Wellness Awaits at These Hawaiʻi Resorts

For months I’d tolerated a pain in my neck that, in recent weeks, had radiated down to my lower back. Nothing—not massage or yoga or stretches I learned through hours of YouTube videos—offered much relief. 

I was at the point where I would try anything, including spending an hour in a hyperbaric chamber. On my vacation. 

The oxygen treatment is one of the more unique wellness-focused offerings at 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay on Kaua‘i, which opened in 2023 on cliffs overlooking the iconic bay. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing in pure oxygen in a pressurized environment; it’s used to treat decompression sickness, serious infections, wounds that won’t heal, even cyanide and carbon monoxide poisoning. But spas—like the one at 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay—have started offering the therapy to guests as a way to alleviate inflammation, promote healing, strengthen the immune system, rejuvenate skin, enhance blood circulation and increase collagen production, explains Nicholas Gold, vice president of operations and the hotel’s general manager.  

I just wanted to be able to sleep without using four pillows to prop myself up in bed.  

1 Hotel Hanalei guests will find unique experiences at the Bamford Spa, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a Somadome meditation.
Photo: Courtesy of 1 Hotel Hanalei

The hotel’s spa—it’s a Bamford Wellness Spa—offers several specialty services focused on holistic wellness, from an infrared sauna that stimulates collagen and elastin production to a 20-minute session in a Somadome, the world’s first technology-enabled private meditation pod. You can book acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, crystal healing, color therapy and vibrational acoustic therapy here, too. Or opt to spend an hour in a unique zero-gravity, sensory-deprivation tank, which promotes relaxation and improved sleep.   

“We have seen a great interest in travelers seeking wellness-related activities during their vacation,” Gold says. “Couples and families alike are looking for ways to recharge from their busy lives.”  

Wellness tourism is on the rise, and revenue in this growing hospitality sector expected to hit $1.3 trillion by 2025, according to the Global Wellness Institute. And it goes beyond green juice bars and yoga on the beach. These days travelers are seeking out holistic ways to improve their health and wellbeing. Hotels around the world are offering an array of diverse experiences, from grief-related programs to menopause retreats. The adults-only Hotel Wailea Hotel on Maui offers 90-minute guided tantra classes to help couples improve intimacy, and the ‘Alohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach boasts a 700-square-foot lounge where guests can take in vitamin IV drips that can boost energy, improve fitness performance and help with hangover recovery. The Four Seasons Resort Hualālai on Hawai‘i Island has cupping therapy and reiki, a Japanese energy healing technique that promotes relaxation and reduces stress and anxiety through the gentle touch of practitioners. And the Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, offers astrology readings.  

“I think it’s one of the many aftershocks of Covid,” says Annie Daly, a New York-based freelance writer and author of “Destination Wellness: Global Secrets for Better Living Wherever You Are,” which includes a chapter on Hawai‘i. “Many people finally learned the importance of slowing down and taking care of themselves during the pandemic, and now they want to continue to focus on this in their everyday lives. As a result, do-it-all vacations that once seemed appealing—downing tequila shots on the beach or overbooking your trip to be sure you see everything—are starting to lose their shine.”  

Sensei Lānaʻi, a Four Seasons Resort specializes in customized wellness experiences, including spa treatments like this traditional Thai floor massage.
Photo: Courtesy of Sensei Lānaʻi

When Sensei Lāna‘i, a Four Seasons Resort opened in 2019, it was fully reimagined as an adults-only wellbeing retreat—the first of its kind in the Islands. Interest in the hotel’s unique offerings—restorative aerial yoga, forest bathing, gong sound baths, classes on compassion and mindfulness—has been on the rise since emerging from the pandemic, says Sensei Lāna‘i general manager David Emig.  

“Coming out of a global pandemic has resulted in an uptick in guests with a focused intention around a mental reset or learning more mindfulness tactics to combat stress and anxiety, as well as taking better care of themselves, whether that is due to a milestone moment like retirement or turning 50 or a breakthrough like quitting smoking or just wanting to feel less stressed and more present with family,” he says.  

Everything about Sensei Lāna‘i is focused on wellness and longevity, from the five-star hotel’s lush, tranquil 24 acres to a wellness-focused menu at its signature restaurant, Sensei by Nobu. There isn’t much to distract you from your wellness journey, either. The main pool looks more like a secret oasis within a dreamy botanical garden and the nearest beach is a 20-minute drive away. 

The grounds of Sensei Lānaʻi are in Kōʻele, the traditionally spiritual uplands of Lānaʻi.
Photo: Courtesy of Sensei Lānaʻi

Oracle co-founder and billionaire entrepreneur Larry Ellison bought 98% of the 89,000-acre island of Lāna‘i in 2012, including two Four Seasons-operated hotels. The Four Seasons Resort Lāna‘i is the island’s classic beachfront resort, with a kid-friendly pool overlooking Hulopo‘e Bay and a variety of accommodations for every kind of traveler. The 96-room Sensei Lāna‘i, however, is more secluded and peaceful, a place where you can focus on your health and quieting your mind, even on vacation. 

