The Tree Hugger
A woodsy smell pervades the Douglas Sixth-floor reception area, offering guests an inviting forest bathing experience in Vancouver, British Columbia’s hotel, with a 188 rooms nature-themed boutique hotel with a view of False Creek and BC Place stadium. The hotel will reopen this spring; guests can take a break or relax in the park on the sixth floor, where you will find 200 evergreens native to the area and more than 15,000 plants. Use a hotel bike to ride through the 17.3-mile Seaside Greenway path, which passes right through the hotel, and then into Stanley Park; reboot your fitness routine using equipment that is CrossFit-inspired and consult the concierge to find the top paddling, hiking, or goat yoga at the North Vancouver farm. Visit the Spa on the 17th floor by JW to enjoy hydrotherapy, the outdoor yoga studio with multisensory spa treatments, including virtual-reality tours lasting 25 minutes to a rain forest as well as detox therapies that blend massages, wraps, and shiatsu Thai massage. Virtuoso guests get breakfast daily, a $100 dining credit, and a bottle of Douglas infusion gin with fir.
Soak Up the City
For a long time, Japanese citizens have sought relaxing onsens (natural hot spring pools) in the countryside Ryokans (inns) to improve their health and tranquility. In the new 84-room Hoshinoya Tokyo in 2016, Hoshino Resorts’ chief executive, Yoshiharu Hoshino, sought to bring some tranquil inns peace to the bustling city. The result was an elevated onsen with gender-specific outdoor and indoor pools stocked with high-saline waters from natural hot springs, nearly 5k feet below ground. Each floor is modeled after a cozy Ryokan with only six guest rooms. Guests, clad in modernized Kimonos, are invited to the ochanoma, or communal living space, to enjoy refreshments and tea. The shoji-screened windows and floors create a classic feel within the rooms. Each morning, staff provide large Japanese breakfasts that include healthy proteins such as salmon and tofu. Then, you can participate in the traditional Kenjutsu practice, utilizing an old-fashioned sword on the high-rise roof. Virtuoso travelers get breakfast every day and the opportunity to learn how to make matcha.
The Lanesborough Club & Spa.
Join the Club
The elegant, spacious 93-room Lanesborough has an exercise and spa center behind its Greek-inspired facade located in Knightsbridge. The guests have access to the only members-only Lanesborough Club and Spa, with saunas, hydrotherapy pools, steam rooms, and an expansive gym, including yoga, TRX HIIT, and “Gluti-licious” classes. Therapists offer innovative treatments that span amethyst gel and sound healing wraps to help rejuvenate skin cells. Spa day packages include treatments for the body and face with meals at the restaurant of the club offering “energy ball” bites of matcha and coconut, Asian salads, superfood shakes, teas that target toxins, and champagne and wine after workouts. Virtuoso guests get breakfast daily and a $100 credit to the hotel.
Its Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok hotel celebrates Thai culture throughout the hotel, including tapestries, street-food-inspired meals, and martial arts classes in the fitness center. The Lumpini Fighting massages – inspired by martial arts movements practiced by muay Thai boxers, therapists press knees and elbows, knuckles, and thumbs onto pressure points to improve circulation and relieve muscle soreness. “When we reward ourselves with feeling good, we can be our true self,” Buntongkaew declares. “And when we are kind to ourselves, we also share that heartfelt compassion with others.”
