Wellness tourism has been booming. Along with seeking healthier lifestyles and cutting vices, visitors are looking for mental well-being and to manage stress. The sector reached $720 billion in 2019, according to The Global Wellness Institute, before dropping due to COVID-19. With the world traveling again, wellness tourism was valued at $814.6 billion in 2022, notes a report by business consulting firm Grand View Research, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.42 percent from 2023 to 2030.
The West Coast, arguably the hub of wellness, is filled with retreats and centers. Here, a look at the buzziest ones — five stars and celebrity-filled — and what makes them unique:
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The open air gallery: Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort
(1 Keomoku Highway, Lanai City, Hawaii 96763; 800-505-2624)
Art meets nature at Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort — a wellness property on the secluded Hawaiian island of Lanai. Contemporary sculptures and paintings are found throughout the 24-acre grounds, many of which were commissioned for the resort by owner Larry Ellison, the technology pioneer and cofounder of Oracle. The standouts are found in the gardens — lush, vibrant and blooming with tropical plants and ponds — including two bronze sculptures: “Donna Seduta” (2001), a woman sitting and holding an uneaten apple by Columbian sculptor Fernando Botero, and “Burning Desire” (2017), a striking red orchid by British artist Marc Quinn. Spanish artist Jaume Plensa offers a striking collection of self-portraits, “Heart of Rivers” (2016), depicting seven figures sitting around a palm tree and hugging their knees, with their bodies covered in names of world rivers. Also on the property: Nobu, with a specialized, health-conscious Japanese menu developed by Nobu Matsuhisa himself.
The peaceful mountain: Amangiri
(1 Kayenta Road, Canyon Point, Utah 84741; 435-675-3999)
Amangiri is art itself, its structure blending with the surrounding desert of the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah. Marwan Al-Sayed, Wendell Burnette and Rick Joy are the architects behind the design, built with the intention of respecting the natural environment. The property — named in Sanskrit, meaning “peaceful mountain” — is surrounded by national parks and monuments including the Grand Canyon and The Grand Staircase–Escalante (with active waterfalls), as well as the Navajo Nation Reservation, the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. “Our aim was to build something that was a contemporary interpretation of native Indian architecture,” hotelier Adrian Zecha, founder of Aman Resorts, has said. “Not perfectly adapted, but hopefully generating a sense and spirit of it.” It’s minimalist and geometric, with concrete blocks, stone tiles and natural woods. Activities include lessons on the history of the area and neighboring Native American tribes.
The firm, no-nonsense: The Ranch Malibu
(12220 Cotharin Road, Malibu, Calif. 90265; 310-457-8700)
In a sea of relaxed, go-with-the-flow wellness options, The Ranch Malibu is something different. It’s an incredibly strict regimen, located at a 200-acre ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains. Visitors (capped at 25 guests a week — with a price tag of $7,600 each) take four-hour morning hikes, four- to six-hour low-impact exercise classes and follow a 1,400-calorie-a-day, plant-based diet (no alcohol, caffeine, dairy, soy, gluten, sugar and artificial sweeteners). Alarms are set for wake-ups, meals are served at specific times. There is no cell service, with WiFi limited to in-room only, and no photos allowed on site. According to The Ranch, which expanded to Italy and is heading to the Hudson Valley in New York in the spring, “guests routinely lose 3 to 6 percent of their body weight along with substantial inches of fat loss and muscle gain.”
