Travel+Leisure

9 amazing wellness retreats around the world

You came. You saw. You convalesced. These nine wellness retreats are among the best around to cure whatever ails you.

Wellness Retreats

January 3, 2022

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4 Minute Read

You came. You saw. You convalesced. These nine wellness retreats are among the best around to cure whatever ails you. Read on and exhale deeply just thinking about unleashing your lighter, happier, freer self this year.

Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, Florida

The five-star Magic City hideaway Carillon Miami Wellness Resort is offering two ongoing retreat options: Jump Start Your Health & Wellness for individuals and Get Healthy Together for two people. These four-night getaways feature a tailored itinerary based on your personal goals.

Through the property’s anti-aging and medical wellness center, the biostation—led by medical director Martin G. Bloom, M.D.—guests will receive extensive diagnostic testing and personalized wellness plans, with a range of services from IV nutrient therapy to cutting-edge cryotherapy treatments.

You’ll hang out in a one- or two-bedroom premium apartment and enjoy three touchless wellness experiences, like a meditation pod with color, sound and energy therapies or a saltwater float session and the choice of some 65 weekly fitness classes.

Lithia Springs Resort & Wine Garden, Oregon

Grab your best friend or college roommate for a two-night empowerment and wellness retreat in the Southern Oregon city best known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This package is run by holistic health and transformational lifestyle coach Andréa Matteson.

During your stay, you’ll work with Matteson to practice self-compassion and overhaul negative mindsets, interspersed by dips in the sulfur-rich mineral waters and sips of Applegate Valley vino in the verdant wine garden.

On day one, you’ll partake in the two-hour “Discover Session.” Day two is the equal-length “Mindset Empowerment Session.” You can make the most of your downtime with complimentary gourmet breakfasts, afternoon tea, outdoor jacuzzi sessions or bike rides along the local trails.

Castle Hot Springs, Arizona

Journey 50 miles outside of Phoenix any time of year, and you’ll be rewarded with an immersive nature experience in the Bradshaw Mountains that does the body and mind good from the moment you check into Castle Hot Springs.

Named the No. 1 Arizona resort in Travel + Leisure’s 2021 World’s Best Awards, the pièce de résistance at this 30-room resort are its thermal hot springs. Those looking to re-align their chakras will also find salvation in the property’s digital detox philosophy. Between stand-up paddleboarding in the hot springs, yoga sessions and conquering Arizona’s first via ferrata cable climbing course, this adults-only resort is ideal for a retreat-like experience without the formal structure and mandatory group meditations.

Casa Alternavida, Puerto Rico

Another great choice if you’re looking for an anytime adventure, this beachfront retreat center has perfected the art of helping guests unleash their higher selves and learn powerful techniques to keep anxiety’s nefarious head at bay.

In the middle of the El Yunque Rainforest, you’ll work with a coach to quiet your mind while nature therapy does its thing. Your schedule includes three daily organic meals, movement classes, a personalized retreat program and guided nature excursions. Bring your favorite travel journal and let that spiritual rebirth commence.

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Wild Hive Women’s Retreats, various locations

Those looking for a life-changing retreat in a gorgeous destination should add Wild Hive to their list. The retreat outfitter’s past trips include Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Joshua Tree, California, Tucson, Arizona, and Sonoma, California. For each retreat, founder Mollie Krengel rents out an entire property, and the pillar of these getaways is an hour of freewheeling dancing every day. Beyond that, retreats may include philanthropic projects (in Guatemala, they installed water filters and stoves in the homes of Mayan women, for instance), poolside cocktails and cultural and adventure activities.

Royal Mansour, Marrakesh

There’s just something about Marrakesh that soothes the soul. At Royal Mansour, travelers can book this immunity-supportive agenda on an individual basis. As you follow your bliss, you’ll be showered with programming running the gamut from private sport lessons and Tibetan singing bowl therapies to oxygen facials and massages. Consultations with a nutritionist and wellness advisor, as well as a body composition and scalp analysis, are also part of the retreat, as are personalized menus. When you’re not flooding your cells with delectable fare from acclaimed chefs, enjoy the 27,000-square-foot spa, art therapy class in a glass-paneled greenhouse or a chaise lounge by the pool.

Inns of Aurora, New York

This small, almost enchanted Finger Lakes village on the placid shores of Cayuga Lake is enough to leave you feeling restored and re-energized. The inviting lakeside boutique resort ups the ante with multi-day retreats, like the three-day Metta Retreat or two-day Duet Retreat at The Inns of Aurora’s new 15,000-square-foot Spa at the Inns of Aurora. The Metta Retreat, for example, is inspired by the Buddhist practice of metta meditation, and guests work on cultivating kindness to themselves and staying grounded in the present. In addition to meditation, this mind shift is helped along by massages, facials, wraps, hydrotherapy circuits in the spa’s six indoor and outdoor pools and other detoxifying treatments. 

The Ranch Malibu, California

The Ranch Malibu hosts retreats year-round, including its celebrated signature one-week program, which seeks to adjust your mind, body and spirit through an intense fitness and wellness routine paired with a plant-based diet. While you unplug from the dizzying daily array of smartphone alerts and Zoom calls, you’ll participate in four-hour morning group hikes, yoga, daily massages and more. Other items on the holistic wellness menu include pre- and post-program cholesterol testing, a midweek sound bath, acupuncture, cryotherapy and IV therapy. The stunning view along the property’s 200 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains, just three miles above the Pacific Ocean, doesn’t hurt the mind and body reboot, either.

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