location-specific fitness partnerships such as with YogaWorks in San Francisco.
Even fitness brands like Equinox are getting in on the game. In reverse. Equinox Holdings has plans for the travel industry with its first series of upscale hotels slated to open in 2019, notably Hudson Yards in Manhattan. The bet: its carefully cultivated fitness aesthetic and ultra-cool image will appeal to health-conscious travelers. Pet-friendly, to boot.
In the cruise space, spa brand Canyon Ranch announced a partnership to deliver wellness tours to Oceania Cruises. The brand already operates Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Sea facilities on Oceania ships. Tangentially, Canyon Ranch has teamed up with Singapore Airlines to offer healthy meals with calorie counts included, to business and first class fliers.
Finally, targeting health goals isn’t just directed at customers; hotels are incorporating wellness programs for employees. For example, a report by Hotel Management noted how the luxury resort Breakers Palm Beach launched a global wellness summit in 2017 followed by the institution of a workplace wellness program. An employee survey found 95% took advantage of the offerings. Though correlation is not causation, the employee retention rate at 82% against an industry average of 69% is, frankly, telling.
If you know of hotels, airlines and cruise lines expanding their health and wellness offerings, jump into the discussion via the comments. I want to hear from you.
Thank you
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lmowery/2018/12/27/new-year-new-you-these-hotels-are-helping-make-that-happen/