Hotel Spas are STILL Recovering From the Pandemic. Here are the Best Ways to Speed it up

Guests are looking for wellness and connection in hotel spas.

Services that involve human connection took a serious hit during the pandemic, as social distancing became the way of the world. But in the wake of the pandemic, guests are seeking relaxation, wellness and human connection in hotel spas.

In fact, three out of four consumers say “wellness is more important than ever,” according to the 2023 Wellness Index from MindBody Business.

“Wellness now speaks to an overall improvement in quality of life and a lifestyle that makes room for things that really matter,” according to the report. “While loyal guests might know the impact your services have on mental well-being, relaxation, and self-confidence, you’ll bring more clients through your doors by reinforcing this in your messaging.”

With the ever-growing popularity of wellness mind, here are four hotel spa trends that are surging in the aftermath of the pandemic:

1. Gravitating toward human touch. There are reminders everywhere: the pandemic has not gone away. But as we all learn to live with the new normal, a large share of consumers are seeking out human touch in the form of spa treatments. As Hotel Management puts it, “Is there still a strong desire by consumers to be swaddled in organic peat moss via a four-hands treatment and subsequently drenched under a Vichy shower? Well, yeah.” In fact, massage “continues to be the most popular integrative health service with 25 percent of consumers reporting they have received a massage in the past year,” according to MindBody Business.
2. A broader variety of wellness services. Many wellness modalities have seen significant increases in popularity in the past year, according to MindBody Business. These include acupressure (up 166 percent), floatation therapy and red light therapy (both up 50 percent) and detox programs (up 17 percent). With hotel spas at the intersection of travel and wellness, they are in a unique position to offer wellness experiences that highlight the local culture and landscape, such as forest bathing and wellness rituals. “With so many wellness modalities on the rise, now’s a good time to invest in your business and update your service menu,” MindBody Business states.
3. A heightened focus on cleanliness. Just as in other areas of service, hotel spas must grapple with the “new normal.” That means trying to move past the pandemic while honoring the lessons learned and the ways the pandemic has changed society. The upshot: hotel spas will continue to make increased efforts to give extra attention to cleanliness, sanitizing and offering more personal space, according to Hotel Management. “In a spa environment, guests generally do still want to have some level of distance and comfort as it relates to their personal space, which can be challenging,” Gavin Philipp, senior vice-president of Raines Co.’s Woven by Raines division, told Hotel Management. “Keeping our spa constantly sanitized and regularly deep cleaned is of the utmost importance as well.”
4. Getting communal. It may be the lasting impact of years of feeling deprived of human contact during the pandemic, but communality is becoming more popular than ever, especially among Millennial customers, MindBody Business states. In fact four in 10 people agree that community is “a very important part of the wellness experience,” according to the MindBody Business report. Hotel spas may be able to incorporate this desire for community with communal bath houses or saltwater or mineral pools, MindBody Business suggests. “Even offering a ‘happy hour’ mani/pedi sesh or chair massages with bubbles or kombucha once a week could be a great way to allow your clients to socialize with one another while also participating in self-care,” the report suggests.

Hotel spas must integrate the experiences and changes of the pandemic while moving forward into the future as guests begin flocking back for relaxation, wellness and human connection.