Here at Oprah Daily, wellness is no longer the add-on to an adventure, but rather the driving force behind so much leisure travel. This year, we scoured the planet to come up with those standout hotels, resorts, and cruises that serve as the catalyst for personal transformation. Here are this year’s winners.
United States
EASTWIND OLIVEREA VALLEY
Big Indian, New York
Set along Esopus Creek, deep in the Catskills, this 26-room Scandinavian-inspired mountain hideaway pairs A-frame cabins and hotel rooms with mid-century furnishings and easy access to the outdoors. Barrel-shaped Nordic saunas, a heated pool, sunrise meditation sessions, and nearby hiking trails keep the focus squarely on nature, while hammocks and firepits encourage communal hangs. The real magic, however, is Eastwind’s rotating lineup of creative retreats and workshops. Guests might join a foraging walk, weave baskets, learn to make a sourdough starter, or pour candles. For city folk in particular, it’s a gentle reminder of how nice it is to use your hands for something other than scrolling.
THE BARNS AT TROUTBECK
Amenia, New York
Troutbeck has long attracted great artists, writers, and thinkers; now it has a proper place to work on the body, too. Housed within a cluster of farm buildings constructed from reclaimed lumber on the 250-acre estate, The Barns includes a polished gym, traditional and infrared saunas, and treatment rooms offering acupuncture, massage, and Wildsmith’s plant-powered facials. Daily programming ranges from yoga and pilates to somatic movement classes, with hiking and biking trails, tennis courts, and a heated pool providing guests even more ways to stay in motion between all the stimulating dinner conversations.
NEMACOLIN RESORT
Farmington, Pennsylvania
If most wellness resorts ask you to slow down, Nemacolin dares you to choose your own adventure. Less than 90 minutes from Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands, the 2,200-acre resort throws a little bit of everything at you: a 32,000-square-foot spa with 30 treatment rooms and an indoor pool, a separate Holistic Healing Center for acupuncture and saltwater float sessions, and outdoor pursuits ranging from archery and fly-fishing to trail rides. There’s also a legit art collection—more than 1,000 works, including Chihuly and Botero—and a wide variety of places to stay, from the Paris-chic The Chateau to Falling Rock, a Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired haunt. It’s especially good for girlfriend trips and multigenerational getaways, since no one has to want the same thing.
BLACKBERRY FARM
Walland, Tennessee
Most people come to Blackberry Farm for the food, and who could blame them? This Smoky Mountain classic has long been one of the South’s great culinary destinations. But the experience now extends well beyond the table, across 4,200 acres and 68 guest accommodations. Travelers can start the morning with woodland yoga or somatic sculpt classes, head out for a guided hike or fly-fishing lesson, then while away the afternoon at the Wellhouse spa, where treatments use botanicals from holistic skin care pioneer Tammy Fender. Watercolor meditation and new- and full-moon rituals add a softer, more introspective layer to a stay already rooted in nature and craft.
THE SWAG
Waynesville, North Carolina
Every morning at The Swag, guests gather around a bulletin board to see what the day has in store: maybe a guided hike into Great Smoky Mountains National Park, maybe pickleball, maybe a wine tasting, maybe a horticulture lesson with the inn’s resident gardener. The all-inclusive Relais & Châteaux retreat has just 18 suites lofted atop a 5,000-foot ridge, so the whole thing feels more like staying at a private club than checking into a resort. Lectures from rotating Experts in Residence—Cherokee author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Appalachian historian Daniel S. Pierce—provide context for the experience. And after dark, the entertainment shifts skyward: The Swag is one of only 11 DarkSky-approved lodgings in the country.
HILTON HEAD HEALTH WELLNESS RESORT & SPA
Hilton Head, South Carolina
For decades, Hilton Head Health was known as one of America’s original weight-loss retreats. Today it’s trying to meet the Ozempic era head-on. Its new weeklong GLP-1 Support Experience helps guests figure out how to live well on—and after—medications like Zepbound and Wegovy, with physician consultations, metabolic testing, strength training, and nutrition coaching aimed at protecting muscle mass and building habits that last. For guests nostalgic for the past, rest assured that the all-inclusive resort still offers its usual lineup of 50-plus weekly classes, from pilates to kayaking, along with cheffy meals and plenty of health education.
