How Destinations Are Creating New Wellness Experiences for Guests

Travel as it relates to “wellness” has new significance now. Vacationers have always looked for rejuvenation through wayfaring — in the summer of 2020, interest in outdoor sites that offered connection to the natural world were more popular than ever — and this year, what we seek when we leave home is evolving again. Travelers want to reconnect with one another and themselves, and destinations around the world are adapting to that demand with programs to help them shed stress. Read on to see what recharging looks like now.

The Old No. 77 Hotel capitalizes on its location in New Orleans’s vibrant warehouse and arts district (just a few blocks from the French Quarter) to collaborate with artists, musicians and other cultural figures in its programming. As of this summer, the hotel will now coordinate opportunities for guests to experience intimate, customized sound healing sessions through an exclusive partnership with Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux and her ensemble of drummers and other musicians. “I utilize the traditional songs and rhythms of New Orleans/Louisiana Voodoo to create a healing, meditative session,” Queen Kalindah explains. “These sacred songs are traditionally used to awaken the energy centers of the body, soothe anxiety and assist in releasing stored trauma and tension. These songs and rhythms honor nature, ancestors and the collective experiences within the culture. These songs, rhythms and this form of healing are over 300 years old and speak to core memories, emotions and natural body movements.” To learn more about Kalindah’s offerings, rates and availability, contact The Old No. 77 Hotel guest services.

Research has shown that volunteerism can have positive effects on our mental and physical health — in some studies, it has even been associated with reduced mortality — and at The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Kāʻanapali, it’s now associated with an extended vacation as well. In partnership with the Pacific Whale Foundation as part of a statewide initiative to encourage mindful travel, Westin’s new Malama package offers guests the chance to stay a seventh night for free in exchange for their participation in a “voluntourism” activity. Participants pick up a beach cleanup kit with all the materials they need to help beautify the coastline; their service enriches the environment they’re enjoying and fosters a lasting and fortifying personal connection with paradise.

Hideaway Co., a new luxury camping destination in the rolling hills of western Maryland, leans into wellness as a general proposition: certified yogis lead free mindfulness and yoga classes each Saturday and Sunday morning, and masseuses are available by appointment. That said, one could argue that the true stars of its let-the-stress-go show live at a working farm in nearby Friendsville (this name is not an accident). Guests who have a word with Hideaway Co.’s concierge can pay a visit to Yorkie Acres, a working farm where the roster of jovial creatures includes cows, sheep, goats and fowl. “All the animals are friendly and approachable and all add to a moment of zen,” says Anna Baird, Hideaway Co.’s founder. “But those goats are there to snuggle.” Intelligent, affectionate and mellow, goats are popular providers of low-key emotional support for humans; a one-on-one hangout with one of Yorkie Acres’ residents is bookable for a $10 farm donation (but if we’re being honest, it’s pretty much priceless). The farm also sells homeopathic products like herbal teas, raw honey and lotion, all of which are produced onsite.

North Georgia’s Château Élan boasts 3,500 acres of land, including a spectacular collection of nature trails and walking paths — and every morning at 8:00 am, guests are invited to join instructors on a complimentary, 45-minute Sunrise Nature Hike. As Rebecca Dickerson, Château Elan’s new director of wellness, explains, “We are all feeling the effects of a year filled with new and challenging obstacles, I know that I certainly am. That’s why we wanted to craft a different kind of offering for our guests — one that allows natural stress relief through a homeopathic remedy as old as time. Waking in nature, as cliché as it might sound, is one of the most calming and restorative activities a human can perform.” While walking, instructors lead guests through a practice of mental meditation and encourage them to explore the heightened use of all their senses.

Beginning this October, Contiki — the all-inclusive tour company that now offers more than 350 packages for 18-to-35-year-old travelers — will debut a four-day Sri Lankan wellness retreat that introduces guests to both Sri Lankan "Hela Veda," or local indigenous medicine, and ancient Indian Ayurvedic therapies. Capped at just eight guests, the experience includes an introduction to Ayurveda with a local practitioner, treatments, cooking demonstrations and, for good measure, a visit to a local conservation center to observe as baby turtles are released into the wild. Contiki’s Sri Lankan Detour Mini Adventure starts at $550 per person for two travelers. (If you fall in love with the turtles and want to stay on as a volunteer, the hatchery will sort out room and board with you.)

Leaning into the principle that a restorative vacation begins with a relaxed mindset, Margaritaville Vacation Clubs by Wyndham offer private, 30-minute pre-arrival music therapy sessions for guests booked at their resorts in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Nashville. Led by board-certified music therapist Noel Anderson, the customized sessions are conducted virtually in the comfort of guests’ homes; Noel uses a combination of sound therapy, songwriting and instruments to help participants process their emotions and let go of the pandemic-induced stress they’ve accumulated. (As researchers and fans alike have long known, music has a demonstrable effect on our bodies’ stress responses.) Guests can dig out their own instruments and jam with Noel, or she can build a session around audio tones, beats, melody and lyrics; like a live, in-person performance (remember how lovely those are?), each encounter is unique.

Since January of last year, Mexico’s stunning Riviera Maya has played host to Palmaïa – the House of AïA, an all-inclusive wellness destination featuring what its developers call the most comprehensive personal growth program offered at any resort. That creation — known as the Architect of Life Program — offers guests an ever-changing array of classes, rituals and ceremonies; a week’s worth of events might include everything from a Pranayama breathwork class and Tibetan bowl ceremonies to meditative physical exercises and gravity control. Children are encouraged to participate in the Architects of Life programming as well; Waldorf-trained instructors lead courses that parallel adult offerings and welcome little ones to Awen, the resort’s holistic children’s center.

When in France, visitors at the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa (in Champillon, in the bucolic, hilly champagne region about two hours northeast of Paris) can turn in for the night as kings and queens might. The destination’s all-new Royal Sleep kit (which can be added to any booking for 95 euro, or about $113) promises an “ultimate sleeping experience” including Aime’s essential-oil sleep mist and melatonin-based supplement drops, a Morphée meditation box that plays more than 200 guided-meditation sessions, a sleep-infusion lime blossom, verbena and mint herbal tea and seasonal bedtime pastries. The hotel also offers Ayurvedic herbs like Ashwagandha — and feather-soft luxury bed linens, of course.

Speakers, healers and wellness practitioners will converge on Montage Palmetto Bluff on South Carolina’s picturesque May River for the luxury resort’s inaugural Well Living weekend. Between Friday, July 23 and Sunday, July 25, guests will have the opportunity to recenter themselves with everything from impromptu massages, plant-based fare and zero-proof cocktails to a keynote speech and social hour with Deepak Chopra. Workshops, panels and discussions approach wellness from a dizzying array of angles, starting with microscopic contributors to gut health and working all the way up to the nature of reality itself. Rates for the three-day retreat begin at $1,145 per room per night.