New health-focused hotels are opening up as operators look to grow medical tourism and ride the wellness wave, reports Dominic Ellis Check in for check ups

Hotel health services have come along way in a relatively short period. Chiva-Som was among the first to come up with a healthfocused hospitality concept when it opened its doors in 1993. In recent years, more operators have embraced ‘health and wellness’ as the importance of healthy living has risen in tandem with the increasing stresses facing our fast-paced lives.

The first MGallery by Sofitel in Dubai – the brand’s first UAE hotel and billed as the first health and wellness resort in the UAE – aims to open in the second quarter. The first four-star-rated hotel on Palm Jumeirah will offer not only spa services but also various well-being and lifestyle packages covering diet and nutrition, fitness and health treatments. The hotel will hire certified nutritionist and wellness coach for programmes such as weight loss – for children as well as adults. Some of the fitness classes planned include yoga, tai chi, pilates and aerobics. R Hotels announces it will operate “under a franchise with support from Accor”.

The overall design concept of the property will be organic, with the use of earth colours and wood, to imbibe “a fresh, calm and soothing atmosphere”. It will offer an Executive Lounge on the seventh floor, and Executive and Presidential Suites on the sixth and seventh, complete with private terraces.

Much as the traditional divide between business and leisure has dissolved in recent years, we’re now seeing the boundaries between hospitality and health dissipate. If you look at the menus of most stand-alone restaurants and hotel venues, a merger has already taken place with the universal emphasis on fresh ingredients. MGallery will have a fresh juice bar and low-calorie and gluten-free foods as well as vegan and vegetarian meals.

MGallery hotels are striking art and design-led hotels, as I discovered when I popped in for lunch at Hotel Molitor Paris recently. There aren’t many places where you’ll find a spray-painted Rolls Royce in the lobby. There’s an accent on health here too though; it has one of the largest open-air swimming pools I’ve seen in a major city centre hotel, as well as a large indoor pool. The top-deck views of the Eiffel Tower are enough to recharge any soul on a beautiful bluesky-filled winter’s day.

The UAE is embracing medical tourism and wellness and the links between hospitality and health are tangible, and growing. Dubai launched the world’s first comprehensive electronic medical tourism portal, Dubai Health Experience, last April, designed to provide all health, travel, hospitality and visa services at the click of a button. Medical packages include procedures such as wellness, cosmetic and dental services, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and physiotherapy and specialised medical tests. The initiative has a target of over 500,000 international medical tourists by 2020 (www.dxh.ae). Dubai Health

Below: Artist impression of MGallery by Sofitel Dubai