As the pool hoist lowered me into the water, I noticed how it bubbled up from thousands of feet underground. These thermal baths in Palm Springs, stewarded by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for more than five millennia and long considered a portal to the spiritual underworld and a place of healing, welcomed my paralyzed body. I began to float weightlessly as the surrounding San Jacinto Mountains turned pink in the evening desert light. I felt the strangest sensation of being received by something both ancient and entirely new.

I was in the California desert landscape of Palm Springs in search of wellness—an experience that, more often than not, evades people like me. Around the world, spas are often physically inaccessible, retreats off-limits by design, and practitioners limited in their ability and training to see disabled bodies as deserving of the restoration everyone so desperately needs.

The city lies roughly 130 miles east of Los Angeles, a distance that by any American metric is barely a blip on the map. It is easily reached by a highway that cuts cleanly through the Sonoran Desert, past wind turbines spinning in their hundreds. Arriving in the Coachella Valley, with its impossibly blue skies and neighboring Joshua Tree wilderness, one’s sense of scale and perspective soon recalibrates; a prerequisite, perhaps, for experiencing a city that has long served as refuge.

A view from the Museum Trail above Palm Springs

Daniel Seung Lee

From the 1930s, when Hollywood stars fled here to escape studio contracts that controlled their public images, finding sanctuary in midcentury modern villas hidden behind bougainvillea; to today, where the LGBTQ+ community has built a haven when few other places offered acceptance: Palm Springs has always known how to welcome the marginalized. Over a third of its residents now identify as queer. The question I had was whether that welcome extended to disabled travelers too.

“For families like mine, travel has always meant planning around what might go wrong,” Josh Heinz, a local father of a son with autism, tells me over coffee one morning. “I wanted to flip that—to make sure people traveling to Palm Springs can plan around what might go right for once.”

As well as being an invested parent, Heinz is also the community engagement manager for Visit Greater Palm Springs. Last spring, he spearheaded an initiative that led to Greater Palm Springs becoming the first destination in Southern California, and only the fifth worldwide, to achieve Certified Autism Destination status. Hotels, restaurants, and attractions across the valley have now completed specialized training to accommodate guests with sensory sensitivities: learning, for example, that a meltdown is not a tantrum, that fluorescent lighting can overwhelm, or that sometimes a quiet corner matters more than a view.

Northern cool is getting hotter with the launch of Laugarás Lagoon on Iceland’s Hvítá River (not one but two levels of geothermal bathing), and Hagastrand Spa in Stockholm (self-playing gong installations and an event sauna for storytelling rituals). Van Oys Maastricht Retreat in the Netherlands completes its rebirth with Oysana spa. The castle’s boons are its 13th-century origins, mist-shrouded woods and a private spring. Set in a former stable, Oysana leans into this with a SlowSync ethos centered around harmony with nature.

Meanwhile on the other end of the thermometer, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Amaala at Triple Bay in Saudi Arabia lights up with desert fire rituals, stargazing, and a collaboration with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak. Clinique La Prairie expands its holistic longevity ethos with two new resorts—one also in Amaala, the other in Phuket, Thailand. Mailena Wellness Resort, on the Baja California shoreline, awakens wellness on Mexico’s west coast with its state-of-the-art Wellness and Longevity Center. The beach mood continues at Pical Resort in Istria, which is home to Espa’s first signature spa in Croatia.

Offshore, island energy is making waves. Ūrjā opens at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa, billing itself as a “naturopathy island” majoring in stillness and the body’s innate power to heal. On Malta, adults-only Verdala Wellness Hotel is the country’s first integrated wellness resort, with gourmet anti-inflammatory dining and seasonal retreats. Small but mighty Eha, on Estonia’s Hiiumaa island, part of a Unesco biosphere, has at its heart dawn mist walks, wild herb foraging, and Baltic ancestral healing.

There’s a yoga studio at Eha, set on Estonia’s Hiiumaa island, part of a UNESCO biosphere.

