Wellness and getting healthy isn’t just for January. It’s a growing holiday trend, for anyone. What is your idea of a wellness holiday?
Everyone has a different idea about wellness. And everyone is correct. From medical wellness to spa hotels, wilderness sanctuaries to yoga retreats, there are many places to detox your body and mind, on your own or with friends and family.
EliteVoyage Travel Designer Adela Hubnerova recently returned from Synergy, a travel show dedicated to the world’s best wellness hotels and experiences. Here she explains six completely different options.
Which is closest to your idea of a wellness holiday?
A Spa Retreat
Retreat at Blue Lagoon, Iceland
The classic idea of a wellness holiday is staying in a hotel with incredible spa facilities.
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is one of the world’s best hotel spas. It’s the most famous luxury property in Iceland as well, located in a 800-year-old lava field full of mineral-rich waters.
Retreat is a great example of incorporating wellness into your holiday. I don’t recommend travelling to Iceland just for the Blue Lagoon, rather, making this wellness hotel part of your adventure holiday.
All ages are welcomed, although it’s most suitable as a wellness retreat for couples. Think of lazy days in the geothermal lagoon, a lava-walled steam room and evenings with the northern lights.
A Medical Wellness Destination
SHA, Spain
Medical wellness destinations combine medical testing, consultation and treatment, with outstanding wellness facilities. They can feel quite clinical when you first arrive.
SHA is one of the best medical wellness destinations in the world. It’s a calm and nurturing hotel where you will have a quiet holiday in Spain, while transforming your overall health.
Places like SHA are not for a normal holiday because the experience isn’t just about now. These places are highly focused on your long-term health.
You do need time to realise the long-term benefits. A week is the very minimum, but I think two to three weeks are much better. Although SHA does offer accommodation for families and couples, it’s most suited to travelling solo.
A Wellness Sanctuary
Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary, Thailand
Wellness sanctuaries have calm and nurturing environments that empower you to be a better version of yourself. Rather than medical interventions, these wellness sanctuaries are spaces to reconnect with your inner self, to focus on your mind, body and spirit.
Kamalaya is a discovery I made at the Synergy show. It’s located on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.
Kalamaya combines Eastern healing traditions with beautiful island nature. They go through all your health points before you arrive, so every guest has a personalised program.
Kamalaya is best for travelling solo and focusing purely on you. It’s nature, yoga, detox, fitness and connecting all the aspects of your health.
Private Wellness for all the Family
Octola Private Wilderness, Finland
A wellness holiday isn’t just about spa facilities. There are also places to detox your mind, while sharing the experience with friends and family.
I believe that escaping to a remote place is also a wellness holiday. Children love wide open spaces and nature as well. They will benefit from the natural environment as much as you will.
At Octola you will feel the healing qualities of Lapland’s beautiful natural environment. It’s a place for immense relaxation and inspiration, with the people you love.
Octola is a set of luxury log chalets on a private wilderness reserve in northern Finland. It’s where you discover the mental benefits of space, seclusion, silence and being at one with nature.
The Exotic Escape
Barracuda, Brazil
Wellness holidays are quite new for us in the Czech Republic, but they’re already very popular for people from other countries, especially Americans.
We Czechs have many bad habits and are not the healthiest people. I think this trend of wellness holidays will really grow. At Synergy I discovered many interesting properties focused on the mind and body being healthy.
Barracuda is a beachside retreat with private villas and a hotel, on the Brazilian coast, where the wellness is inspired by Scandinavia.
We often think of the Maldives or Seychelles for an exotic barefoot escape. But there are contemporary places like Barracuda emerging in beautiful locations across the world.
Wellness and Holiday Experiences for Everyone
Burgenstock Resort & Alpine Spa, Switzerland
Whatever holiday you want to take, you probably have the same challenge as all my clients at EliteVoyage. Time. We simply don’t have enough time. It’s doubly hard to find time to purely focus on yourself.
This is why I really like Burgenstock Resort & Alpine Spa (not just because of their incredible spa!). It’s a large resort with a full range of facilities and amenities for many different types of holiday, from golf to nature and activities for kids. Wellness is just one reason to go.
Burgenstock is a holiday destination for everyone and everyone can do different activities. That means you can holiday with your family and also enjoy some private wellness time every day.
Waldhotel Health and Medical Excellence is the newest part of Burgenstock. It offers medical wellness, but also a genuine hotel and holiday experience. So you have the medical interventions, while your family is on the golf course, cycling in nature, in the kids club or somewhere else.
Is 2023 Your Year for a Wellness Holiday?
Wellness holidays are growing in popularity and I love the variety you can now enjoy.
Almost every good hotel has a spa. But that doesn’t mean it’s wellness focused. The places I discovered at Synergy have this important focus on the most important thing of all – you
So is 2023 the year you go on a wellness holiday?
