Next level retreats
Sleep tracking, “snow showers” and underwater “soundscapes” are among the offerings at six resorts that also happen to be in dream locations. By Stephanie Rosenbloom
Wellness travel is booming, and hotels large and small are wooing guests with state-of-the-art spas, fitness centres, classes and retreats. Here are some of the latest properties, where wellness goes beyond facials and yoga to sleep tracking, local rituals and even medical services like getting an echocardiogram. Whether you want to sink into a hot spring in Japan or receive a massage on a train as it rolls toward a Malaysian jungle, these getaways strive to transport you in more ways than one.
ESPACIO The Hakone Geihinkan Rin-Poh-Ki-Ryu
Hakone, Japan
Board a cable car and you’ll find yourself gliding down to a forested valley where this new nine-villa hideaway is nestled in the hot springs resort area of Hakone, about 80 kilometres southwest of Tokyo (you can take a train from Tokyo and walk five minutes to the property).
The villas are serene and spacious, with indoor and outdoor baths fed by the Dogashima hot spring, one of several springs in this region that has captured the country’s imagination since at least the Edo period. Some villas have saunas and pools as well. Head to the Espacio Spa to be pampered with an oil massage or hot stone body treatment.
A member of the Leading Hotels of the World collection of properties, the hotel is the first in Asia from the team that created the ESPACIO The Jewel of Waikiki resort in Honolulu. When you’re not lazing in a hot spring, enjoy a meal of kaiseki or nabe (hotpot), overseen by chef Takahiro Yamagishi of Tominokoji Yamagishi in Kyoto, in your villa. Prices from 400,000 yen (about $4,100) a night for a villa for two people, which includes dinner and breakfast.
Banyan Tree Veya, Valle de Guadalupe
Valle de Guadalupe, Baja Mexico
About an hour and a half from the United States border, among the hills of western Mexico’s Baja California wine region, this new 6.5-hectare escape has its own winery as well as a spa with treatments that incorporate Asian and local Indigenous rituals, along with plants from the property’s garden. Take part in a ritual during which a temazcalero, or guide, will lead you through breathing exercises, chants and drumming with the aim of renewing your energy, followed by time in a temazcal dome, where steam rises from hot stones.
Attend a class like singing bowl therapy or meditation. Learn how to make essential oils and herbal pillows at an aromatherapy workshop. Or take a contemplative walk in the labyrinth. There’s also a fitness studio, two hilltop pools and water-themed therapies, including an ice bath, at the hotel’s Desert Springs hydrotherapy facility.
Back in your room, wellness continues. Each of the hotel’s 30 modern villas have plunge pools, yoga mats, resistance bands and singing bowls. In the evening you’ll receive aromatherapy sprays to help you unwind.
Designed by Mexican architect Michel Rojkind, the hotel is the first standalone property for the Banyan Tree Group’s well-being brand, Veya. You can explore the area’s vineyards, visit the tasting room at the hotel’s winery, swim and grab a snack at Roka, the pool bar, with food-truck fare like tacos and Baja empanadas. Or stop by Atalaya, a lobby bar with views of the valley, for local beers, wines and bites. Among the other spots to enjoy a meal is Aldea, which offers all-day dining, including a breakfast buffet, inspired by the local cuisine. Prices from $660 a night.
The Emory
London
This glamorous hotel in Belgravia, opposite Hyde Park, has 61 suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and a sprawling wellness club called Surrenne that spans four floors. Swim laps in the 20-metre pool where underwater speakers play “soundscapes” generated by artificial intelligence, or join a swimming class in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park. Relieve body aches with Ashiatsu, a deep-tissue massage from a therapist who uses their feet to apply pressure; work up a sweat with a Tracy Anderson Method workout or a visit to the sauna.
The “snow shower”, in which snowflakes fall gently onto your skin from shower jets, is meant to encourage relaxation. Swing by the Surrenne Café for smoothies, and even choose from medical services and tests (for additional fees) that the hotel says are administered by a doctor or nurse, including an MRI/MRA brain scan or an echocardiogram.
