Far from Ordinary
Wellness Retreats Offering One-of-a-Kind Experiences
The best trips don’t just take you somewhere beautiful. They lead you to your best self. From high-ropes challenges to horseback swims and full-body Ayurvedic resets, today’s most memorable wellness retreats are turning travel into transformation. