Yoga sessions have become a must-have in many hotels around the world. — Photos: Pixabay
In London, England, legendary party hotspot Tramp is opening a 1,486sq m wellness club called Tramp Health. On the Riviera Maya in Mexico, the Rosewood Mayakoba now offers guests after-dark programming like moonlight yoga and full moon celebrations with a spirit-free bar.
And on the Ibiza, the Balearic island known for revelry, the new Soho Farmhouse Ibiza is starting health retreats and trying to position itself as a spot for relaxation.
Hospitality businesses are adapting to a cultural shift positing wellness as a top priority, with more people focusing on their health and fewer splashing out on bottle service in bars. According a Gallup poll in July, a record low percentage of Americans – 54% – said they drink alcohol, the lowest figure since Gallup began tracking the question in 1939.
A belief among Americans that even moderate drinking is bad for one’s health is now the majority view for the first time, Gallup says.
“These days living fully isn’t only about late nights, much as I love them. It’s also about health, vitality and belonging,” says lifestyle entrepreneur Luca Maggiora, founder and chief executive officer of Tramp Holdings. He says Tramp Health feels like a natural extension of that philosophy.
Hotels are now focusing on wellness products, offering guests experiences like traditional winter sauna sessions.
The wellness club is set to open in the same building on Grosvenor Square as the brand-new Chancery Rosewood hotel.
A new members club called Long Lane is also set to open in West Sussex, with a focus on longevity and an alcohol-free bar menu. Its founders are marketing the place as Soho House without the hangover.
But Soho House itself has made a concerted effort to add low- and no-alcohol options to drink menus at its clubs around the world, and it has wellness as a focus at its new location on Ibiza. The gym is open 24 hours a day, and guests can soak in onsen-style thermal baths or get NAD+ IV infusions (it supposedly helps boost energy levels).
Hospitality executives notice the shift away from drinking and toward wellness. “We do a communal dinner twice a week, and I was sitting Saturday with a group of eight young people, and they don’t drink any more. It’s a new commitment to health,” says Edouard Grosmangin, managing director of the Rosewood Mayakoba and regional vice president for the brand in Mexico and South America.
He says the hotel’s new programming for a different kind of night out reflects this. From 8pm to midnight, guests have the opportunity to swap dinner and drinks for breath work, an evening soak in an ice bath next to the cenote or a cacao ritual to craft Mexican hot chocolate.
“For me, this is about listening to the guests and what they want now,” he says. “It’s beyond just massages and facials at the spa.”
Travel agents are also seeing tastes change.
“A lot of our clients are bagging heavy, booze-laden trips to experience more unusual wellness experiences,” says Carolyn Addison, head of product at luxury travel company Black Tomato, who says there is tremendous capital in the wellness side of travel now.
“One big trend we’ve seen is in wild swimming experiences – or wild bathing, whatever you prefer,” Addison says. “This is tremendously popular all over with our clients in cities too, like Dublin (Ireland), Antwerp (Belgium) and Oslo (Norway). There is something cathartic about this exercise, and it delivers a sense of peace.”
Even London’s Canary Wharf has become a swim spot.
The sun-and-rose-soaked south of France is seeing increased demand for wellness, too. The plush new Arev Hotel in the glitzy resort town of Saint-Tropez is bringing in Emma Estrela, a leading expert in the Wim Hof method, to host a residency in November. Guests can dip in the colder waters of the Saint-Tropez bay in November and practice breath work.
These new wellness offerings are getting increasingly competitive as the wellness tourism trend – valued at US$830bil (RM3,506), according to the Global Wellness Institute – grows exponentially in popularity. Guests are more willing to shell out for things like yoga under the stars or IV drips in Ibiza as they spend less at the bar.
“The US market and Brazil, where I’ve spent more than five years, is extremely, extremely concerned by wellness,” says Grosmangin.
“I’ve never seen so much concern about their body and going to the gym every day.” – Bloomberg
