Showers may have a monopoly on everyday cleansing, but bathtubs own luxury. Aside from good water pressure, attractive tiles, and walk-in enclosures, there have long been few better ways to upgrade the shower than there are the bathroom tub: Moisturizing bombs, salt soaks, whirlpool jets, “bath menus,” candles, and even expertly positioned TVs that let you stay watch game shows feel like the pinnacle of hotel luxury—plus, you get to lie down. But now, in a surprising twist, it might be the humble shower’s turn in the spotlight: High-end hotels around Italy are harnessing the power of the bathtub’s lesser sibling to offer something new and immerse guests in carefully designed temperatures, colors, water pressures, and aromatherapies.

“Emotional showers” are an increasingly common fixture of luxury Italian spas—and they are not what they sound like. I’ve experienced a lifetime of emotional showers (read: sobbing under running water), but here the term is a somewhat odd translation of “una doccia emozionale,” which might more aptly be called a “sensory shower.”

Most emotional showers offer different modes of water pressure, from hard rainfall to fine mists that correspond to specific lights and sounds. The intention is to engineer an emotional state, whether invigoration, serenity, or something in between, and to increase blood circulation. (It should be noted that most emotions, for example jealousy, disdain, and hilarity, are not on the menu.) Paramount to the experience is chromotherapy—the idea that colors offer different health and emotional benefits; here, colored light illuminates around you in an almost discoteca-like fashion.

Lake Como property Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni offers two types of preset sensory showers which incorporate automatic light settings, aromatherapy scents, and mist intensities.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, a luxurious 150-year-old estate perched on the edge of Lake Como in Bellagio, recently unveiled a newly renovated spa. Anointed “Luce del Lago,” or light of the lake, the tranquil new facilities are bathed in hues reflecting the water, shore, and sky of the surrounding landscape. There’s a focus on hydrotherapy, the centerpiece of which is a dreamy indoor pool with bubbles and currents that evoke the gently rolling lake, right beside a sauna and…an emotional shower.

The sensory shower offers two settings that are controlled by a button: a refreshing cool mist perfumed with oceanic oak moss and white musk, and an invigorating mango-fragranced “tropical rain,” both released from overhead. When I tried it the cool-mist setting bathed me in soft blue light, while the tropical rain paired with a stimulating red. I alternated back and forth between the two, relieved that neither temperature was scalding nor icily akin to the trendiness of cold-plunge circuits. I felt at once serene and energized.

“Our guests often tell us that they’ve never experienced anything like Watsu before, and are surprised to experience such positive effects,” says Özgür Cengiz, the Tourism Group Global Wellness Development Director for JOALI. At the resort, two Watsu pools occupy serene, dark-blue-mosaic-clad rooms; one of them is designed for couples. According to Cengiz, Watsu has been on the rise thanks to increased interest in holistic wellness: “The therapeutic benefits include deep relaxation, increased range of motion, balancing overall circulation and heart rate, and even facilitating physical and psychological recovery,” he says.

Actor Elizabeth Hurley recently shared the joy of Chiva-Som’s Watsu experience with her social media followers.

Kiattipong Panchee/Chiva-Som

At JOALI Being, the sister resort of JOALI Maldives, Watsu has quickly become a core treatment for those who seek to shed the weight of everyday life—both physically and metaphorically. At the historic Castle Hot Springs spa resort outside of Phoenix, AZ, a Watsu pool was added recently as an accompaniment to the already-healing warm mineral waters. “It allows us to get into our body in a way you can’t in any other format,” says Spa Manager and Watsu therapist Robert Stackus. “We’re made up of water, more than anything else, so it’s kind of a journey home.”

Unlike a table massage or a motionless flotation tank experience, says Stackus, the water element of Watsu facilitates movement. “The stretching is less of a conscious thing—you get out of your head.” And it’s especially relevant in today’s information-abundant, touch-deprived reality: “With the constant engagement we’re experiencing from the outside in, people have a greater need to reconnect with themselves,” he says. “Many guests tear up, and that’s perfectly acceptable.”

While I didn’t cry—nor did I get subliminal flashbacks to being in utero, like some claim they experience—I finished my treatment at JOALI Being feeling serene, humbled and, for a lack of a less-cliché word, enlightened. There’s something about Watsu—perhaps the gentle tension between resistance and letting go—that sheds light on the mind-body connection’s most hidden corners.

“There’s no better way to explore your inner thoughts than floating weightlessly and being cared for,” says Stackus. I couldn’t agree more. Wrapped in a plush towel at the resort changing room, I was back—but I wasn’t the same.

Kilolani Spa at Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort—Wailea, Hawai’i

This $55 million spa is so different from its predecessor that it’s not even fair to call it a renovation. The Grand Wailea’s previous spa felt like a back-up plan for rainy days, but this new iteration, now the largest in the state, feels like a destination unto itself. Treatment rooms face the ocean, open air hydro baths let you capture the scent of flowers on the breeze, and bananas plucked from the on-site trees are offered as relaxation room snacks. No detail here is overlooked—down to treatments’ use of essential oils crafted by a woman on the island named Loleilani who grows botanicals according to the lunar cycles.