CARILLON MIAMI WELLNESS RESORT
Miami Beach
Most Miami Beach hotels promise relaxation; Carillon would rather get you moving. The oceanfront property houses a 70,000-square-foot spa and wellness center—one of the largest on the East Coast—where guests can pinball from aqua cycling in the rooftop pool to boot camp on the indoor climbing wall, then recover in the thermal hydrotherapy circuit. The on-site Biostation clinic offers medical expertise, with services like nutrient therapy and hormone support, while the 73 apartment-style suites (all with kitchens and living rooms) make longer stays a cinch. Come for a quick sleep reset or settle in for a more intensive menopause- or perimenopause-focused program. Either way, this is a beach vacation with actual follow-through.
THE FIELDS OF MICHIGAN
South Haven, Michigan
Glamping takes a charming Midwestern twist at The Fields of Michigan, stationed at a working blueberry farm near South Haven. Part of Under Canvas’s Outdoor Collection, the seasonal retreat trades roughing it for safari-style tents and cottages with king beds, rainfall showers, electric fireplaces, and private decks. The experience taps into the sheer joy of a lazy Lake Michigan summer: berry picking, bicycle rides, pool dips, and s’mores after dinner at the weekends-only Supper Club. For guests craving deeper relaxation, the open-air massage cabins tucked beneath tall pines swap spa soundtracks for the real thing—wind rustling leaves and birds chirping overhead.
WILD RICE RETREAT
Bayfield, Wisconsin
Wild Rice Retreat lures travelers to Lake Superior not just to unwind, but to learn something new. Visiting instructors lead small-group retreats and workshops on everything from restorative yoga to encaustic painting, giving the forested property the feel of an adult summer camp for the creatively inclined. Scandinavian-inspired cabins with oversize windows and patios or balconies keep eyes on the trees, while shared spaces include a sauna house, a rain room, and miles of wooded trails. Ayurvedic-inspired meals, morning intention setting, and daily movement classes add structure, but never so much that it feels like homework.
CAMP LUCY
Dripping Springs, Texas
The 20,000-square-foot Folklore Spa at Camp Lucy trades predictably snoozy neutrals for playful maximalist treatment rooms designed with different colors to influence mood and energy. Set on 282 acres outside Austin, the vineyard estate recently added 13 rooms besides the spa, making overnight stays feel seamless. Guests can bounce between massages and facials that use Natura Bissé and Irene Forte Skincare products, then linger at the co-ed sauna, hot tub, and heated pool with wide-open Hill Country views.
MII AMO
Sedona, Arizona
A journey into the Boynton Canyon Vortex releases one woman’s long-buried rage.
L’AUBERGE DE SEDONA
Sedona, Arizona
Sedona has long been synonymous with vortexes, tarot readings, and the occasional pet psychic. L’Auberge de Sedona has fun with that reputation while still delivering serious luxury. A $30 million transformation recently doubled the size of the resort, adding The Cliffs, a collection of 70 guest rooms and suites with swoony red-rock views, along with Duck Pond, a three-story pool carved into the cliffs. The expanded L’Apothecary Spa offers chakra-balancing massage, floating sound healing, and organic facials with locally sourced botanicals, while crystal meditation and guided stargazing bring the full Sedona fantasy to life.
CAL-A-VIE HEALTH SPA
Vista, California
A 400-year-old chapel, orangerie, and parish house from Dijon are not what most people expect to find at a California fitness retreat, but Cal-a-Vie has always done things its own way. The 40-year-old destination spa stretches across 500 private acres north of San Diego, where antique French buildings sit among lavender fields and citrus trees. Guests sign up for the famously demanding schedule—more than 160 weekly fitness classes, hikes across 10 miles of trails, and meals built with gut health in mind—then reward their sore muscles with spa treatments and, if they’re feeling particularly virtuous, advanced biomarker testing. There’s even an on-site observatory with a Takahashi telescope, because at Cal-a-Vie, wellness sometimes means looking up as much as looking inward.
WE CARE SPA
Desert Hot Springs, California
For our creative director, a stay here is a cleansing experience in every sense.
