Today’s travelers are not just looking for experiences – they are looking for transformational experiences that are so powerful they affect the rest of their lives. It is these extremely high expectations that Alejandro Bataller, vice-president of Sha Wellness Clinic, says he is catering to in this chic property on Spain’s east coast. Sha is one of a growing number of medical wellness resorts around the world that blur the line between a clinic and a hotel.
“These old definitions no longer apply; at Sha you can achieve the results you expect from a top wellness clinic while feeling you’re in a luxury holiday resort,” he says. “Years ago the ‘wellness consumer’ was perceived as someone with a lot of free time. Today, this has completely changed. Most wellness consumers are decision-makers. Our audience has very limited time – and time has become much more valuable than money. We don’t want our guests to have to decide between dedicating time to their health or pleasure anymore.”
The idea of wellness holidays used to bring to mind spa retreats with yoga programmes, but resorts around the world are now bridging health and leisure in ways that are more scientific and medically inclined than ever – at no sacrifice to luxury and leisure.
The newer the hotel or programme, the more medical its approach tends to be. One of the pioneers in the business, The Farm at San Benito, for example, takes a softer route that is nevertheless still a step up from a spa resort. The retreat is set in lush green jungle in the Philippines and features 33 suites and villas, along with an award-winning spa and wellness centre offering programmes for revitalisation, stress reduction, pain management and non-invasive alternatives to cosmetic surgery.