The Emory is the newest property from Maybourne, known for stately hotels like Claridge’s and the Connaught, and was designed by Richard Rogers, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who died in 202 — and whose works include the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Millennium Dome in London — and Ivan Harbour of the architectural firm RSHP, where Rogers was a founding partner.
At chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s abc kitchens, a sizable menu draws from his New York restaurants. For cocktails or coffee, stop into the Emory Bar where glass doors lead to a courtyard, or Bar 33, a rooftop bar with indulgences like wagyu beef skewers and Exmoor Caviar doughnuts. For cocktails and cigars, there’s the Emory Cigar Merchants.
Prices from 1,440 pounds, or about $2,800, a night, including a two-way airport transfer, daily English breakfast, a stocked bar in your suite, and use of the hotel’s house car.
Eastern & Oriental Express, a Belmond Train, Southeast Asia
Singapore and Malaysia
This art deco-style luxury train, which offers three-night round-trip itineraries between Singapore and Malaysia, has just opened the Dior Spa Eastern & Oriental Express in one of its 16 carriages. In the new spa car you’ll discover spaces decorated with tropical wood, canework and Toile de Jouy prints featuring tigers. Here you can loosen up with the D-Jungle body treatment, which involves stretching and massage, or slow down with Le Soin de Minuit, with meditative exercises, tea and treats.
Passengers choose from two itineraries. “The Essence of Malaysia” (November to February) goes from Singapore through Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, as well as to Penang Island, where you can check out George Town, a historic city on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
The other itinerary, “Wild Malaysia” (March to October), takes you to Penang and Taman Negara National Park, a tropical rainforest and home to Asian elephants and Malayan tigers, where you can learn about protecting the tigers and forage in the jungle. On the train, catch a live performance at the piano bar and take in views from the open-air observation car.
Three-night itineraries begin at $US3,410 (around $AU5,400) a person in a Pullman cabin, and include meals (there are two restaurants), some alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and certain activities on and off the train.
Six Senses
St. David, Grenada, and Kyoto, Japan
Six Senses La Sagesse
Although Grenada was hit hard by Hurricane Beryl, the first Six Senses resort in the Caribbean is open, situated between a cove and a bay on a southern part of the island that was spared much of the devastation. At the spa, treatments nod to your surroundings; the Caribbean Cleansing Ritual includes scrubbing, a mask and a coconut oil massage, as well as a cup of local bush tea and organic chocolate. Over at the Alchemy Bar, use native ingredients to create your own products, like facial scrubs. Treatments for children, including nail shaping and painting, are also available.
The property, part of the IHG Hotels & Resorts hospitality company, has 56 suites and 15 villas, all with terraces and pools. Enjoy seafood by the ocean at SeaFire, farm-to-table dishes at Callaloo and woodfired pizza and local rums and cocktails poolside at Panquai. Cool off with ice cream or sorbet at Scoop Cafe. Prices from $1076 a night.
Six Senses Kyoto
This contemporary 81-room-and-suite, wood-and-stone hotel in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto is inspired by nature (some suites have garden courtyards) and Japanese Zen culture. At the spa, you’ll find acupuncture, or try the Ah-un treatment, which begins with an incense ritual to help you get into a meditative mindset before receiving a full body massage that uses tuning forks on acupressure points. Or slip into a bathing suit for Watsu, bodywork in a dedicated pool that involves massage, stretching and sound therapy. A children’s spa menu includes foot mapping, massages and even “mini meditation”.
All rooms have temperature-regulating pillows, duvets and organic cotton sheets. Having difficulty sleeping? Sign up for a multiday sleep program. When it comes to nutrition, savour a refreshing meal at Sushi Oga Higashiyama, an outpost of the sushi restaurant from Osaka. For a la carte or omakase options, there’s Sekki. Coffee, teas, juices and sweets can be had at Cafe Sekki. At the end of the day, raise a glass at the cocktail bar, Nine Tails. Prices from 170,000 yen (including tax and service charge), or about $1,740 a night.
© The New York Times
This is an extract from an article that appears in print in our thirteenth edition, Page 144 of Winning Magazine with the headline: “Next level retreats”. Subscribe to Winning Magazine today.
