Wellness, fitness and mindfulness used to be selling points reserved for esoteric yoga retreats. But these days, they’re part of mainstream travel marketing. In Mexico, hoteliers and even developers are eager to extend the wellness welcome mat.
“People are looking for wellness and today that means so many different things. Our guests are looking for a place to get away from stress. They want to enjoy the amazing natural world surrounding us in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That’s wellness for the soul. And of course, we offer many unique treatments and other activities that fall in the category of wellness for the body,” Sixto Navarro tells Travel Agent. Navarro is general manager of Villa del Palmar at the Islands of Loreto.
On the Riviera Nayarit, new product offerings are expanding the wellness concept.
Twelve new Wellness Suites will debut in late October at the AAA Five Diamond Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. The 1750 square feet suites ahve amenities such as exercise bikes; in-room massages; special pillows and LED lights as well as sleep-inducing aromatherapy. Guests will also have personal Spa Concierges available to them.
In November, two Wellness Suites will come on line at the Grand Velas’ sister property, Casa Velas.
"Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit offers a unique experience of relaxation and self-pampering with our new Wellness Suites. They will give a tailored and holistic approach to health and wellbeing," general manager Ignacio Mendoza tells Travel Agent.
In the Magic Town of Todos Santos, the wellness concept is community wide and growing.
The centuries-old fishing and farming town lies on the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur. For North American visitors, it’s an artsy surf haven with a long-standing wellness vibe. Beach yoga, indigenous healers and meditation teachers abound. It’s no surprise, then, that it’s the site of a new “mindful living village” called Tres Santos.
The first phase of the Tres Santos development broke ground in summer 2014. It will include an oceanfront boutique beach hotel, a beach club, residences and shops. A town-to-beach trail, organic farm and farm-to-table restaurant are also in the plans.
Tres Santos collaborator Chip Conley is the founder and former CEO of Joie de Vivre. He notes that the setting, timing and accessibility of the project bode well for its success.
“It’s less than an hour from the Los Cabos Airport. That’s due to the new bypass road that just opened. You could literally leave L.A. on a morning flight and be on the highway to Tres Santos in a few hours. On the drive, you have a 7,000 foot-high mountain range, gorgeous saguaros in the desert and you have the ocean,” Conley tells Travel Agent.
Austin, TX-based Liz Lambert and the Bunkhouse Group will operate the boutique beach hotel at Tres Santos.
“The design is a modernist Mexican design, it’s not an hacienda. There’s already quite a beautiful hacienda-style inn in town. We’re not trying to do something like that. We’re also not going to be a monolith 10-story building on the beach like you see in a lot of Mexican resorts,” Conley says.
Family friendliness is another draw.
“They’ll have family programs and over time a whole collection of things to do. Parents can go off mountain biking with a guide and the kids can do their own thing. The idea is to be inclusive and bring together elements that you can’t find anywhere else,” Conley says.