RESET HOTEL
Twentynine Palms, California
Joshua Tree’s north entrance hadn’t seen a new hotel in more than 15 years before Reset arrived in 2025. The 65-room boutique property occupies 180 acres of high desert in Twentynine Palms, most of it intentionally left untouched, with minimalist architecture that blurs the line between indoors and out. Rooms open onto private patios with firepits, daybeds, and, in some cases, tubs where you can soak beneath the stars. Inside, you’ll find little to distract from the striking landscape. Guests fill their hours with yoga, sound baths, breathwork, contrast therapy, or a very underrated activity known as vegging out by the pool with a good book.
Canada
FAIRMONT CHATEAU LAKE LOUISE
Lake Louise, Alberta
Opened in September 2025, Basin Glacial Waters introduces a sleek Nordic-style thermal circuit to one of Canada’s most storied lakefronts. Plunked into UNESCO-listed Banff National Park, the indoor-outdoor spa is fed by water from nearby Victoria Glacier. The lineup includes Finnish and bio saunas, steam experiences, a cold plunge, a reflexology pool, and a lakeside infinity pool with panoramic views of the Canadian Rockies. The effect is transporting: Alternating heat and cold in an iconic setting helps guests recalibrate after a day skiing or hiking in the mountains.
MYSA NORDIC SPA & RESORT
St. Peter’s Bay, Prince Edward Island
On the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Mysa Nordic Spa & Resort brings the Nordic hot-cold rest ritual to a working coastal landscape. The waterfront retreat looks out over St. Peter’s Bay—where mussel boats drift past in summer—and centers on an outdoor thermal circuit with hot pools, cold plunges, a eucalyptus steam bath, and a barrel sauna. Guided Aufguss ceremonies and sound baths with live music elevate the traditional soak cycle, while 17 modern cottages and a greenhouse-driven kitchen make spending the night irresistible.
Mexico, Caribbean, and Central & South America
SENSEI AT ZADÚN LOS CABOS, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE
Los Cabos, Mexico
Wellness at Sensei at Zadún skews more health lab than spa escape. The Los Cabos outpost of the data-driven brand founded by Oracle’s Larry Ellison and physician David Agus matches guests with a Sensei Guide—part trainer, part nutritionist, part behavioral coach—who analyzes health metrics gathered before and during the stay to shape a personalized plan. In the five-day Optimal Wellbeing program, that might mean tracking sleep and respiratory patterns with a wearable, running physical tests from VO2 max to vertical jump, and discussing tweaks to your routine once you’re back home. All that self-improvement takes place within Zadún’s serene desert-meets-sea setting, where suites spill onto private terraces with plunge pools and the Sea of Cortés just beyond.
ROSEWOOD MANDARINA
Riviera Nayarit, Mexico
Few resorts in Mexico feel as shaped by their surroundings as Rosewood Mandarina. Opened in 2025 and less than an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, the 134-suite retreat stretches across 565 acres of Pacific shoreline, forested mountains, and agricultural flatlands within the broader Mandarina development. Each accommodation comes with its own plunge pool and terrace, while the property’s Asaya Spa draws on the cosmology and healing traditions of the region’s indigenous Wixárika and Cora communities. Treatments like a tobacco-infused massage complement yoga, surfing, or polo lessons at a dedicated equestrian club, and spiritual hikes to the ancient La Abuela tree.
SER CASASANDRA
Isla Holbox, Mexico
Ser Casasandra began as the beachfront home of Cuban artist Sandra Pérez, who arrived on car-free Isla Holbox more than two decades ago looking for a chill place to write and paint. Over time, the house expanded organically into a small, art-filled hotel that still recalls a private retreat. Treatments at the Ahal Holistic Center draw on Mayan traditions but also venture into lesser-known territory, including magnet therapy and Janzu, a form of somatic water therapy that uses breath and gentle bodywork in warm water to release tension. The atmosphere is unhurried by choice: no TVs, plenty of art, and programming—much of it designed for women—that favors reflection and creativity over boot-camp intensity.
FAIRMONT MAYAKOBA
Riviera Maya, Mexico
If you can sit peacefully in a dark, 120-degree dome for an hour and a half, what can’t you do?
