Beyond the spa: these wellbeing hotels are changing how we rest

In an over-tired world that never slows down, meaningful rest has become both a luxury and a necessity. Each emotionally intelligent escape within the SLH Wellbeing Collection is deeply attuned to the needs of today’s restless traveller — offering thoughtful spaces to realign and recover beyond the spa.

Specially selected by a panel of experts within the wellness industry, including renowned spa editor, Susan d’Arcy, and BeSophro founder, Dominique Antiglio, these feel-good stays invite more than just a ‘press pause’ moment — they create a powerful sense of place to restore energy, reconnect with what matters, and build lasting resilience. Here, Susan d’Arcy shares her insights on some of the best wellbeing hotels for a mind-body reset.

Artificial intelligence might be dominating the global conversation now, but in the wellness world the focus is on its antithesis, emotional intelligence. EI is the elusive ingredient we need to navigate our personal and professional lives successfully. It influences everything from our ability to build strong relationships to making rational decisions and it’s essential for achieving the internal balance that’s our best chance for a long and healthy life. Yet connecting with our emotions is rapidly becoming a lost art. In our 24/7 switched-on world with its stressful swirl of economic uncertainty, climate anxiety and international conflict, finding the time, space and support network we need to develop our EI is increasingly difficult. 

It means we need spaces dedicated to restfulness more than ever, so now is the perfect time for the Wellbeing Collection to launch. We’ve concentrated on a carefully curated handful of properties that display EI superpowers. These are inspiring places that have intuitive teams and exceptional locations that subtly set us on course for a 360-degree recharge, bolstering everything from our physical and mental to our emotional and creative states.  These resorts go way beyond simply providing therapeutic treatments, nutritious dining, customised fitness and imaginative activities. They understand how to layer the process of improving health with practical advice for long-term sustainability and, best of all, delivering it with joy. Our wellbeing is a serious business but, choose one of these wellbeing-boosting stays, it can be an uplifting experience, too.

This place is about beauty too, and the four-storey spa complex has won countless awards for its soothing design, which incorporates monastic arches and vaulted ceilings and a show-stopping hydrotherapy pool, with a vast domed ‘spaceship’ anchored centre stage into which you dive for a sense of total release. The natural surroundings are no less stunning. You can walk from the yoga deck into the retreat’s own private pine-scented forest on the edge of the UNESCO-protected Byzantine town of Mystras. The majestic Mount Taygetus is also on its doorstep where you can hike all day and often not see another person. This place offers a rare combination of soulful escape and razor-sharp expertise.

These are inspiring places that have intuitive teams and exceptional locations that subtly set us on course for a 360-degree recharge, bolstering everything from our physical and mental to our emotional and creative states.

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