The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
NEW YEAR, NEW SPAS
Make good on those healthy intentions at these freshly debuted well-being destinations
Whether it’s a gravitydefying facial or an herbal soak, there’s nothing more rejuvenating than a spa-centric getaway. Here are some places to find escape, whether on a press tour or a true holiday.
CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO
Cabo vacations just got a lot healthier thanks to The Well, the highly personalized New York
City wellness retreat that attracts the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Emma Roberts. The Well’s first West Coast home has just opened in the oceanfront Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Auberge Resorts Collection. A new four-day, on-site program, The Well Reset, says chief medical officer Frank Lipman, “provides guests with a resultsdriven itinerary that is specially tailored to their wellness goals even while on holiday — whether that’s resetting their gut, enhancing metabolic health or balancing blood sugar.” Single occupancy starts at $5,000 a night, double at $9,000. The program takes place in the resort’s new well-being center with daily mindful movement classes, a meditation lounge with hanging beds, a bath house for lymphatic system-boosting hot and cold experiences and even a bougainvillea-draped nap garden complete with a selfguided reflexology therapy pool. In six new wellness guest suites, visitors can experience in-room programming plus a personalized Turn Up service each morning with healthful smoothies and a meditation album. Evening turndown features a light therapy face mask, affirmation cards and a foot massage roller.
LONDON
After 210 years in business, art deco legend Claridge’s (from $900 a night, claridges.co.uk) in the Mayfair neighborhood finally opened its first spa this past fall. As would be expected of an arrival so long in the making, Claridge’s Spa is a thoughtful wellness-minded mecca for
physically and emotionally healing rituals, bio-innovation and energy cleansing. The magic happens in a tranquil space of oak, limestone and glass courtesy of renowned interior designer André Fu. The spa includes an indoor swimming pool with private cabanas. On offer are high-tech facials and fullbody detoxes featuring acclaimed Augustinus Bader products.
NEW YORK
Thanks to several recent openings, New York is now more than ever a well-being destination. On the Upper East Side,
Sage + Sound (1481 Third Ave., sage-sound.com) is a wellness center that embraces virtually all elements of self-care, from life coaching and nontoxic nail services to wholesome cuisine from Isle of Us cafe and Tracie Martyn facials. … In a converted Williamsburg factory, Bathhouse (101 N. 10th St., abathhouse.com) is about functional recovery and ancient global wisdom in a moody brick-clad setting with eclectic design. Wellness seekers can book a day pass for access to a starlight steam room (the ceiling’s lighting design mimics the night sky), thermal pools, saunas and marble hammams or schedule specific treatments such as Moroccan scrubs in the latter. … The new Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York in Tribeca (456 Greenwich St., hotelsbarriere .com) is home to the ultraluxe Spa Diane Barrière, with a hydrotherapy pool and five rooms designed by the famed Martin Brudnizki Design Studio (The Pendry Residences West Hollywood)
plus cult-loved Biologique Recherche treatments.
RANCHO MIRAGE
The lush, art-studded Sensei Porcupine Creek is the first retreat fully operated by cofounder David Agus’ highly bespoke wellness brand
(Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort, debuted in 2019). Agus’ Paramount+ series, The Checkup With Dr. David Agus, launched in December and features intimate, health-focused conversations with the likes of Jane Fonda and Ashton Kutcher. At the ultra-discreet Sensei Porcupine Creek, spa treatments are not the entire point but are in support of each guest’s overarching personal goals (discovered during one-on-one sessions with a private Sensei guide) and include sports recovery experiences that combine myofascial release, neuromuscular therapy, percussive devices and stretching. Of course, it’s also possible to feel totally pampered, with a gua sha facial or Desert Herb Poultice and Oil Massage, which uses products infused with herbs from the desert region. The Californiameets-Japanese-meets-Peruvian cuisine and sushi bar, courtesy of Sensei by Nobu, also toes the line between healthful and decadent. Packages start at $1,225 a night with a two-night minimum (sensei.com) and progress to the Optimal Wellbeing Program, which uses data-capturing health tech and innovative analysis to dictate an integrated itinerary of practices and therapies (from $1,580 a night).