RADHOO TULUM
Tulum, Mexico
This 14-room boutique jungle retreat sits about 90 minutes south of Cancún on the inland side of Tulum’s beach road, where thatched-roof suites with hammock terraces flank one of the area’s largest pools. Programming leans unapologetically into the town’s spiritual side with breathwork, pre-Hispanic sound healing, chakra harmonizing, cacao rituals, Akashic records readings, and a mud ceremony meant to reconnect guests with the earth. The hotel also hosts occasional ticketed gatherings—summer solstice celebrations and Black Moon rebirth ceremonies among them—that welcome both guests and locals for evenings of music and meditation.
CHAMPION SPIRIT COUNTRY CLUB
Nassau, Bahamas
Wellness retreats rarely start with stepping into a boxing ring. But that’s exactly the idea at Champion Spirit Country Club, a new performance-driven resort founded by former Muay Thai world champion Abdoulaye Fadiga and led by Olympic medalist Andretti Bain. Located on Nassau’s western shore, the club combines biometric testing and one-on-one coaching (boxing, padel, gymnastics, and track workouts) with the kind of recovery tools commonly found in pro-sports facilities, including cryotherapy, flotation therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, and red-light treatments. Families are welcome, too: A Kids Academy introduces younger guests to martial arts, while a beach outpost inside Clifton Heritage National Park ties the experience back to Bahamian culture.
NAYARA BOCAS DEL TORO
Bocas del Toro, Panama
Fifty feet above the mangrove canopy at Nayara Bocas del Toro, the new Colibrí Spa Treehouse—designed by Elora Hardy of Bali’s celebrated Ibuku studio—is an open-air structure built from locally sourced bamboo and reclaimed timber. Guests head up for treatments inspired by regional traditions, including a cacao-based body wrap. The adults-only private-island resort operates off the grid using solar power and rainwater, and plans call for three additional canopy pavilions serving infused drinks and Indigenous-inspired bites alongside spa therapies. Even the beach here is a bit unconventional: a white-sand platform built on stilts above the sea.
HACIENDA ALTAGRACIA, AUBERGE COLLECTION
Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica
The first Estée Lauder Skin Longevity Institute in the Americas debuted last year at Hacienda AltaGracia, bringing the beauty brand’s diagnostic tools and treatment protocols into Costa Rica’s rain-forested mountains. Guests can analyze their skin with advanced imaging before getting customized facials—but the experience extends well beyond the treatment room. Coffee grown on the 180-acre property appears in morning tastings, horseback rides wind through the surrounding hills, and river bathing offers a refreshing foil to the lab-grade skin care.
LAMÅNGATA LUXURY SURF RESORT
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Ever wish you could spend a week doing nothing but learning to surf—with a coach who actually helps you improve? That’s the idea at Lamångata Luxury Surf Resort, a six-suite sanctuary in the hills above Costa Rica’s famed Dominical break. Each day revolves around time in the water: Instructors film your sessions, then review the footage afterward to fine-tune your pop-up, timing, and wave selection. By week’s end, most guests are riding waves with confidence. Back at the resort, guests swim laps in the pool, pretzel up in a teakwood yoga studio, and dig into meals sourced partly from the on-site greenhouse.
PARED SUR CAMP
Puerto Guadal, Chile
It’s not Patagonia’s most sumptuous stay—but it might be its most rewarding. Founded by expedition leader Pablo Sepúlveda in Chile’s remote Aysén region, the off-grid Pared Sur Camp runs six-day programs that stack big adventures back-to-back: rafting the Baker River, kayaking the Marble Caves of Lago General Carrera, mountain biking the Carretera Austral, and hiking in Patagonia National Park. Lodging ranges from simple tents to geodesic domes and cabins. Guests eat remarkably well for such an isolated place, culminating in a traditional Patagonian asado on the final night. With red wine flowing, strangers turned friends toast to a week that proved they could do more than they thought.
Europe
ELEVEN DEPLAR FARM
Ólafsfjörður, Iceland
Inside a converted sheep farm clad in black timber and turf on the far-flung Troll Peninsula, this remote lodge goes as hard on outdoor adventure as it does on recovery. Guided adventures include heli-skiing and fat biking in winter and hiking and horseback riding in warmer months. Afterward, guests retreat to a spa with indoor and outdoor hot tubs, cold plunges, saunas, a steam room, two flotation tanks, and a geothermal pool—perfect for scouting the northern lights on a clear night. Communal meals and small-group energy keep the experience convivial without sacrificing the sense of wild isolation.
