As I set foot in Sanctuary NYC during a recent trip — after schlepping my luggage on a crowded, muggy subway — I was more than a little disoriented. The Lower East Side hotel had warm hardwood floors, muted earth tones and Indian folk art on the walls, and a nature documentary playing the lobby. I could take yoga classes and sound bath workshops in the studio downstairs. What had I walked into, exactly? Sure, it was a hotel, but it didn’t have the same staid vibe as, say, an Embassy Suites or Marriott. Sanctuary and other spots like it are marketed as “wellness hotels,” but this one felt a little like an ashram, or even a commune.
Our stay at Sanctuary NYC was serendipitous; my partner stumbled on it while searching for affordable hotels in the area. After some digging, I learned it was one of a growing number of “wellness hotels.” These differ from destination spas and wellness retreats, which have existed for years and consist of intensive programming geared toward specific health goals, according to LODGING, the official publication of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Also — let’s be real — most wellness retreats reflect the elitism of the wellness industry overall; they’re generally expensive and not very inclusive, for primarily that reason.
