“Wellness” has become the most expensive buzzword in luxury hospitality. Every time I see the word plastered on a hotel website or LinkedIn article, I roll my eyes a little bit. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. Yet the guest journeys that are being offering are still relying on antiquated definitions of luxury - and the solution that everyone is pointing to is wellness.
It’s not that the intent isn’t there, but the word has become a catch-all. I’m not so sure that it’s losing its meaning, as much as a detachment from its purpose. But instead of going on a rant at how overused it is, we need to get collectively clear on what wellness actually is.
Who am I to define what wellness is? I ‘walk the walk’ of wellness... or, in reality, I stumble along the path like everyone else, relying on discipline to stay consistent.
But I’ve been stumbling along with it for my entire life. My grandmother was a “kahuna” - a shamanic priestess in the Hawaiian ‘Huna’ tradition. She taught personal growth and even yoga, so aside from my own path of learning, the healing arts and wellness are deeply rooted in my lineage. I went on to teach yoga in the Krishnamacharya tradition (Classical Yoga) and personal/spiritual development for 30 years, having guided thousands of students - many of whom have remained students for over two decades. During that time, I also curated and led ultra-luxury international wellness retreats, designing high-touch journeys for a discerning clientele.
Before that, I earned success at a very young age catering to the A-list and ultra-high-net-worth scenes of NYC and LA, finding myself at the perpetual crossroads of hospitality and wellness for decades. For those of us with an innate inclination for this level of service, our absolute mandate is to possess an intuitive sense of what people need to feel good, happy, and safe.
Which is why it makes perfect sense to me that hospitality and wellness have always gone hand-in-hand and are experiencing such a profound convergence. I am entirely here for it. But if we are going to build this future, we need to get collectively clear on what wellness actually means. And yes, I feel uniquely qualified to drive that conversation.
So I ask: What is wellness? To understand where hospitality authentically fits as things evolve, we have to look at the ultimate destination...
In my observation and experience, the goal of wellness is simply to improve one's well-being.
Which leads to the next logical question: what is well-being? Don’t worry, this isn’t a deep rabbit hole. Stay with me. I believe that these are questions that need to be asked so you can understand where your property authentically fits as things evolve.
Well-being is a human-being feeling at ease in their life - in their mind, in their body, and in their relationships. It means they are in good health and fully equipped to handle all of the seasons of life and whatever they may bring to the table.
If the goal of wellness is to cultivate that state of well-being, then wellness is the classification of anything someone can intentionally choose to use - a tool, a product, a method, a place or even a person - to enhance their state of being.
Now, tie that into hospitality. Can we agree that the overarching goal of a luxury hotel has always been to enhance a guest’s well-being? We want to ensure that they have every single need provided for in the most comfortable, luxurious way possible.
But here’s where the dots disconnect…. the signals of luxury are lagging, especially considering the fact that the new signals of luxury are longevity and well-being.
It all clicked for me yesterday during lunch with Todd Steinberg and Vanessa, the creators of Komuso Design . They were sharing their recent conversations with commercial airlines about putting their genius breathing tool into Business and First-Class guest pouches. Todd made a brilliant, glaringly obvious point: Those amenity pouches haven’t been updated in decades.
The exact same thing is true for the signals of luxury hospitality. We are operating on an outdated blueprint.
This is why it is vital to resist the urge to roll your eyes at the mention of wellness, and instead, engage in the conversation at the very least. If you are operating a luxury property, it’s time to actively seek ways to layer intentional wellness architecture directly into your guest journey. You don't need to install a hyperbaric chamber to do this; you just need to update how you show care. Not because it’s a trend, but because you’re a hospitality professional who cares about your guests' well-being. That is why you entered hospitality in the first place - because you care about people.
You need to do it because the very definition of what makes an experience "luxurious" has fundamentally shifted. True luxury today is no longer just about pristine amenities or even lawless service. It is about an intentional, multi-layered wellness architecture that supports the daily habits that your guests invest in and live by to enhance their well-being. It is about how seamlessly every touchpoint - from the physical spaces to the organizational culture - is synchronized to allow an overstimulated guest to return to a state of absolute ease.
The industry is being asked for a systemic refresher by the very guests who frequent it.
The call has been made. Who is actually going to answer it?