HOTEL FØROYAR
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Self-care at Hotel Føroyar begins outdoors, as most Faroese would suggest. Built into a hillside overlooking the capital of Tórshavn, the hotel’s recently expanded Ress Spa takes therapeutic inspiration from the islands’ moody weather and rugged terrain. Guests tread an exposed path from the main building to the spa before surrendering to heated indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, steam rooms, and relaxation spaces framed by dramatic views of the North Atlantic. The idea is simple: long coastal hikes, lungfuls of salty air, and restorative treatments—from gua sha facials to hot-stone massage—all reinforcing a Faroese belief that nature is the best medicine.
QUARR ABBEY
Ryde, United Kingdom
This working Benedictine monastery on the Isle of Wight welcomes lay guests for simple stays in its retreat house, where daily life is purposefully pared back. Rooms are modest, meals are taken communally, and guests may attend religious services if they wish. Stays are arranged by donation with Father Nicholas, the abbey’s guestmaster. There’s no Wi-Fi here—which, of course, is the point. People come to Quarr Abbey to step away from overpacked schedules and endless decision-making in search of something increasingly rare: space to just be.
BRENNERS PARK-HOTEL & SPA
Baden-Baden, Germany
Well known for its sprawling spa complex and medical clinic led by Dr. Harry F. König that combines nutrition, physical training, and diagnostics, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa reopened its doors last fall following a stunning top-to-bottom two-year renovation. Situated on the edge of Lichtentaler Allee, a park and arboretum, at the foot of the Black Forest in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed spa town of Baden-Baden (literally “Baths-Baths”), the storied belle epoque–style grande dame, which is part of the Oetker Hotels collection, has been the playground for rich and famous “cure” seekers since it opened 150 years ago. Whether or not you ever leave the hotel’s cluster of 19th-century mansions—or its thermal pools, steam rooms, cold plunge, ice grottoes, and three saunas—for mountaintop yoga, forest hikes, picnics, biking, or skiing, the healing power of nature is inescapable.
LANSERHOF TEGERNSEE
Waakirchen, Germany
If you’ve ever wished your annual physical came with a game plan, Lanserhof Tegernsee is the place for you. Lodged above Bavaria’s Lake Tegernsee, the glassy, light-filled medi-spa operates around the Lanserhof Method, an exacting physician-led system that assesses how your body is functioning—then helps you course-correct. Guests undergo extensive testing that can flag gut imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, and early signs of accelerated aging before segueing into multiday programs built on therapeutic fasting, supervised fitness, and hydrotherapy. To really nerd out, try advanced options like microbiome analysis and blood-cleansing Inuspheresis treatments and add another layer of precision.
CHENOT PALACE WEGGIS
Weggis, Switzerland
Think you have the willpower to hack it at one of Europe’s most rigorous wellness spas? Perched on Lake Lucerne, Chenot Palace Weggis runs on discipline: weeklong doctor-led plans built around the notoriously strict Chenot diet, a plant-based, 850-calorie daily regimen that kicks the body’s repair systems back into gear. A newer five-night Body Insight and Optimization program evaluates 24 diagnostic markers—from cardiorespiratory fitness to arterial stiffness—before mapping out your best path forward. Mix those with hydrotherapy, cryotherapy, hypoxic training, and sleep tuning and the payoff is leaving sharper, lighter, and noticeably more energized than when you arrived.
HUUS QUELL BY APPENZELLER HUUS
Gonten, Switzerland
Launched in 2025 in Switzerland’s beautiful Appenzell region, this intimate retreat incorporates locally harvested “moon wood”—timber cut during specific lunar phases, believed to make it stronger and longer lasting. The big draw, though, is the 23,000-square-foot Quell Spa, where guests follow the L3 Longevity Circle: a customized circuit that moves you from icy cryotherapy to oxygen chambers to steamy thermal pools. The science is serious, but the setting—knockout mountain views, pine-scented air, and immersive local experiences (yes, really—a yodeling choir)—keeps the experience feeling unmistakably Swiss.
