The State of Wellness in Luxury Hospitality: What a Room of Experts Sees Coming

At an ILHA webinar on wellness in luxury hospitality, a panel of spa, fitness, procurement, development, and product leaders agreed on one thing: wellness has moved from a spa-floor amenity to a thread that runs through every part of a guest's stay, and it increasingly has to prove its worth on the P&L.

A Number That Sets the Stakes

The conversation opened with a figure that framed everything after it. As Tammy Pahel of Carillon Miami noted, 73% of all global travelers consider wellness offerings when selecting a hotel or resort.

Moderated by Kelleye Martin of the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, the panel brought together Tammy Pahel of Carillon Miami, Mark Zikov of Proper Hospitality, Dorien Murphy of Avendra International, Tiffany Hoeye of Matrix Fitness, and Matt Smidt, co-founder of OliOli Hair and Body. The through-line: wellness is no longer a department.

"It's actually in every part of your experience, from entering, food and beverage, spa, fitness, and in the guest room" - Tammy Pahel

Wellness as a P&L Line, Not an Amenity

Mark Zikov of Proper Hospitality described turning two lower-rated guest rooms at Santa Monica Proper into a recovery suite, then building a membership club around it with annual dues in the range of $6,000 to $7,000. Good design alone, he argued, is not enough to win over owners.

"We're not just gonna create this really well-designed cool wellness thing, we're also gonna prove out the ROI story. That's ultimately what owners care about."

His five-year forecast, echoed around the panel: wellness "stops becoming an amenity, and starts becoming a revenue-generating, meaningful part of the P&L."

Designing the Space, Not Just Filling It

For Tiffany Hoeye of Matrix Fitness, the shift shows up in how fitness spaces are built. "Hotel fitness spaces aren't looking like the gym," she said.

"There are zones, and zones are intentionally created to serve those different guests."

In luxury environments she also made a case for restraint, describing how Matrix designed its Onyx Collection to complement a property's finishes rather than "being loud about our logo, because it's more about the property and the experience than it is about us."

The Details a Guest Feels but Never Notices

Matt Smidt of OliOli spoke to the intimate touchpoints, the products a guest actually holds, in one of the session's sharpest reframes. "In luxury hospitality, the product experience goes beyond formulation alone," he said.

"It's about creating an atmosphere of calm, comfort, decompression through every detail that the guest interacts with."

He described OliOli's layered scent strategy, where no two products share the identical scent but all stack together, leaving a "clean and restorative, subtle memory that lives with you throughout the evening." His guiding principle applies well beyond one brand: "The best amenities, they don't feel transactional. They become a part of the ritual." He tied it to revenue as well, noting that a scent that resonates drives the retail purchase because it recalls a good memory.

OliOli's high-performance formulas go beyond basic cleansing, helping replenish hair and skin after sun, saltwater, chlorine, and other environmental stressors, a reflection of today's luxury traveler, who increasingly expects wellness-focused experiences in every aspect of their stay.

Getting It Right Means Leaning on Partners

Dorien Murphy of Avendra International made the case that no property gets the details right alone. Hotels create guest moments, he said, "but maybe not in the business of knowing the intimate details, like what Matt just shared." His advice: bring the specialists in early.

"Partner with the people who actually know, if you aren't leaning into your partners, you're doing it wrong."

Where Wellness Goes Next

Asked to look five years out, the panel converged on authenticity. Smidt argued guests will demand it at every level, from the front desk through to procurement. "Guests want to feel authentically wanted that they're there," he said, challenging operators to make sure the partners they bring in genuinely deliver what they promise. Pahel pointed toward integrative medicine and the property's growing role as an educator, giving guests tools to carry wellness beyond the stay.

What It Means for Luxury Properties

Wellness in luxury hospitality is no longer a single space or a line on a menu. It runs from the recovery suite to the fitness floor to the scent and performance of the amenity on the bathroom counter, and it increasingly has to prove its worth. The properties pulling ahead treat every one of those touchpoints as intentional, and lean on the right partners to get the details right.