Why It’s So Tough to Get Wellness Right at Upper-Scale and Luxury Lifestyle Hotels

Blending traditional Japanese elements with modern luxury at Six Senses Kyoto

The business imperative for wellness has always seemed clearer for sprawling resorts and ultra-luxury properties. As the demand for wellness experiences has grown, these properties have generally been proactive about refining their offerings to incorporate trends, and investing in new ways to enhance the guest experience.

It’s been a different story at upper-scale and luxury lifestyle hotels though. Until recently, enhanced wellness offerings at these properties were seen as optional, with hoteliers often sceptical about the ROI of embracing the latest trends and navigating the challenges that come with implementing them.

It’s understandable when you consider that the constraints at these properties are significant. Think Andaz, JW Marriott, Grand Hyatt and Westin - five-star urban hotels with strong brands that appeal to modern luxury travellers. The need to cater to diverse guest expectations and integrate wellness into already established luxury offerings and facilities requires serious effort. And getting it right involves much more than most in the industry give it credit for.

The Wellness Conundrum

The temptation to implement quick-fix wellness solutions at upper-scale and luxury lifestyle properties has been hard to resist. A yoga mat here, a healthy menu option there, perhaps a wellness-themed event or rooms package - these are all reasonably simple offerings for them to implement that, until recently, ticked the wellness box.

But things have changed, and these token gestures now fall short of what modern luxury travellers truly desire. Today, creating wellness programs that feel organic to each brand’s identity and provide a genuine offering that extends across the guest experience is a necessary undertaking that requires constant monitoring and improvement.

The potential rewards of this kind of wellness integration are huge. We know it leads to increased guest satisfaction and loyalty, higher revenue potential from the rapidly growing wellness tourism segment, and a chance to differentiate properties in an increasingly competitive market.

And the risks of poor implementation are equally substantial. Generic wellness offerings that feel disconnected from the core identity can lead to brand erosion. The risks of missing out on revenue opportunities and, perhaps most damagingly, losing appeal across the luxury travel market should be terrifying prospects for any property.

As a result, luxury hoteliers leading these properties are ready to embrace wellness wholeheartedly. And where there’s a will, there tends to be a way.

Personalised wellness in a luxury urban setting at Andaz Tokyo

Navigating the Constraints

The path to meaningful wellness integration at upper-scale and luxury lifestyle properties has many hurdles. Even with the endorsement and support of the overarching brand, space limitations at individual properties often preclude extensive wellness infrastructure. Budget constraints force them to prioritise, sometimes at the expense of wellness initiatives. The diversity of the guest base—from business travellers to leisure seekers—makes it challenging to create a one-size-fits-all wellness program.

Those can seem like insurmountable barriers at first, but they’re also a catalyst for innovation, pushing us to think creatively about how we can weave wellness into the fabric of the guest experience.

Take Andaz Tokyo, for instance. Like many urban properties, it faces space and budget limitations, yet it has managed to weave wellness seamlessly into its guest experience. The AO Spa & Club offers personalised wellness experiences with a blend of traditional Japanese rituals and modern luxury. The onsen-style baths and custom-blended treatments show how the property capitalises on its cultural surroundings to deliver authentic wellness experiences, despite spatial constraints.

In addition to the AO Spa, Andaz Tokyo incorporates wellness across the guest experience, offering in-room wellness amenities, healthy dining options, along with wellbeing experiences and events for guests to participate in. It’s a prime example of how having a holistic approach to wellness across the hotel can help it overcome typical urban limitations and elevate the entire guest experience.

Or consider Westin's approach - a great example of how “stacking” wellness amenities can create a cohesive wellness narrative. Their "Heavenly" brand touchpoints—from beds to spas to menus—align perfectly with their focus on guest wellbeing.

Wellness-focused amenities from Westin's Heavenly® line

Scalable Solutions for Every Space

Where space is at a premium, wellness typically won’t revolve around elaborate spa facilities or fitness centres. At many urban properties, we’re seeing a greater focus on in-room wellness and biohacking amenities. The Six Senses Sleep Program, which we've touched on recently, is a perfect example of extending the wellness narrative across an entire brand, regardless of the type of property or the scale of its wellness facilities. By creating an optimal sleep environment through a combination of simple elements e.g. comfy beds, blackout curtains, and biohacking features like circadian lighting, the Sleep Program can be implemented at a wide range of Six Senses properties in potentially any location.

Other brands are following suit. JW Marriott's "Mindful Experiences" program, offering in-room guided meditations and healthy menu options, can be rolled out to almost any property around the globe. This also helps on the budget side of things, where enhancing existing wellness facilities or building new ones is quickly ruled out. Being able to implement a program across the entire brand that doesn’t take up precious physical space is a terrific innovation.

Partnerships are another option. In addition to its Sleep At Hyatt program, Hyatt’s partnerships with Peloton and Headspace provide a successful pathway to in-room wellness offerings. It’s a clever idea with lots of benefits, especially from bringing together groups of customers across different products and brands for a unique experience. Unsurprisingly, we should expect to see more brands with large portfolios of upper-scale and luxury-lifestyle properties go down the partnerships route as a simple and cost-effective way to enhance wellness offerings.