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3 Dec

The West Coast’s Buzziest Wellness Retreats and What Makes

Wellness tourism has been booming. Together with looking for healthier lifestyles and cutting vices, visitors are on the lookout for mental well-being and to administer stress. The sector reached $720 billion in 2019, in keeping with The Global Wellness Institute, before dropping resulting from COVID-19. With the world traveling again, wellness tourism was valued at $814.6 billion in 2022, notes a report by business consulting firm Grand View Research, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.42 percent from 2023 to 2030.

The West Coast, arguably the hub of wellness, is full of retreats and centers. Here, a take a look at the buzziest ones — five stars and celebrity-filled — and what makes them unique:

The open air gallery: Sensei Lanai, A 4 Seasons Resort
(1 Keomoku Highway, Lanai City, Hawaii 96763; 800-505-2624)

Art meets nature at Sensei Lanai, A 4 Seasons Resort — a wellness property on the secluded Hawaiian island of Lanai. Contemporary sculptures and paintings are found throughout the 24-acre grounds, a lot of which were commissioned for the resort by owner Larry Ellison, the technology pioneer and cofounder of Oracle. The standouts are present in the gardens — lush, vibrant and blooming with tropical plants and ponds — including two bronze sculptures: “Donna Seduta” (2001), a lady sitting and holding an uneaten apple by Columbian sculptor Fernando Botero, and “Burning Desire” (2017), a striking red orchid by British artist Marc Quinn. Spanish artist Jaume Plensa offers a striking collection of self-portraits, “Heart of Rivers” (2016), depicting seven figures sitting around a palm tree and hugging their knees, with their bodies covered in names of world rivers. Also on the property: Nobu, with a specialized, health-conscious Japanese menu developed by Nobu Matsuhisa himself.

“Heart of Rivers” by Jaume Plensa at Sensei Lanai, A 4 Seasons Resort.

Courtesy of Sensei Lanai, A 4 Seasons Resort

The peaceful mountain: Amangiri
(1 Kayenta Road, Canyon Point, Utah 84741; 435-675-3999)

Amangiri is art itself, its structure mixing with the encircling desert of the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah. Marwan Al-Sayed, Wendell Burnette and Rick Joy are the architects behind the design, built with the intention of respecting the natural environment. The property — named in Sanskrit, meaning “peaceful mountain” — is surrounded by national parks and monuments including the Grand Canyon and The Grand Staircase–Escalante (with energetic waterfalls), in addition to the Navajo Nation Reservation, the biggest Native American reservation within the U.S. “Our aim was to construct something that was a recent interpretation of native Indian architecture,” hotelier Adrian Zecha, founding father of Aman Resorts, has said. “Not perfectly adapted, but hopefully generating a way and spirit of it.” It’s minimalist and geometric, with concrete blocks, stone tiles and natural woods. Activities include lessons on the history of the realm and neighboring Native American tribes.

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Amangiri in Canyon Point, Utah.

Courtesy of Amangiri

The firm, no-nonsense: The Ranch Malibu
(12220 Cotharin Road, Malibu, Calif. 90265; 310-457-8700)

In a sea of relaxed, go-with-the-flow wellness options, The Ranch Malibu is something different. It’s an incredibly strict regimen, situated at a 200-acre ranch within the Santa Monica Mountains. Visitors (capped at 25 guests every week — with a price tag of $7,600 each) take four-hour morning hikes, four- to six-hour low-impact exercise classes and follow a 1,400-calorie-a-day, plant-based weight loss program (no alcohol, caffeine, dairy, soy, gluten, sugar and artificial sweeteners). Alarms are set for wake-ups, meals are served at specific times. There isn’t any cell service, with WiFi limited to in-room only, and no photos allowed on site. In line with The Ranch, which expanded to Italy and is heading to the Hudson Valley in Recent York within the spring, “guests routinely lose 3 to six percent of their body weight together with substantial inches of fat loss and muscle gain.”

The Ranch Malibu sits on a 200-acre ranch within the Santa Monica Mountains.

Courtesy of The Ranch Malibu

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