Eha

Finally, Deepak Chopra’s much-anticipated Ameyalli Wellbeing Center, set around hot springs in Utah, is gearing up for its big reveal in 2027. The latest tech nudges up alongside ancient healing and spiritual spring cleaning—Chopra is known for his manifestation workshops, personal mantra chanting, and quantum healing.

This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK.

As luxury resorts around the country upgrade and revamp their wellness programming to court today’s health-minded guests, art—from mindful drawing to basket weaving classes—is increasingly on the menu. Of course art therapy did not originate as a luxury amenity for vacationers. A form of psychotherapy that engages the creative process through drawing, painting, dance, and artistic expression, art therapy has been shown to help with emotional regulation and anxiety reduction. In fact, mental health practitioners have utilized the practice since the 1940s, with recent research showing wide-ranging benefits, like enhancing quality of life for adult cancer patients, reducing depression in people with Parkinson’s, and helping children with asthma feel less anxious. If the dozens of coloring books, packs of markers, and glittery stickers I accumulated over a year of personal illness are any indication, art can soothe us during our darkest moments.

As a practice, art therapy translates so well to the non-medical setting of a resort because its benefits—namely, calming way down—can be felt immediately. It doesn’t hurt that many resorts are surrounded by natural beauty, which is itself therapy. Alila Ventana Big Sur, surrounded by giant redwoods and overlooking the Pacific, offers wellness-oriented art programming such as Perfectly Imperfect, a kintsugi workshop in which participants repair broken pottery. The centuries-old Japanese practice is, of course, a metaphor for resilience. At all three of its locations, Miraval Resorts & Spas has a kintsugi class called The Beauty of Imperfection; options at other Miraval locations include Zen Art (staying present during mandala drawing) and Paint the Music (exactly what it sounds like).

Travelers can choose how out-there they’re willing to get. In Sedona, Arizona, Enchantment recently opened its 2,000-square-foot Artist Cottage as a space for healing; it provides programming rooted in the principles of art therapy but with a spiritual edge. Think workshops where you paint the animal you identify with and tree of life pendant crafting. Wherever you find yourself, the point of art therapy is letting go: of perfectionism, stress, self-consciousness, everything. When Hill teaches basket weaving at Blackberry Mountain, she imagines threading her “worries and stresses into the piece and leaving them contained there, which creates a sense of release and peace.”

At the end of the painting class, I studied my completed canvas, then looked up at the landscape, animated by birdsong and dappled light. I had failed to capture the scene’s magic. But damn, I felt happy.

This article appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.

I had met the couple two days prior at The Retreat’s daily restorative yoga class and found myself reconnecting with them, and other guests, over mocktails and during hikes throughout my four-day stay. It was a delightful departure from my recent experiences at destination spas where the majority of my interactions were with clinicians and therapists behind closed doors.

After COVID, Diana Stobo, who opened The Retreat in 2016, noticed a lot of pent-up desire for social interaction. Guests would gather to chat on the meditation deck and staff would have to shush them so as to not interrupt spa-goers. “No one hangs out anymore,” Stobo observed. “Everyone is on social media or working alone in a cubicle or at home.” But as she gleaned, guests were craving contact and connection.

So last June she opened Santosha Wellness Club, a $4 million expansion intended to create a sense of community. Set below the main hotel, the new open-air clubhouse includes 10 guest lofts, a gym and yoga studio, an infinity pool, and two restaurants led by acclaimed Costa Rican chef Pablo Bonilla. While the resort’s original spa and restaurant areas were intended for quieter, more introspective moments, here guests can mingle over cocktails and live music.

When longevity entered the zeitgeist a few years ago, it sparked an obsession with life-extending hacks like intermittent fasting and sessions in hyperbaric oxygen chambers. A new wave of high-tech diagnostic-driven spas followed. In 2023, the World Health Organization declared loneliness a global health concern. “People forget that longevity isn’t all about what you eat or do but also who you surround yourself with,” Stobo told me. “What’s the point of living to 102 if you’re lonely?”