SPA HOTEL JAGDHOF
Stubaital, Austria
Family-run for nearly five decades, this Relais & Châteaux mainstay in the Stubai Valley takes a more-is-more approach to Alpine wellness. Its 32,000-square-foot spa ranks among Austria’s most comprehensive, with multiple indoor and outdoor pools and over 20 saunas and steam baths, including a tepidarium, laconium, brine-inhalation grotto, and amethyst steam chamber. A bi-level spa chalet houses three relaxation rooms built from reclaimed Tyrolean barn wood and quartzite stone, plus a tea bar where a dedicated butler serves special wellness blends. Guests wanting more structure can opt into the Mylife Changer program, which uses Physiodermie skin analysis, nutrition coaching, and guided fitness to help build lasting lifestyle shifts.
ERIRO
Ehrwald, Austria
At Eriro, guests are just as likely to kick off their shoes for a barefoot forest walk—or ice-bathe in an Alpine lake—as they are to book a massage. The ultra-luxury, adults-only retreat in the Wetterstein Mountains has just nine suites and is reachable solely by cable car, naturally limiting foot traffic and keeping every stay intimate. About 90 percent of the building is wood sourced from nearby forests, while the rock-set spa beckons with a meditation pool, spruce needle and Finnish saunas, and treatments using local herbs such as St. John’s wort and stinging nettle. A crafting studio lets guests try out pottery or wood carving. Even the kitchen is hyperlocal, preserving jars of pickled larch tips and salt-aged mushrooms for the Tyrolean-inspired menu.
MAYRLIFE MEDICAL HEALTH RESORT
Altaussee, Austria
Chew more, talk less, and be still are the guiding principles for resetting your gut—and overall health.
PALACE MERANO
Merano, Italy
Housed in a grand belle epoque palace in South Tyrol, this five-star hotel has long been home to one of Europe’s most methodical medi-spas, blending Western diagnostics with the holistic principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Guests undergo blood tests, medical consultations, and bioenergetic assessments before diving into custom treatment plans that may fold in everything from hydro-mud therapy to hydro- colon treatments. Nutritionists, naturopaths, osteopaths, and nurses weigh in every step of the way, all working toward the same goal: to fix what ails you on a cellular level.
TERME DI SATURNIA SPA & GOLF RESORT
Saturnia, Italy
Terme di Saturnia sits atop a natural sulfur spring that flows at a constant 99.5°F and has drawn bathers since Etruscan times, feeding a cascade of steaming thermal pools in the Tuscan countryside. Around that mineral-rich source, the resort has built a circuit of hydromassage pools, vascular Kneipp paths, Roman baths, and contrast therapies intended to boost circulation and relieve muscle tension. Thermal mud treatments made with the spring’s own mineral water remain a signature, though many guests also come for medical-grade facials and long hikes in the countryside.
MINOS PALACE RESORT
Crete, Greece
This adults-only resort takes the guesswork out of wellness with its Nao Longevity Hub, a sleek new center that debuted in 2025, melding structured health programming with a classic Aegean beach escape. Guests begin with comprehensive biometric testing before moving into personalized plans that may include strength and mobility sessions, breathwork, recovery therapies, and nutrition planning. Standout offerings include Brain Gym personal training—cognitive movement sessions to boost neuroplasticity and mental agility—alongside red-light therapy and hypoxia-hyperoxia treatments. Programs range from quick one-day tune-ups to immersive two-week tracks, making it easy to weave healthy living into a sun-soaked Cretan holiday.
Africa
ROYAL MANSOUR TAMUDA BAY
M’diq, Morocco
On the Alborán coast between Fnideq and Martil, Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay is home to Morocco’s first full-scale medi-spa. The 46,000-square-foot complex merges medical diagnostics—think metabolic testing, VO2 max analysis, and advanced body-composition scans—with hammam rituals, acupuncture, and other traditional healing practices. Multiday longevity programs, inspired by Blue Zone principles, are executed under the watchful eye of specialists in dermatology, Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, and more. Guests don’t just unplug here—they leave with a plan that extends the benefits long after checkout.
