Since the pandemic, spas and wellness retreats have become more about longevity, as people are combining travel to enhance their wellness experiences. Going on vacation used to be an excuse to leave our diet and workout routines at home, yet these days, we plan trips based on relaxation, self-improvement, and wellbeing.
The latest science-based technologies and diagnostic tools allow spas to customize stays with therapies that address everything from emotional health to living healthier and longer. Wellness now goes beyond skin deep—offering not only a means to relax and restore, but to level up your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
Spas and wellness retreats have become more about longevity, as people are combining travel to enhance their wellness experiences.
The wellness tourism market, a well-documented growing area, is expected to grow to $1098.42 billion in 2026, expanding at a rate of 9.92 percent per annum, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy
Palazzo Fiuggi
Palazzo Fiuggi is the brainchild of Italian hospitality giant Lorenzo Giannuzzi. It takes pride in its medical ethos, but in an environment that feels sumptuous rather than pseudo-clinical. While the palazzo readily conjures up images of past guests—Picasso setting up his easel in a wooded corner of its landscaped gardens, or Roberto Rossellini dancing cheek to cheek with Ingrid Bergman on the terrace under a moonlit sky—these days the nostalgic glow is underpinned by a scientific approach to wellbeing.
Palazzo Fiuggi’s $33 million renovation sets the dial even higher. It is a place of Corinthian columns and Renaissance statues, with vintage chess tables and books on great explorers suggesting a certain whimsical hedonism.
As the lead doctor here, Fiuggi-born Professor David Della Morte Canosci heads up wellness. He is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. His team of eight specialist doctors have created programs around longevity, optimum weight, and the immune system—much of their work is based on the professor’s findings regarding the pathological pathways that link metabolic and cognitive diseases with the aging process.
The food program is prepared by German-born chef, Heinz Beck who has won three Michelin stars at Rome’s famous La Pergola, but here he has worked with Professor Della Morte Canosci on 1,600 recipes that can be customized to suit guests’ needs—whether they want the surprisingly tasty 1,200-calorie-a-day Detox menu or the daily diet of 1,800 calories.
At the spa’s heart are three thalassotherapy baths in a striking glass-fronted lounge overlooking neatly clipped borders—one warm, one tepid, one icy, all filled with therapeutic water. Treatments run from time-honored mud wraps to high-tech binaural sleep therapies and facials using Hollywood’s Dr. Barbara Sturm’s methods. The eight acres offer plenty of room for the usual tick-list of activities—tennis, padel tennis, jogging, and yoga, as well as forest bathing.
Joali Being, Maldives
An outdoor villa at Joali Being.
Joali Being, in the far-flung Raa Atoll, is the first luxury Maldivian wellbeing retreat. The wellness program centers around four pillars—mind, skin, microbiome, and energy—and features high-tech diagnostics and a blend of modern treatments and ancient practices to achieve a feeling of “weightlessness.”
The main complex has superb facilities—glass-fronted saunas, steam rooms, ice fountains, hydrotherapy pools, and a huge salt room with illuminated pink Himalayan salt bricks (breathing in mineral-rich air is said to improve mental clarity). There is also a vast Technogym, as well as the Maldives’ first cryotherapy chamber. Additionally, there is also an herbology bar that creates bespoke stress-reducing infusions.
KAASHI, the hydrotherapy hall, has been created around the idea of healing through water, and hosts an array of private aquatic experiences—from the deep relaxation and nurturing therapy of Watsu, to the exhilarating, purifying effects of the aufguss sauna. The Turkish style hammam hosts calming sojourns that include a cleansing ritual, an aromatherapy scrub, a customized massage, and a replenishing body mask. Inspired by salt caves found in nature, the salt inhalation room provides an opportunity to experience halotherapy, prized for its beneficial impact on our breathing. The retreat’s elemental therapies with healing crystals and massages with signature essential oils help to bring each of the four pillars into harmony.
Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland
Clinique La Prairie
One of the most exclusive health and wellness destinations in the world, Clinique La Prairie has been serving up science-backed, holistic solutions since 1931. Located in the heart of Montreux, Switzerland, the otherworldly-looking institute is more than just the originator of the medical spa concept with unique touches that go beyond just medical excellence.
There is no debate that the stunning view of the Alps and Lake Geneva never gets old, and some treatments can be incredibly enjoyable, but the philosophy of the Clinique’s four foundational pillars of medical care, wellness, nutrition, and movement goes far beyond inducing comfort for its guests.
Medical expertise and advanced technology employed at the Clinique is imperative in assisting to identify the correct preventative measures targeting a variety of ailments, but equally as crucial is the all-round experience that comprises many different factors outside of all things medical. In particular, stem cell treatments are the most popular and much of their research is dedicated to the future of stem cells.
After the initial day of medical assessment, guests will receive each evening their tailor-made programs for the next day, with schedules of further tests and treatments determined by the specialist team following evaluation of each individual guest’s progress daily. An app specific to the Clinique can be downloaded to facilitate appointment tracking, as the day is jam-packed with activities with often only 15 minutes’ break between sessions. This is definitely not your average spa experience.
A team of close to 50 medical specialists assures exceptional diagnostic precision and support, all equipped with the latest technology. The wellbeing experts help restore internal balance, as well as remedy a wide range of conditions caused by thrown-off hormones, internal inflammation, and stress build-up. Aside from treatments, you will benefit from knowledge on how to live a healthier life in general.
Chiva-Som, Thailand
The Bathing Pavilion at Chiva-Som
Chiva-Som, after nearly 30 years, is still consistently voted “the best of the best.” And with good reason—this very stylish refuge from the rest of the world is seated within the idyllic beaches of Hua Hin in Thailand, and sprawls over nearly seven acres of land.
Chiva-Som prides itself on its six different retreat programs (ranging from three to 14 days), offering spa and spiritual practices, such as craniosacral therapy, crystal massages, and quantum healings, alongside an array of medical treatments. From open-air yoga pavilions to an alfresco lobby, tall palm trees and lush shrubbery line every street, with brick stone pathways stretching out for miles over natural pond water.
Life at Chiva-Som exudes luxury from the moment you are greeted and ready to embark on your wellness journey. Each guest’s first stop is a consultation with a health and wellness adviser. This session involves a rundown of all the services the resort offers, a blood pressure check, and an in-depth questionnaire about your health status, lifestyle, and overall goals. Then, your adviser will draw up a custom plan for your stay, planned in great detail and incorporating all six of Chiva-Som’s trademark wellness modalities—spa, fitness, physiotherapy, holistic health, nutrition, and aesthetic beauty.
The Chiva-Som Signature massage is a daily inclusion which is certainly no ordinary massage. Trained at the Chiva-Som Academy—the wellness brand owns a massage school in Bangkok—each member of the staff is instilled with a high level of skill, evident in each stroke of every treatment they perform. Other treatments tailored to me were the hot-oil head massage, a deep-stretch session, and energy healing to help with clarity and goal setting.
Once you have become accustomed to the pace and luxury at Chiva-Som, it is a difficult place to leave. The lengthier retreats, which extend beyond a week and lean into a month, are built to be transformative in nature, imbuing guests with healthy habits and wellness practices that can take them far beyond the time of their stay.
Marianne Vicelich
Australia-based Marianne Vicelich is a travel journalist who specializes in writing about luxurious wellness and spa destinations. She is a prolific author of 12 books, including her latest wellness book, "The Longevity Game." She has been featured on the BBC London, E News, NBC Network, and Bravo TV, among others, and in magazines including Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and Marie Claire.