Wellness looks different to every traveler. For some, a hiking adventure through the Himalayas is the key to rejuvenation, while for others, it’s a week spent at a farm learning how to cook healthy food. It could be completely unplugging or using the latest technology to achieve healthier skin. Long story short, the copy-and-paste style wellness retreat is not what the modern traveler is looking for anymore.
Spa getaways and yoga retreats have defined wellness travel for decades. Guests would attend meditation classes, get a couple’s massage and maybe go vegetarian for a few days—all on the grounds of an all-inclusive resort. This type of wellness travel still exists today, but at the dawn of a new decade—and after a year of many of us being cooped up at home—guests are expecting much more personalization and nuance from a getaway that promises to restore their mental and physical health. With wellness travel growth twice the average of overall tourism at the beginning of 2020, it’s clear that the industry has been quick to catch on to evolving desires. The following two properties follow this simple model yet couldn’t be more different from each other:
LAKE AUSTIN SPA & RESORT
Located outside Austin in Texas Hill Country, this 40-room property is set on 19 acres along the shores of its namesake lake. Lake Austin Spa Resort tackles the wellness of guests from several angles—from encouraging them to ditch their phones in their rooms, unwinding with a full-body scrub at the spa, or indulging in the vegetable-forward cuisine at the resort’s restaurant. Being lakeside also allows guests to choose from a lengthy list of aquatic activities—enjoy a scenic boat ride or work up a sweat hydro-biking.
AMANKORA
Comprising five lodges across Bhutan, this resort system caters specifically to spiritual wellness. Amankora Punakha is surrounded by a beautiful landscape of rice terraces, while visitors to Amankora Bumthang can join local monks in prayer. Open to tourists this month, travelers can also visit monasteries and hike to cliffside temples.
While wellness travel is constantly diversifying, the all-inclusive model at its core remains relatively simple—identifying what guests will connect with and then using it to tap into their passions, comfort levels and thought processes to create a program that “gets” them. It’s a balance of making an experience feel completely personal yet still being able to cater to many’s wellness needs.
