Let's face it, most of us treat our bodies pretty badly at times. That's why we're so interested in ways to counteract our misdemeanours. Hotels around the world are waking up to this and more and more exceptional experiences are becoming available. Here are some of the best way and opportunities to spring clean body and soul this year.
Hook up with a doctor in Miami
The Carillon Miami Wellness Resort is not messing around when it comes to their health amenities. Their 70,000 square foot spa facility is coupled with serious treatments like the IV Therapy Boost, a session that delivers intravenous vitamins and a functional medicine consultation with Dr. Adonis Maiquez, a physician specializing in healthy aging. You can also spend time working on your emotional health, partake in acupuncture, check your bone density, or undergo an herb-filled 3-day cleanse that addresses everything from brain fog to bloating. Once you’ve absorbed doctor’s orders, there’s the 750-foot stretch of private beach to enjoy.
Dotsho in a rural Bhutanese bath house
Gangtey Lodge Bhutan is not a destination for an easy weekend jaunt. However, it will be an epic journey that comes with the ultimate bragging rights. Oh, last week? I was at a 12-suite luxury lodge in Bhutan. You know, the one nestled near a tiny farming village in the Gangtey Valley? But perhaps you won’t be tempted to flex after your transformative experience at the Lodge, particularly after spending time in the new hot stone bath house that debuted last year. A 90-minute Dotsho, or stone bath, treatment begins with a foot scrub and massage before soaking in a spring-water filled bath heated with river stones and garnished with Artemisia leaves. Keep on your exercise routine with activities like archery, mountain biking, and hiking in the valley.
Surf with professionals in Mexico
When you describe your resort as ultra-luxury, you are not going to offer just any old basic amenities to your guests. At One&Only Palmilla on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, a morning workout is gnarly as hell. The resort launched the Art of Luxury Surfing program with TropicSurf to bring in professional surfers to train your kook ass how to shred. Between board time, you can do beach bootcamps, sunrise yoga, and even male-focused pampering to be had at the Barber & Blade private gentlemen’s grooming studio to get your old-timey haircare fix. Last year the resort built an east-facing, womb-like Temazcal, a small, dark space designed by the resident shaman where they burn traditional medicinal herbs, copal incense, heat, steam, and indigenous music to rejuvenate your entire being.
Boost brainpower in London
Mental health is as important as physical health, and the Corinthia Hotel London wants to help you out with both. The ESPA Life worked with a host of professionals (like traditional Chinese medicine acupuncturists and osteopaths) to create Mindfulness & Brainpower packages. The 90-minute Mindful Massage is designed to be clarifying and deeply relaxing, incorporating a scalp massage with warm rose quartz crystals, breathing and visualization techniques, foot reflexology, and, of course, a full body massage. On the fitness side, book a session like the River Rush, where you get partnered with a personal trainer for a scenic run along the River Thames, peppered with high intensity exercise along the way. You’ll end the session with a Yoga Nidra Guided Relaxation cool down to work out any lingering tension.
Night spa on a private Cambodian island
Spending time on a private island is a delight in itself, but Song Saa Private Island is not done impressing you with its white sand beaches and deserted rainforests alone. Welcome to the Song Saa Sanctuaries: a destination for cleansing via massages, meditation sessions, yoga, and monk-administered Buddhist ceremonies. Here on the private island, Khmer techniques come together with ayurvedic principles to relax you to your battered core. Perhaps the dreamiest offering of them all is the award-winning sanctuary’s stillness night spa bath ritual where you “harness the beauty and energy of Cambodia’s gorgeous night sky.” We are into this. We are into this very much.
Train with Nike in Switzerland
The Swiss Alps are a hotbed of hot bods. It’s a destination for lithe skiers and almost rudely good-looking Europeans. At Gstaad Palace, do your damndest to whip your physique into Swiss style with the luxury hotel’s impressive fitness amenities. The 5-star, century-(plus)-year-old hotel brings in experts like Nike Master Trainers and muay Thai boxing pros to pair up with when you’re not out in the Alps hiking and/or yodeling. When the training’s done, strip off your lederhosen and hit the indoor or outdoor pool.
Sweat stress in a Dubai hammam
The Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Hotel in Dubai looks an awful lot like a palace. Surprise to no one that the place has a spa that suits royalty. The Talise Ottoman Spa is unreal—and massive—with 42 treatment rooms in addition to saunas, snow rooms (because, you know, when in Dubai), steam rooms, two thalassotherapy (seawater) pools, and a Turkish hammam decked out in marble, mosaics, murals, and dark wood like a good hammam should. Simmer away for four hours for the Ottoman Spa Escape that combines time in the Royal Ottoman Hammam, a Citrus Rehydration Ritual (a vitamin C body treatment aimed at treating sun damaged skin), a Life Infusion Facial, lunch, and access to the beach and pool facilities. Speaking of those pool facilities, get your laps on in the Arabian Gulf-facing infinity pool.
Reset your diet in Kerala
Check in to Kalari Kovilakom for a stripped down luxury retreat in Kerala, India to get an Ayurvedic insight into your body through eating, breathing, self-healing, sleeping, and more. Kalari Kovilakom sits on the palace grounds of the old Vengunad kingdom, so you know it’s the real deal. Let the surrounding Venga trees heal you while you address all sorts of body concerns here, from weight management to healthy aging to reducing stress. Go all in with Panchakarma, a 21 to 28-day cleansing treatment that promises to bring you back to equilibrium.
Get in touch to organise prize experiences tailored to your brand and campaign here.