Sleep tracking and longevity claims: The new era of wellness retreats

The new generation of hotel spas is selling treatments that promise better sleep, lower stress and longer, healthier lives. Wellness travel once meant switching off at a hotel spa or a relaxing mud facial. But today, a growing number of retreat-goers are less interested in passive relaxation techniques and instead embracing fitness assessments, sleep tracking and longevity programmes. The rising demand has hotels and resorts around the world adapting quickly. They are converting their spas from oases of relaxation into destinations offering programmes they claim can improve sleep, reduce stress and support longer, healthier lives. These programmes are now found worldwide, from Ayurvedic clinics in the Himalayan foothills to spas on Lake Como. That desire to take greater control over his own wellness was what traveller San Priy was looking for when he booked Canyon Ridge's new Longevity8 programme in Tucson, Arizona – a four-day retreat built around diagnostic tests, consultations and activities such as hikes, walks and bike rides. "I was feeling run down and wanted to take a more intentional approach to my long-term health instead of just reacting to stress," he said. He's not alon