A sound session underway at Scorpios Bodrum

Johannes Schwark

Intermittent fasting. Cryotherapy. Pleasure-dampening GLP-1 drugs. Silent retreats. Dark retreats. But in our obsessive, high-tech pursuit of longevity, we’re also craving a bit of lo-fi, sensory-igniting fun, especially on vacation. Wellness tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of travel, predicted to reach over $1.4 trillion by 2027. Longevity clinics and biohack clubs aren’t going away. In fact, they’ll be more ubiquitous than ever, but next year they’ll be the mainstay of business or bleisure travelers looking to maintain their health goals on the road and combat jet-lag. The leisure traveler is tired of optimizing every inch of their life and just wants to let loose a little. Wellness-minded hotels and retreats have taken note and are offering more opportunities to dance to DJ beats, star gaze under dark skies, sweat to sauna performances, and most of all, socialize.

We’re going back-to-basics, looking to centuries-old healing practices and tapping into a bit of mysticism with modalities like soundbaths and astrology. Star gazing will be the preferred way to meditate and desert landscapes are where we’ll go to find our zen. Cultivating purpose is key to longevity and we’ll hone new passions and seek out a new breed of wellness adventures. And at the gym, we’ll skip burpees in favor of brain exercises.This will be the year of women’s health, but also family-focused wellness, with more spas offering multi-gen retreats.

Prioritizing your health on holiday has never been easier. Bring the kids. Go solo. Socialize with strangers in the sauna. Have a glass of green juice, or champagne. Wellness your way is the new mantra. Here are the trends, resorts, retreats, and destinations that promise to make wellness travel less like a doctor’s visit, and more like a vacation in 2026.

Wellness seekers want to be social

We are social beings and amidst a global loneliness epidemic, travelers are craving connection. In response, spas and hotels are creating more communal spaces and ways for travelers to engage. Earlier this year, the Retreat, a veteran spa hotel in Costa Rica, unveiled Santosha Wellness Club. Set just below the main hotel, the new open-air clubhouse includes 10 luxury lofts, a gym and yoga studio, plus a chic lounge area with an infinity pool, tapas bar, and a restaurant steered by a Michelin-decorated chef. Famed Mykonos beachclub Scorpios blurs the lines between spa and nightclub at its new line of hotels. At its first outpost, Scorpios Bodrum in Türkiye, guests attend group sound baths and yoga sessions by day and at night, they dance to DJ beats. The same formula will roll out at forthcoming properties in Dubai and Aspen. Ahãma Living, another newcomer on the Turkish coast, is also a mish mash of spa offerings and nightlife. And longevity clubs are the new social club, with the hottest memberships being at spots like Remedy Place in NYC, LA, and Boston and the forthcoming Six Senses Place London and the Estate in LA.

Saunas will double as entertainment venues

Saunas have long been social hubs in Nordic countries—gathering places where friends and strangers would sweat it out and reconnect. The concept has swept across North America and Europe, but now we’re catching on to a wacky sauna group ritual known as aufguss. Meaning “infusion” in German, these 15-minute performances are hosted by a trained Aufgussmeister in a large communal sauna. The sauna master prances around the room to a soundtrack of music smashing ice balls infused with essential oils on hot rocks and using towels and fans to waft aromatic steam over half-naked bathers. Priedlhof, a resort in Naturno Italy, has an entire team of Aufgussmeisters who put on theatrical performances in its four-story sauna tower. An aufguss show is included in your entry fee to BASIN Glacial Waters, a new modern-day bathhouse at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Canada. Bathhouse Flatiron in New York hosts aufguss ceremonies and Othership, a spa with locations in Toronto and New York, takes a fresh approach with sauna parties featuring breath work, live music, and dancing for up to 90 people.

