5 Wellness Trends You Can Practice on the Road

Personal wellness is increasingly a top priority of travelers who want to maintain their healthy lifestyles while on the go. In response to this rising demand, hotels across the globek are incorporating popular wellness trends into their offerings — from the spa to the restaurant and beyond — making it easier than ever to enjoy a relaxing escape while looking after your mind, spirit and body.

The world of wellness today encompasses everything from practicing mindfulness and using new technologies like cryotherapy to simply enjoying a meal to get the multiple health benefits — like disease prevention and improved digestion — of superfoods.

Here’s what’s trending and where to experience it, and as always, check for travel restrictions and closures before planning your trip.

Mindfulness

One of today’s most powerful wellness trends is mindfulness: being fully present and engaged in the moment. Mindfulness is an especially useful tool for creating more meaningful travel experiences by helping you slow down and fully take in the sensory experience of an unfamiliar place.

Many hotels are now incorporating mindfulness into the experiences they offer. Yoga retreats at Pine Cliffs Hotel, a Luxury Collection Resort, Algarve guide guests toward self-discovery, wellness and peace of mind in private one-on-one classes as well as complementary treatments. These personalized retreats are suitable for beginners and advanced yogis alike.

Overlooking the Great Pyramids, Marriott Mena House, Cairo has long been a favorite of spiritual travelers who find the lush landscaped gardens ideal for energizing their minds through meditation. Recently, the hotel has also become a favored venue for retreats focused on wellness, including nutrition, crystal healing and other techniques.

Other top picks for mindful travelers include the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh, where spa treatments include chakra balancing and holistic Made for Life Organics treatments that encourage mindfulness, and The Westin Hamburg, whose Sky High Yoga experience is held in an exclusive suite overlooking the city and Elbe River.

Food

With new cuisines to try and room service at your fingertips, eating well is not always easy to do on the road. But as hotels respond to health-conscious guests’ increasing demands for better menu options — from vegan and vegetarian dishes to nutritionally dense superfoods — there’s no need to wreck your healthy diet while traveling.

While in Dubai, you can get a delicious and healthy meal from morning through night at Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina‘s restaurant, Bounty Beets. Organic, gluten-free and vegan options — from an açai berry power bowl to kick off your day to sweet potato gnocchi to wind down — are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Visitors can also enjoy a plant-based afternoon tea in the garden and even a healthy cocktail hour: The drinks list features such health-boosting superfoods as fresh fruits and even vegetables like beetroot and cucumber.

At African Pride Irene Country Lodge, Autograph Collection, in Pretoria, produce comes straight from its working dairy farm. Guests are welcome to visit the farm, where they can pick up fresh produce — including certified raw milk products — and watch the cows being milked. Active guests can hit the 1.5-mile jogging trail and reward themselves with a gourmet milkshake made from farm-fresh milk.

Fitness

For active travelers who want to avoid spending hours on tour buses, combining a workout with sightseeing is a great way to explore a city. Hotels are stepping up to the demand for “sightrunning” by incorporating running concierges into their fitness programs.

At The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna, the hotel’s running concierge takes guests out onto the city streets to explore the famed Ring Boulevard on a sightseeing run that takes in the area’s most important sights, including the State Opera House and Museum of Fine Art, while sharing the story of the Imperial Ring Boulevard and revealing the city’s best insider tips.

Nonrunners can opt for a gentler sightseeing experience via bicycle. Tel Aviv is a great biking city and home to many rental shops that can help plan city tours. Visitors can soak in the fresh Mediterranean air by pedaling along the seaside promenade that stretches between the Sheraton Tel Aviv and The Jaffa, a Luxury Collection Hotel.

Not to forget water lovers, kayaking tours are another popular way to combine fitness and exploration. Departing close to AC Hotel Cape Town Waterfront, Cape Kayak Adventures takes guests out onto the water to explore South Africa’s Table Bay coastline and take in excellent views of Signal Hill, Lion’s Head, Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles.

Beauty

From on-trend, multistep Korean skincare routines to traditional, all-natural Indian cosmetics, exploring the world’s beauty secrets can provide pampering insights into different cultures.

Hotels are increasingly focused on showcasing organic ingredients and local beauty products, such as the Hotel Arts Barcelona, where guests can enjoy spa treatments that feature the popular luxury Spanish skincare brand, Natura Bissé.

The spa at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel offers skin-purifying treatments, including organic signature scrubs that use locally beloved ingredients such as Arabic coffee, cardamom, raw sugar and roses.

Local products are also on the spa menu at The Westin Grand Munich, where the Traditional Bavarian treatment will have you as glowing as if you’ve just come back from a day in the Bavarian Alps — products are also on sale in the spa boutique so you can incorporate your travel discovery into your everyday life.

Technology

As wellness becomes an essential element of modern travel, and wellness technology is helping hotels deliver feel-good experiences.

Fitness buffs on a tight schedule can take advantage of virtual training in their hotel rooms. For example, in many properties, on-demand exercise routines can be streamed through in-room tvs, and dozens of Westin hotels have partnered with Peloton to offer in-room and in-studio live cycling classes.

Hotel apps have embraced wellness, allowing users to book a spa service, order fitness gear and even select mini-bar preferences for healthy snack and drink choices. And across the globe, spas have also welcomed wellness tech. Guests can book virtual reality-based stress management sessions, cryotherapy facials, and even thermal body mapping massages.