These Maui Hotels Are Leaning Into The Wellness Travel Trend

Sep 02, 2023

From a luxury "wellness pool experience" to immersive sound baths and Sleep IV treatments.

Maui's Wailea Beach is a picturesque oceanfront perch for a strip of luxury hotels, including the Four Seasons where Season 1 of HBO's The White Lotus was filmed. That now-iconic property shares a prized stretch of beachfront with the Wailea Beach Resort and Grand Wailea Hotel, featuring sweeping views of Kaho’olawe island and an eroded volcano jutting from the Pacific.

A paved walkway perfumed with floral scents of native Hawaiian naupaka, pohinahina and plumeria beach plants connects the palm tree-dotted shoreline to Wailea Beach's upscale shops and restaurants. Also in full bloom here is a spate of innovative hotel wellness programming aimed at guests seeking something more rejuvenating than the typical luau feast or outrigger canoe tour.

In a bid to distinguish itself from other local properties, the Marriott-owned Wailea Beach Resort recently launched an exclusive, adults-only "Wellness Pool Experience" called Olakino, a salt water Infinity pool overlooking the whitecap-flecked ocean waters below.

Olakino plunges into the wellness travel market by prioritizing restorative poolside activities and treatments including acupuncture, yoga, sound meditations, scalp and hand massages, water workouts, soon-to-launch IV therapy, and a dedicated staff serving a special menu of cocktails, mocktails and snacks.

Programming themes at the reservation-only wellness pool rotate on a four-day schedule tied to the Hawaiian themes of La’i (tranquility and harmony), Ala (awakeness), Konea (restoration), and A’o (acquire knowledge). The gated pool charges hotel guests $200 for a lounge chair, $600 for a daybed, and $1,200 for a cabana.

But unlike the 547-room Wailea Beach Resort's five other pools and the scarcity of the 30 complimentary beach chairs on the stretch of sand shared with the Four Seasons and Grand Wailea, a soothing Olakino pool experience can be reserved all day for hassle-free relaxation.

"Poolside wellness is definitely a big thing on people's radars right now," says Brigitte Johnson, the hotel's Food and Beverage Operations Manager who oversees Olakino. "We haven't been able to find something like this at any other resort—where there's a pool that offers daily services like this. We also have some guests who just want to come and go and not have to worry about finding a new chair."

The opening of Olakino is just the latest hotel perk designed to capitalize on the wellness travel boom, which can be seen everywhere lately, from Arlo Hotels’ Spring/Summer Rooftop Wellness Series in New York and Miami to Spa at Séc-he's new hot spring mineral spa in Palm Springs.

According to a 2022 report by Grand View Research, a firm that studies travel trends, the global wellness tourism market is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, growing steadily at a rate of nearly 10 percent per year.

Given the ongoing popularity of wellness travel, it's no surprise that the Wailea Beach Resort isn't the only Maui hotel that's leaning into the wellness craze with all the healthful purpose of a downward dog yoga pose.

Hotel Wailea— which offers a more luxe, intimate vibe befitting Maui's sole adults-only hotel and Hawaii's only Relais & Châteaux property—is likewise rolling out some notable wellness activities.

Spread across 72 suites and 15 lush acres, Hotel Wailea features a laid-back pool scene, a gurgling stream, and a verdant vegetable garden that supplies the hotel's farm-to-table flagship, The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea. It's not oceanfront—you have to get dropped off at the beach by the hotel's car service—but the restaurant, featuring a lavish caviar service and the deepest wine list of any Maui hotel, has plenty of charms to make up for not being right on the water.

The playfully chic property, which displays sculptures of both the "Aloha" hand gesture and a giant wine corkscrew, is doubling down on its couples-centric reputation with a "Discover Dialogues Experience." The unique service enlists a licensed therapist to counsel expectant couples and newlyweds and lead "Positive Mental Attitude" sessions for couples at any relationship stage.

The counseling sessions can be paired with yin and pin acupuncture, yoga or a couples massage. It takes place over three nights, in a 720-square-foot Celebration Suite, with daily breakfast and dinner at Restaurant at Hotel Wailea. Pricing starts at $6,300.

Hotel Wailea is also appealing to solo travelers, "including C-Suite executives and parents seeking a getaway without their spouse or children," courtesy of a three-night Solo Retreat that features wellness-themed amenities including private surfing excursions and in-suite sound baths.

"Well-being is at the heart of Hotel Wailea's experiences and we’re constantly expanding our offerings," says Markus Schale, the property's Managing Director.

"Most guests now book at least one wellness experience during their stay, whether it's something more traditional like a Couples Massage or a new experience, like a Healing Sound Bath or Vagus Nerve Reset. We’re also looking into more cutting-edge programming to support biohacking and advanced anti-aging protocols."

The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, which has experienced a notable uptick in popularity since being showcased on The White Lotus, is similarly upgrading its wellness game by promoting sleep-enhancing therapies.

The five-star resort's spa has partnered with health optimization brand Next Health to curate a variety of cutting-edge offerings including Ozone Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy and Exosomes Therapy, costing anywhere from $1,200 to $12,000 per treatment.

It also offers a variety of vitamin shots, Biomarker Wellness Testing and customized IV drips— including an exclusive new 30-minute, $300 Sleep IV that aims to improve sleep by reducing stress and encouraging deeper sleep cycles.

The Maui Four Seasons spa—which was famously frequented by Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya McQuiod on The White Lotus—hosts a dizzying array of services by holistic mediums, reiki masters, chiropractors, acupuncturists, masseuses, and estheticians. But the resort says it's especially interested in advocating therapies that are designed to boost healthy sleep patterns.

In addition to the Sleep IV comprised of Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin B12, taurine, and magnesium, the resort offers a Sleep Well Massage featuring chamomile flower extract, magnesium, and sweet almond oil to relax the body and calm the mind for a deeper sleep.

"When your body systems don't get a chance to recover due to a lack of quality sleep, you can compromise your immunity, energy, mental clarity, and ultimately your longevity if left unaddressed," says Dr. Darshan Shah, CEO of Next Health.

"For those looking for extra sleep support, the Sleep IV is an excellent choice as it is formulated with ingredients that relax the nervous system, promote stress relief, and ease the body into sleep naturally."

While simply lounging by the pools of any of these luxury Wailea Beach hotels will likely be a boon to your overall well-being, all three properties seem intent on upgrading amenities to lure guests, while also offering their most wellness-focused experiences yet.