Women’s needs (menopause + more) are a top priority

After years of neglect, the health industry is finally waking up to the unique needs of women through their full life cycles. A group of doctors known as the “MenoPosse” are the latest stars on mainstream podcasts, speaking openly about once taboo topics, like vaginal dryness and hot flashes. Everyone from Naomi Watts to Michelle Obama have shared menopause experiences and celebrities like Kate Hudson and Halle Berry are talking about testosterone. After seeing an explosion of well-received menopause-focused retreats, spas are now taking a more 360-degree approach to what women need at various stages of their life. At Shou Sugi Ban House in the Hamptons, women can sign up for female-specific nutritional counseling to improve hormone health and support menstruation and fertility. Mothers-to-be can sign up for solo babymoon trips with Mom’z, a retreat group supported by a network of expert doulas, midwives, and wellness professionals. Four-night itineraries around Spain and Portugal include daily prenatal movement, journaling and visualization, and loads of pampering. Canyon Ranch, the OG of American wellness destinations, is making a statement with its next location in Lake Plato, Texas, just outside of Austin. When the resort debuts in September 2026 it will have a dedicated Women’s Collective that will address the needs of women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s and beyond.

“Contiiiiinue…” Giuseppe guides in a hushed, musical tone as I channel all of my efforts into slackening my spine, unclenching my jaw, and unfurling my fists. Responding to his gentle instructions, I inhale deeply from my stomach, hold for three seconds, and exhale through my nose, repeating for several cycles. This is followed by a shorter interval of chest breathing, which feels much more shallow and uncomfortable but also, strangely, more familiar to me.

A therapeutic floating treatment at the spa

Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda

Living as an undiagnosed autistic ADHDer for 34 years has trapped me in perpetual fight or flight, placing an invisible vise around my lungs. “The stomach and chest are home to the diaphragm, which allows the lungs to empty completely and thus renew their oxygen supply,” Giuseppe tells me afterwards. “According to Chinese medicine, the proper movement of breathing ensures communication between the upper and lower parts of the body, allowing energy to flow freely without blockages.” As I eventually surrender to the exercise, incorporating both the stomach and the chest in a final series of conscious breaths that draw in air with my whole being, the phantom grip loosens, and I taste a hint of that sweet, free-flowing energy.

‘Letting Go’ was created to rebuild healthier relationships between overstimulated individuals and their present. Over the course of three nights, participants benefit from a combination of treatments and therapies aimed at grounding them in the here-and-now, including cooking classes, massages, and guided excursions. “We want our guests to break away from burnout, to reconnect with their senses and self,” says Roberta Rovelli, the Senior SPA Receptionist. And reconnecting is what I do over the next few days: an exquisite anti-aging lavender facial feels as if its scrubbing away years of camouflaging; a morning walk among olive groves and shaded woodland engages more than my under-worked calves; and even sipping a cup of floral tea becomes a meditative ritual. One afternoon, I forage for herbs that grow wild in the resort grounds, later using them to flavor a dish of hand-rolled cavatelli in Chef Mariano Melluso’s holistic cooking class. With contagious nonchalance, he describes the three stages of pasta-making—stress, rest, shape—and challenges me, in the kindest of ways, to embrace imperfection.

It’s a reminder to stop glamorizing exhaustion and control, and to start prioritizing restoration and renewal. Whether neurodivergent or not, it’s a relatable concept, and Lefay’s ‘Letting Go’ program signifies a shift towards wellness travel experiences that champion our sacred selves. The ‘Rebalancing Bliss’ program at Sri Lanka’s Santani Wellness claims to cleanse anyone addled by stress or zapped of energy, while the ‘Burnout Recovery Retreat’ at Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som in Qatar promises deeper links to one’s inner purpose. Recently, FUEGO hosted ‘From Autopilot to Authenticity’ in Mallorca, a retreat that seeks to reset participants’ nervous systems and reignite intention.

We had been in Rome a few nights, and a piece of lamb was making me laugh. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s a totally involuntary reaction—and my highest possible praise. There was nothing funny about our abbacchio alla romana, Roman-style roast suckling lamb, which is a springtime delicacy; I was more dumbstruck. It was our first trip back to Rome since my wife, Lauren, had been diagnosed with celiac disease, and we were eating as well as ever.

