Better mental and physical health starts with time at wellness centers. This guide will count down the best in the nation for reaching various health goals.
Wellness retreats are valuable for more than getting away from everyday life's hustle and bustle. Your time here can lessen stress, improve strength, and help you feel your best so you're ready to tackle life's responsibilities.
With nearly 20,000 wellness resorts in the US alone - the question becomes, how do you choose one?
You're trying to minimize your stress, not increase it, remember? That's why we took care of all the heavy lifting for you.
The Top 11 Wellness Resorts in America
This countdown to the best wellness centers in the country has everything you need, from yoga classes to spa services, Japanese gardens, private hiking trails, fitness classes, and hot springs.
1. Lake Austin Spa Resort
Austin, Texas
The lap of luxury has never been closer than at the Lake Austin Spa Resort. Situated in the idyllic Texas Hill Country, you'll spend your days drinking in the vantage points of glimmering seas and tree-lined hills.
Treat yourself to a spa menu with foot therapies, body treatments, facials, and massages. You can also restore your spirit (and your vitamin D levels) with aquatic activities like wake surfing, paddleboard yoga sessions, tubing, water skiing, or boating.
Nature bathing, a paddle pilgrimage for the body and mind, is also available.
Lake Austin Spa Resort invites you to nourish your spirit with mindful menus and lakeside dining. You can even take a cooking class during your stay to aid you in your wellness journey once you're home.
2. Castle Hot Springs
Morristown, Arizona
The award-winning Castle Hot Springs sits in the Arizonan hills, with their waving palms and lush vegetation, which will help you leave your worries at the door, prioritizing better physical and mental wellness.
The starring feature here is the geothermal hot springs. The mineral-infused waters will excite your senses and ignite your zest.
An inclusive stay at the Castle Hot Springs includes:
- Daily meals, from poolside food to snacks
- A $25 beverage credit per day
- Breakfast, lunch, and a multi-course, chef-prepared dinner
You can also partake in adventures and activities without incurring an additional fee.
Paddleboard yoga class is offered seasonally, while meditation classes will help you breathe your way to better mental health. You can also enjoy resort landscape tours, guided history tours, farm tours, and fun activities from ax-throwing to archery.
3. Carillon Miami Wellness Resort
Miami Beach, Florida
The wellness programs at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort are dressed up as a luxurious, tropical vacation, making a getaway here doubly beneficial.
This experience is one of the best wellness retreats for its unique selection of services. Anti-aging treatments, anxiety and stress therapies, and weight loss and metabolism programs are available for a healthier and happier you.
Your health retreat also includes beauty treatments, thermal therapy, a full-service spa, and touchless wellness, with services such as Power Plate with PrecisionWave Technology or prism light therapies to enhance performance recovery.
Save time in your schedule for the myriad activities, such as:
- Rock climbing wall
- Deep-sea fishing
- Private fitness classes
The dining experiences are catered to your needs, whether you want a nourishing bite to eat while relaxing poolside or order in-room dining. An onsite restaurant called The Corner Store, with its warm wooden walls and cafe stylings, is always great for a meal.
4. Hilton Head Health
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Although taking a vacation usually isn't conducive to dropping a few pounds, it's different at Hilton Head Health. You can enjoy a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the True Dining restaurant and partake in one of three weight-loss programs catered to your needs and lifestyle.
The LoseWell program over four weeks is all-inclusive and provides access to personal wellness counselors and fitness coaches. JumpStart is a shorter, weeklong program with private sessions and guidance to maintain your lighter weight once you go home.
You can even partake in an extended residential weight loss program to help you reprogram your lifestyle and diet, discovering your pathway to better health. All along, you'll have a dedicated team available to assist you in achieving your goals.
After a long day in a weight loss program, spend some time elsewhere at the resort. The Blue Zone Sports Court is an outdoor court with private lessons, pickleball group classes, and more.
The Indigo Spa, an award-winning wellness service, will improve mental health when you enjoy daily massage and other treatments.
5. Crestone Mountain Zen Center
Crestone, Colorado
Find your nirvana at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. Zentatsu Baker Roshi, the creator of the Tassajara Zen Monastery and the San Francisco Zen Center, heralds guests into the reinvigorating activities awaiting you here.
You can reconnect your mind and body with Zen Practice, a program full of mindfulness and meditation where you'll learn stress management and unlock your inner peace.
Also, consider a personal retreat to realign your body, mind, and soul. Each day, you will be nourished with three prepared vegetarian meals. Picnic tables and a residential community area are available for dining if you wish to leave your room.
You can also partake in Zendo at the meditation hall around the clock or check the calendar for zazen sessions. The Dome is an excellent spot for tai chi and yoga, and it's all yours as a guest.
6. Stanly Ranch
Napa Valley, California
Part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, Stanly Ranch in the heart of California wine country is the peaceful slice of the West Coast your life has been missing.
Here, you can fill your days touring the sunny vineyards, seeing the grapes at the peak of freshness right before they're plucked from the vine and harvested. Sample the best wines the West Coast offers with exclusive wine tastings.
