Popularised by celebrity beauties such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Kate Moss, high-end wellness clinics that offer bespoke holistic treatments and therapies have become all the rage. Wellness destinations that can house a complete 360° wellness experience are attracting much attention. Particularly popular for some years now in cities in the US and Japan, the luxury wellness trend is also taking off in other major cities around the world including London, Dubai and Hong Kong.
New York
Adding to New York’s already significant collection of high-end wellness clinics, famous department store Saks Fifth Avenue in New York has recently opened a pop-up wellness destination coined ‘The Wellery’. Offering skincare products and treatments as well as fitness classes and sport apparel, The Wellery boasts invasive body contouring, a salt therapy room and meditation classes across its 16,000 square foot (sq ft) space on the department store’s second floor.
“We want the Saks Wellery to be a sanctuary for our customers – a place to find peace and solace in the middle of our bustling city,” explains Tracy Margolies, Chief Merchant at Saks Fifth Avenue in a press release launching the pop-up concept store that will be open until October.
Tokyo
Tokyo has long been known for having some of the best high-end wellness clinics in the world. Set amidst the city’s five star skyscraper hotels, many of these wellness destinations boast one-of-a-kind treatments in the most tranquil of settings. Also popular is the Japanese Onsen, or natural springs, of which Shimizu-yu Onsen is one of the most luxurious, famous for its therapeutic mineral-rich waters.
London
A whole host of luxury wellness destinations have been popping up across the city of London in recent times. Perhaps one of the most iconic of these is the extensive new high-end wellness clinic that opened in Harrods in May. It already boasts an impressive beauty hall and a spa, Urban Retreat, but now the department store’s fourth floor is home to a 10,500 sq ft destination offering a complete 360° wellness experience with 14 treatment rooms, two personal training studios and a private consultation room.
Already dubbed the ultimate self improvement space, experts in the fields of aesthetics, wellness and dermatology have been hand-picked to lead the exclusive services at the clinic. With the idea that each service can be stand alone, or complement the next, the high-end wellness clinic can deliver a complete 360° wellness experience, for example, a client can auto-correct body concerns using multiple techniques from fitness to posture to combating cellulite – if money is no concern, that is.
The complete 360° wellness experience does not come cheap with a one hour fitness consultation alone costing £130 (USD 168) and cool sculpting, a controlled freezing technique used to reduce isolated areas of stubborn fat coming in at £1,700 (USD 2,200) for 90 minutes.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Available in CosmeSurge clinics throughout the UAE, The Elixir Clinic offers a range of twelve different intravenous wellness treatments to clients across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The most popular of these is the VIP Elixir Infusion – a combination of minerals, vitamins and amino acids which are known for their metabolism boosting qualities, and particularly for encouraging excellent nail and hair health. It costs AED 2,000 per infusion and a course of six infusions over six weeks is recommended.
There are also talks of famous Spanish five star wellness destination SHA Wellness opening its first clinic outside of Spain, in Dubai. The Sha Wellness concept promises to improve its clients’ lifestyle and nutrition by offering a complete 360° wellness experience during which experts integrate natural therapies with therapeutic nutrition, Western medicine and preventive medicine, genetics and anti-aging.