The treatment to book: The Ho’omāli Ritual, a 120-minute treatment incorporating rhythmic traditional lomi lomi bodywork techniques, as well as a warm pōhaku stone foot treatment and hydrating coconut scalp massage.

SIRO One Za’abeel—Dubai, UAE

Dubai has a reputation for excess, and the city’s first completely wellness-centric hotel is no exception. At the 31st floor “Recovery Lab” (don’t call it a mere “spa”), you’ll find saunas, steam rooms, cold plunge pools, as well as twelve recovery rooms outfitted with top-of-the-line tech, like a vibroacoustic waterbed which combines binaural acoustics via headphones with vibration frequencies via the bed for deepest relaxation.

The treatment to book: INDIBA Activ, a radio frequency treatment to promote accelerated tissue repair.

Lapis Spa at Fontainebleau—Las Vegas, NV

There’s nothing small about Vegas, and the Lapis Spa at the Fontainebleau—all 55,000 square feet of it—is over the top in all the best ways. There’s even a spa-within-a-spa “Supernova Suite” for parties of up to eight people, complete with its own vitality pool, steam, shower, lockers, restrooms, grooming area, dining area, and treatment tables. Bachelorette parties will never be the same.

The treatment to book: The Lapis Signature Facial, which incorporates GeneoX cleansing, Cryotherapy serum, Oxfoliate exfoliation using oxygen bubbles, ultrasound therapy, lymphatic drainage, and red-light LED therapy—all in ninety minutes flat.

Southern Spa at Southern Ocean Lodge—Kangaroo Island, South Australia

One of the great comeback stories of the last year has been Southern Ocean Lodge, a beloved Luxury Lodge of Australia that was entirely lost to the brutal bush fires of 2020. As opposed to the rest of the lodge, which was rebuilt to its former footprint, the spa here was completely reimagined. Now north-facing, the spa turns its back on the ocean views to instead focus on the stark and powerful beauty of the landscape’s regenerating bush. Body and face treatments draw on the island’s rich bounty of lavender, eucalyptus and honey, for an experience that is aromatic, efficacious, and deeply moving.

The treatment to book: The “alkene Dreaming,” a signature facial and body wrap treatment that integrates nourishing Australian essential oils and botanical extracts.

The chic spa at The Little Nell has introduced a new level of pampering to Aspen.

Shawn O’Connor/The Little Nell

The Spa at The Little Nell—Aspen, Colorado

Located at the base of Aspen Mountain, this intimate newcomer and the long-loved Little Nell is the area’s only ski-in, ski-out spa, so you can go from a day on the slopes into a treatment and then on to dinner without skipping a beat. Treatments here are tailored to suit individual needs, whether that means you’re looking to soothe your tired ski legs, or if you’re more focused on an anti-aging skin treatment. Partnerships with Dr. Barbara Sturm, Seed to Skin Tuscany, and local Colorado favorite ISUN ensure that some of the field’s most en vogue products are used in your treatments.

The treatment to book: Aspen sits 8,000 feet above sea level, and the Altitude Adjustment Ritual—a full-body exfoliation and body mask, followed by a detoxifying facial and Swedish massage—is a great way to ease your body into this environment.

As a full-time travel editor and mother of two myself, I’m always interested in talking to other working parents about the pressures of juggling full-time roles. It seems we live in a time when, not only do we need to succeed professionally while raising smart, kind, well-adjusted children, but we’re expected to look and feel happy, healthy, and perfectly content to do so. Unfortunately, self care is one of the first things to go out the window as a parent when free time is scarce.

I sat down with model and actor Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, fresh off the launch of her new clean beauty business, Rose Inc., and the birth of her daughter. As no stranger to a packed schedule, she spoke of the importance of listening to your own body, creating wellbeing rituals you can actually stick with, and the incredibly healing power of traveling to a beautiful place with a good friend.

Personal wellness is such a buzz word right now, and it means something different to everyone. What does it mean to you?

For me, it means trying to find the best version of yourself. It’s a quest that is evolving constantly, but I define wellness as that striving to find the healthiest you, mentally and physically. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how important this journey is in my day to day life. Honestly, in my 20s, I didn’t even think about wellness. It sounded… crunchy? Or like it was something older people pondered. But I was young and things were easy. At that age, you hop out of bed feeling great, and you have the free time to go to the gym every day because you aren’t juggling crazy deadlines and endless commitments. But in my 30s, especially after I had my second child and was dealing with some postpartum issues, I experienced, for the first time, what it was like to feel unwell.

What did you do to start feeling better?

It was maybe three months after I gave birth to my daughter and I was stressed out and having headaches all the time. I felt uncomfortable in my own body. I went to a day spa and the therapist looked at me and said “hot, then cold.” I said, “thanks, but that sounds horrible, and I’m not getting into that cold pool.” But then I was in the sauna and the plunge pool was sort of beckoning to me. Childbirth was fresh enough in my mind that I figured freezing water couldn’t be that bad. And I knew I’d have bragging rights. It was amazing! I’m a cold convert. There’s nothing like it. I finish every morning shower off with a blast of cold water. And these little things, these routines and seemingly small rituals, matter. They can make a big difference in how you feel, mentally and physically.