Farm-to-table cooking, pasta-making classes, and culinary experiences are on the menu. Let yourself sample the sweetest flavors of California, then burn off those extra calories on a walking tour of Hudson Ranch.
Then, restore your senses at the Springhouse Spa or take a yoga class at the Fieldhouse Movement Studio. The time here is to be cherished, with each day presenting an opportunity to build a better you.
7. Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort
Lanai City, Hawaii
This Four Seasons wellness resort is surrounded by towering mountains as far as the eye can see. Sensei Lanai is an adults-only resort that creates a more relaxing atmosphere that is sure to restore your mental health.
Guest speakers, private spa treatments, wellness classes, and health consultations await you. You can learn the Sensei Way with experiences that promote the value of nourishment and movement.
Soothe the senses with massage and bodywork services utilizing Hawaiian essential oils, or improve the softness and look of your skin with a whole menu of facial treatments.
Self-guided experiences at this wellness resort run the gamut from outdoor pools and showers to hot spring baths, an infrared sauna, or a steam room.
The Lenai Adventure Park lets you unlock your inner kid while playing in the Cook Pine forest. From climbing to zip lining across Kaiholena Gulch, the activities here range from low to high intensity to suit your vacation experience to a tee.
8. The Ranch Malibu
Malibu, California
Declared the best domestic destination spa in 2023 by Travel + Leisure, The Ranch Malibu offers seven- and nine-day programs to improve your social relationships, health, and well-being.
The fitness center boasts activities like swimming, yoga, water aerobics, hiking, weight-lifting, and walking to shed those inches, improve your stamina, and gain flexibility.
You can learn the basics of healthy eating with a scrumptious menu you can easily replicate at home. A daily diet might look something like this:
- Blueberry buckwheat crepes for breakfast
- An apple or almonds for a mid-morning snack
- Taco salad in a jar for lunch
- Kale chips as an afternoon snack
- Vegetable lasagna for dinner
The Ranch's daily diet sources the best local cuisine around California, using only natural ingredients like seeds, legumes, pulses, grains, vegetables, and fruits. Your diet will remove sweeteners, processed sugars, soy, dairy, and alcohol while you're here.
Meeting your personal goals and promoting self-care and well-being has never been simpler than on the detox retreats.
The Ranch will soon open another location in New York's Hudson Valley.
9. Golden Door
San Marcos, California
Ensconced in a bamboo forest with serene koi ponds, the Golden Door in San Marcos is a serene experience of a lifetime.
The extensive menu of wellness and spa treatments ranges from daily massage (Thai, Swedish, deep tissue, and more) to a three- or seven-day skincare program for a glowing countenance. The spa has a salon, body treatments, and hair treatments like deep conditioning.
Holistic fitness is at the core of the services offered at the Golden Door. Its picture-perfect location is surrounded by more than 30 miles of hiking trails to explore and discover. Other great outdoor activities include cardio classes and fitness challenges.
Indoor dance, water, and posture classes are also available. Wrap up your day with an inner focus class to discover your calm place and unleash physical tension.
Farm-to-table cuisine nourishes the body and soul. Private sessions and cooking schools led by executive chefs will teach you lifetime skills to share the joy of nutritious cooking with others.
10. The Lodge at Woodloch
Hawley, Pennsylvania
You can't discuss wellness resorts without mentioning The Lodge at Woodloch, a beautiful hotel known for its spa treatments.
The luxury spa affords you all the amenities you need for relaxation, including a robe, slippers, and private rooms. Prepare to relax as you partake in facials, massages, specialty bodywork, and body treatment. Couples and prenatal services are also available.
This resort is known for its unconventional treatments that many wellness retreats don't offer. For example, the Snow Room–the first in the nation–uses dry snow as a holistic wellness treatment.
The Tyrolean Bucket Shower dumps cold water on you, leading to thermal shock that improves your strength, body temperature, skin health, stress levels, blood circulation, metabolism, and immune system.
You can also try the Himalayan salt sauna, an equal mix of cold and hot to stimulate your senses and lessen your stress. The resort recommends combining the three treatments for better wellness.
11. Canyon Ranch Lenox
Lenox, Massachusetts
Continuing our list of East-Coast wellness retreats, Canyon Ranch Lenox in the Berkshires is set against a dreamy backdrop of ornate architecture, cotton candy skies, and stately, skyscraping trees.
The rotating daily schedule here always promises excitement, but if you're on the path to relaxation, Canyon Ranch will not disappoint.
Join in on more than 20 mind and spirit services, nearly 40 health services, food, and nutrition services, over 40 fitness classes and activities, and nearly 100 spa and beauty treatments in areas like facials, nail care, body treatments, and makeup.
Learn the ins and outs of artful dining, a thoughtful, intentional way of eating at spots like Canyon Ranch Grill and Culinary Rebel. The Demo Kitchen is open if you want to learn hands-on cooking from professional chefs.
Wrapping Up
America has some of the leading wellness retreats that have received awards for innovation and service. Tranquility and quality service are at the core of these wellness centers.
Whether you want to lose a few pounds, stroll dreamily through citrus groves, or forget your troubles at a spa, isn't it time you booked a stay at a wellness center?