Ellison founded Sensei with Dr. David Agus, a physician and New York Times bestselling author; its purpose is to help people live longer, healthier lives with minimal impact on the environment. But this goes beyond building a well-stocked hotel gym and gorgeous spa. 

The hotel will arrange a personalized “journey” for you, which starts with a wellness consultation before you arrive and can include one-on-one sessions with a trained guide and an itinerary of classes, lectures and other activities. Even your dining options can be tailored to your specific health goals.   

One of the more popular wellness offerings at Sensei Lāna‘i is a thermal body mapping and massage. Using technology developed exclusively for the hotel, a technician creates a visual map of your body, revealing asymmetries, muscle tightness and areas of pain. From this information, the massage therapist can create a customized massage that targets these specific areas of tension.  

Another unique treatment is aquatic bodywork, where you float in a warm, private outdoor pool as a therapist guides you through a series of stretches and massages.  

And recently, the hotel launched a Sleep 1:1 session, where, with the help of a guide, you learn strategies to get a more restorative sleep, something many of us don’t get in our too-busy lives. Even on vacation.  

“The pandemic helped many people see, often for the first time, the value in slowing down,” Daly says. “And it also helped them realize the importance of connection: connection with others, connection with the earth, and connection with themselves. Now that the seed for these values has been planted, it’s hard to go back to the ‘go-go-go-ness’ of the way things were. People want to operate differently now, and that includes the way they travel.”  

Wellness travel has evolved and expanded beyond pampering facials and deep-tissue massages, which do little to improve mental and physical health. Now travelers can opt for things like guided hiking adventures and cultural encounters that provide authentic connections to the places and people they visit. 

The Westin Maui Resort and Spa, Kāʻanapali offers a variety of spa treatments that focus on wellness.
Photo: Courtesy of The Westin Maui Resort and Spa, Kāʻanapali

The recently revamped Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Kā‘anapali has a variety of programs aimed at active travelers, from a 3-mile morning run led by the hotel’s run concierge to surf lessons at nearby Kā‘anapali Beach. You can take pickleball lessons or ride a horse on the beach at The Ritz-Carlton Oʻahu, Turtle Bay (formerly Turtle Bay Resort) on the island’s North Shore, or learn about traditional Hawaiian voyaging techniques aboard a sailing canoe in Kahuwai Bay at Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort on Hawai‘i Island. 

“Whenever I tell people I write about wellness travel, they always assume I live at the spa on vacation … but that’s actually not how I see wellness travel at all,” says Daly, who most recently co-authored “Island Wisdom: Hawaiian Traditions and Practices for a Meaningful Life.” “I truly believe wellness travel goes so much deeper than the spa. It’s about the people you meet and the cultural lessons you pick up along the way, ones you can then weave into your life back at home no matter where you live.”  

On one of her many visits to the Islands, Daly learned about the Hawaiian concept of ho‘omanawanui, which is about trusting that the right thing will happen to you at the right time. Ancient Hawaiians waited for the perfect time to catch their fish, she explains, because they knew they’d get the best quality if they waited until the time was right.  

“I’m currently going through IVF (in vitro fertilization), and I am not kidding when I say that idea has helped me through my fertility struggles in a big way,” Daly says. “I keep reminding myself that even though things are taking longer, the right thing will happen for me at the right time—and will leave me with a better proverbial fish as a result. To me, that’s what wellness travel is all about: taking the time to connect with locals and learn cultural lessons that can help you through your own life, long after the trip itself is over. Travel really is the best teacher.”  

My time in the hyperbaric chamber at 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay was my first experience with any kind of oxygen treatment. The chamber resembles what I imagine a space travel simulator would look like: a fully enclosed but spacious capsule that can comfortably fit up to four people. I relaxed into one of the seats, put up my feet and draped a fleece blanket over my legs. (It can get cold in there.) The technician, who used this treatment to recover from training for a 16-mile swim race, fit the nasal cannula in my nose and turned on the oxygen. To be honest, I didn’t notice anything, not even the pure oxygen that was coursing through my body—though the pressure did make me feel like I was sitting on an airplane. I sat back, read my Kindle and relaxed.   

After about 50 minutes, the technician returned to help me out of the chamber.  

“How was it?” she asked excitedly.  

I felt the same. Maybe more refreshed and focused, but generally the same.  

Until, that is, I turned to grab my Kindle and realized my neck pain—something that prevented me from getting restorative sleep for months, something that made even driving uncomfortable—was gone. Totally gone. 

That experience made the rest of my stay on Kaua‘i—with all the hiking, surfing and exploring that came with it—that much better. 

This story was originally published in our Summer 2024 issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.