Hotels offering healthy extras
Hotels lay on the perks to tempt health-conscious travellers
FASTER FITNESS and ‘SPA TAPAS:' Hotels are wooing rushed execs with express spa treatments. Andaz Wall Street in New York has 15-minute facials, the Observatory Hotel in Sydney, Australia, lists more than a dozen 30-minute “tapas,” and the Chatwal New York offers 15 minutes of pure inhaled oxygen to fight jet lag.The Associated Press
ROCKSTAR HOURS, STAR TRAINERS: Whenever your plane touches down, a workout awaits. Find 24-hour gyms at Quebec City's Hôtel PUR; W Chicago City Center; select Hyatts; New York City's funky Eventi (a Klimpton Hotel); and Melbourne, Australia's tony the Lyall Hotel and Spa. Toronto's Hazelton Hotel boasts always-on-call private training led by Phil Zullo, buff guru to professional hockey players, Olympians and A-list actors, including Kate Hudson.
BICYCLES While some hotels loan expensive cars to their clients, others are pedalling a healthier option: bicycles. Paris's Le Meurice and Hôtel Plaza Athénée lend bikes for sightseeing; Fairmont President's Club members have priority access in certain cities; and there are “bike valets” at Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, N.C., and at Park Hyatt Toronto.
HEALING FOCUS: The big guns aren't just capable of mani-pedis; they now offer holistic healing. Exhale Spas, including the one at Gansevoort Park Avenue, take the concept furthest with a “reproductive wellness program” of fertility-boosting acupuncture to prepare couples for in-vitro fertilization. San Francisco's The Healing Arts Center and Spa at Cavallo Point staffs an acupuncturist, hypno-therapist and shaman.
MEDICINAL MEALS: Hotels are wooing picky eaters, or those with digestive problems, with calorie-counted, gluten-free and extreme customization of menus. The Intercontinental Hong Kong's iHealth menu, developed with a hospital, takes aim at diabetes, cardiac disease and hypertension. Delta Hotels' “our kitchen is your kitchen” vow means every off-menu request is fulfilled – chefs at Delta Winnipeg once blended a prime rib dinner into a shake served with a straw for a guest who had trouble eating. Westin Hotels and Resorts has a nutritionist-approved SuperFoodsRx menu, complete with fact sheets.