WILDERNESS BISATE LODGE
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Gorilla trekking may be the headliner at Wilderness Bisate, but the December debut of The Sanctuary at Bisate adds a welcome counterpoint: a dedicated wellness space for recovery at altitude. Reserved exclusively for guests of Bisate Lodge and Bisate Reserve, the facility includes a heated saltwater indoor lap pool, steam room, ice bath, gym, and yoga studio. Meditation cocoons offer space to decompress after steep jungle hikes, while targeted back and scalp treatments help soothe trail-weary muscles. Robust spas like this remain a rarity in East Africa’s primate-focused safari camps, making Bisate’s latest evolution especially notable.
STERREKOPJE HEALING FARM
Franschhoek, South Africa
With just 11 art-filled sanctuaries scattered across a 124-acre regenerative farm in South Africa’s Cape Winelands, Sterrekopje invites guests to embrace its “farm-to-soul” philosophy through hands-on participation: harvesting organic produce and botanicals from on-site gardens, baking bread in the farmhouse kitchen, and blending teas in the on-site apothecary. The marble- clad bathhouse offers hammam-inspired cleanses and soaks, while yoga, breathwork, and cacao ceremonies unfold in a Mongolian-style yurt. The signature Wise Women retreats deepen the experience with guided circles and painting and journaling in a dedicated atelier—creative work designed to support reflection.
Asia & Oceania
SIX SENSES KAPLANKAYA
Milas, Turkey
Six Senses Kaplankaya brings the brand’s integrative wellness philosophy to Turkey’s Aegean coast, pairing cutting-edge diagnostics with centuries-old bathing traditions. A Turkish hammam is the centerpiece of the expansive spa, which also houses hydrothermal pools and an ozone sauna. Multiday programs target sleep, stress, detox, fitness, and longevity, supported by private pilates and yoga sessions, pranayama breathwork, and Watsu therapy. For guests seeking a deeper reset, the annual Grow a New Body retreat with Dr. Alberto Villoldo blends neuroscience and shamanic practices into a weeklong immersion—all fueled by the resort’s clean, produce-forward Aegean cuisine.
SHAKTI HIMALAYA
Indian Himalayas
The 20-year-old company is the brainchild of Jamshyd Sethna and combines private walking itineraries through the most remote regions of the Indian Himalayas with luxurious lodgings and meals and a true commitment to ethical tourism.
ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS
Uttarakhand, India
Ananda is set within the grounds of the Palace Estate of the Maharaja of Tehri-Garhwal overlooking the Ganges and Rishikesh, considered the spiritual home of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda.
AARUNYA NATURE RESORT
Kandy, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s hill country has no shortage of tea estate retreats, but Aarunya Nature Resort is pushing the concept in a more immersive direction. Its newly opened Nature Pavilion anchors Sri Lanka’s first biodynamic luxury retreat hub—a space where guests can join species-count walks, reforestation plantings, and informal talks with visiting naturalists and researchers. The 10-villa resort already sits within working spice gardens and tea terraces overlooking the Knuckles Mountain Range. One of its newest additions, the Sol Sanctuary villa, draws on the sacred Sri Yantra geometric pattern, with ceiling apertures that track shifting sunlight throughout the day. Ayurvedic treatments at the relaunched Aarogya Spa use estate-grown botanicals, though much of the appeal lies in stepping outside and engaging directly with the landscape.
AMANTAKA
Luang Prabang, Laos
This French colonial hospital turned serene resort in the heart of UNESCO-listed Luang Prabang reflects the town’s deeply rooted Buddhist traditions. Guests can rise before dawn to take part in the daily almsgiving procession, offering sticky rice to monks moving silently through the streets, or attend chanting ceremonies and Baci blessings. The on-site Buddhist Learning Center hosts conversations with monks, guided temple visits, and meditation sessions led by resident monks, providing insight into Lao spiritual practice. The spa includes herbal steam baths and meditation spaces alongside Lao therapies such as Samun Pai, which uses herbal poultices, and Anamai Hang Kai, a detoxifying scrub and mineral wrap. A slow cruise on the Mekong River reveals another side of this storied corner of Laos.
KAMALAYA
Koh Samui, Thailand
At this storied Thai wellness retreat, the point isn’t to be pampered 24/7. It’s learning to make peace with friction.