It may seem counterintuitive, but Rome is one of the world’s great gluten-free travel destinations. And although I don’t have celiac disease, Lauren and I like to share when we go out to eat—and you can’t Lady and the Tramp bucatini by yourself. For this trip I challenged myself not to be tempted by the pizza slices and crusty sandwiches that were now off-limits to Lauren, and it wasn’t that hard.

Italy is at the forefront of celiac disease research and screening, so gluten-free diets are taken very seriously nationwide. At many restaurants, not just dedicated gluten-free establishments, celiac-disease-level precautions are the baseline for gluten-free dishes rather than the exception. Servers in the US often ask, “Is cross-contamination an issue?” In Rome, by contrast, one server informed us as we sat down that because of the note I’d left on our reservation, the kitchen had already started boiling a separate pot of water in case we wanted to order gluten-free pasta. (Of course we did!)

Celiac disease is but one of many reasons travelers may need to avoid gluten. Since unwittingly joining this community last year, Lauren and I have learned more about other autoimmune conditions that sometimes lead folks to go gluten-free, including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis. We’ve also learned the nuances that differentiate celiac disease from non-celiac gluten sensitivity, gluten intolerance, and wheat allergies. Planning this trip we were concerned that Lauren’s diagnosis might alter our dining experience in one of our favorite cities, and it did—but only for the better.

Local flavors

Roman cuisine is rich in alluring seasonal vegetable dishes and satisfying secondi (main courses, which are generally protein-focused) that are often naturally free of gluten. And since the city’s four canonical pasta dishes—cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, and gricia—typically call for dry rather than fresh shapes, many restaurants can easily make them using high-quality gluten-free offerings. At those that can’t there’s always laughter-inducing lamb.

Boston is a city of many reputations: a college town, the cradle of the American Revolution, a sports-obsessed metropolis, and a hub for global business. But wellness capital? That’s one honorific that’s typically reserved for the tropical climes of Florida or the woo-woo hippie towns of the West Coast.

Look a little closer, however, and you’ll see that Boston has all the ingredients for rest and rejuvenation. Our many, many champion athletes need places that cater to their rest and recovery. Our high-performing students and business executives need ways to blow off steam. And as a gateway to skiing, sailing, hiking, and every outdoor activity that New England has to offer, Boston is ideally situated to offer wellness experiences before—or more likely after—more rugged pursuits. And while some folks tend to shy away from this northeastern capital’s harsh winters, locals would argue that the colder months are the best time of year to hunker down and hibernate with wellness classes, restorative spa treatments, and nourishing meals bridging the gap between indulgence and self-care.

Next time you’re in Boston, don’t just tick the Freedom Trail or Boston Public Library off your list—although those are must-dos, too. Here are some of Boston’s best wellness experiences to incorporate into your visit.

Take the plunge a tthe Spa at Encore Boston Harbor.

Barbara Kraft/The Spa at Encore

The Best Spas in Boston

A vibrant hotel scene has helped Boston’s spa scene flourish in recent years. The biggest, splashiest hotel spa on everyone’s lips these days is the Guerlain Spa at Raffles Boston. One of the few American spas from this French luxury brand, it focuses on high-efficacy facials and deeply satisfying massages which draw on the brand’s extensive portfolio of aromatherapies. The Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street has a similarly fabulous wellness floor complete with a spa, a vitality pool, an infrared sauna, and a whirlpool, much of which is framed by beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Back Bay. Nearby, the Mandarin Oriental, Boston remains a longstanding favorite, offering Asian-inflected rituals and robust multi-day wellness packages. And don’t forget the fabulous Spa at Encore Boston Harbor, which benefits from being just across the city limits in Everett—its truly enormous spa facilities offer spacious relaxation rooms, saunas, and plunge pools that invite guests to linger before and after their treatment.