Hotel Spa Trend: Expanding into Mental Wellbeing

What to know about this hotel spa trend and how it can help you provide better guest service.

Your guests may think of the hotel spa as simply a place to pop in for those traditional relaxing and rejuvenating spa services: a massage, facial, body wrap or pedicure. But many hotel spas are expanding their services to embrace a new trend: mental wellbeing.

This trend toward well being in all spas is helping to drive massive growth in the spa services market, according to spa market research from Future Market Insights. The global spa services market is predicted to experience a 10 percent compound annual growth rate over the next 10 years, partly due to “surging demand for relaxation, wellness and meditation activities,” according to the report.

Hotel spas can capitalize on this trend and provide more personalized service by going beyond massage and facials to new and innovative services geared toward overall wellness. “The growing emphasis on wellness will help support the rapid growth of spas — an under-recognized contributor to revenue and reputation at hotels,” according to Skift, a leading news source for travel executives.

Here are four ways hotel spas around the world are getting in on the wellness trend, to offer you some wellness inspiration for your hotel:

1. Expanding into nature

Hotel spas are stretching out into outdoor space and also bringing more natural beauty and calm to indoor spa spaces. For example, Grand Wailea Maui is renovating its spa, adding an outdoor “saltwater vitality pool” along with waterfall showers and an indoor garden area for a seamless transition from outdoors to inside the spa. The changes include expanding the spa menu to include astrology readings, spa and wellness director Rachael McCrory told Skift. In addition, the whole remodel will feature lava rock and other local materials to help create a “sense of place.” This is becoming more important to guests, who want to experience the local culture and landscape without leaving their hotels.

2. Creating a spa journey

The demand for a return to nature is so strong, that some hotels are taking it beyond the spa, according to Boutique Hotelier. “Reflecting the current initiatives for ‘rewilding’ of agricultural land, spa is also ‘rewilding’. It is moving beyond the ‘spa garden’ model, deeper into the countryside and forest, providing experiences and immersion in a wilder natural setting,” Boutique Hotelier states. “Wild swimming, foraging, forest bathing, guided meditations are all concepts that can be designed into the spa journey.”

3. Tapping into local customs

Modern guests want to feel like they’re in a specific place when they stay at a hotel, and that extends to the spa experience. Hotels like Montage Los Cabos are expanding their offerings to reflect local culture, ingredients and traditions. For example, this beachfront hotel has begun offering mezcal massage utilizing a Mexican “friega” massage technique and poultices made with local plants and herbs, according to Skift.

4. Offering wellness classes

Hotels and resorts like Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale are expanding their wellness offerings to include innovative classes. “What has heated up are intimate outdoor classes like desert bathing — a new Arizonian twist on Japanese forest bathing — that feature breathing exercises, yoga stretching, and an appreciation for a unique natural setting,” Skift states.

If you feel inspired by these ideas, you may want to consider expanding your hotel spa offerings to include more services centered on wellness and mental wellbeing. In addition to providing better service and responding to guest demand, getting in on this trend has the potential to increase spa revenue in the years to come.