ABSOLUTE SANCTUARY
Koh Samui, Thailand
Hormonal health takes center stage at Absolute Sanctuary, a wellness retreat nestled in the hills of Koh Samui. The 38-room resort takes its women’s life-stage programming seriously, with multiday retreats addressing burnout and menopause through targeted nutrition and movement therapy. Specialized tracks such as Women’s Holistic Health combine pilates-based core work, hormone-supportive meals, and mindfulness sessions aimed at emotional balance, while Prime Years (ages 50 to 65) supports women navigating midlife shifts via strength training, gentle yoga, and lifestyle consultations. Detox protocols and breathwork fill the schedule, while the spa offers Thai bodywork, mind-body and contrast therapies, and a salt sanctuary for recovery between sessions.
FOUR SEASONS RESORT LANGKAWI
Tanjung Rhu, Malaysia
Inside the Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark, the Geo Spa at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi overlooks limestone karsts and tidal wetlands along the island’s quiet northern shore. Its updated spa menu organizes treatments around the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. Highlights include Kwansha Sculpt Therapy, a facial to restore elasticity and boost collagen, and the Seri Lembut ritual, pairing rhythmic massage with warm herbal compresses and a jasmine-and-lemongrass-scented steam session to ease muscle tension. Even without the treatments, the setting alone—with a mile of bright white sand and tropical mangroves—would justify a visit.
DESA POTATO HEAD
Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia
Balinese astrology readings, traditional healing sessions, and incense-making workshops introduce travelers to island rituals at Desa Potato Head. The design-forward creative village on Petitenget Beach also boasts an herbal apothecary, where visitors craft face masks and steam blends using medicinal plants like pandan and moringa. Lunar cycles shape parts of the calendar, too: Monthly Purnama gatherings bring sound meditation and plant-driven communal dinners timed to the full moon. The B-Corp–certified campus spans 225 suites and studios, along with sculpture gardens, outdoor amphitheaters, a beach club, and even a nightclub—an unusual setting where Balinese tradition, Ayurvedic philosophy, art, music, and food intersect.
HEALIENCE SEONMAEUL
Hongcheon, South Korea
Phones are discouraged at this wooded wellness campus about an hour from Seoul. Built around the idea of “intentional inconvenience,” it asks guests to ditch their devices and spend the next few days overhauling habits tied to food, sleep, exercise, and mental health—the four pillars of the resort’s behavior-change philosophy. Beyond the trekking trails, the Nature Healing Spa channels Korea’s jjimjilbang bathing culture, with carbonated mineral baths, rock and thermal pools, and a red-clay sauna. The programming also includes meditation, yoga, and guided forest therapy walks. In a country famous for skin care innovation and high-tech living, Healience offers something arguably more special: the chance to disconnect.
GOTO RETREAT BY ONKO CHISHIN
Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Remote even by Japanese standards, the Goto Islands lie west of Nagasaki, where more than 150 sparsely populated isles dot the East China Sea. On the black-lava coastline of Fukue Island, Goto Retreat by Onko Chishin embraces that sense of remove. All 26 rooms look out to the sea and include private open-air baths filled with mineral-rich water from Arakawa Onsen, a natural hot spring first documented in 1856. At the Ray Spa, treatments spotlight camellia oil harvested from the islands’ wild tsubaki trees, long prized locally for skin and hair care. (Don’t sleep on Rain Touch, a ritual combining a full-body camellia oil massage with a warm Vichy shower.) The cuisine, meanwhile, highlights regional seafood such as kue (longtooth grouper) and is served in seasonal kaiseki courses.
ARO HĀ WELLNESS RETREAT
Glenorchy, New Zealand
Equal parts endurance challenge and alpine reboot, Aro Hā has become one of Oceania’s buzziest wellness retreats, hosting just 20 guests at a time and counting A-listers such as Reese Witherspoon and Matt Damon among its fans. High in the Southern Alps overlooking Lake Wakatipu, it runs tightly choreographed, borderline monastic five- to seven-day programs where guests wake before dawn for vinyasa yoga and journaling, then set out on five- to eight-mile guided hikes through subalpine terrain, along historic mining routes and New Zealand’s Great Walks. Later come massages and contrast hydrotherapy sessions, followed by restorative evening yoga before lights-out at 9 p.m. Instagrammable as it is, Wi-Fi is discouraged, and there’s no cell reception on-site. (You’ll survive.)
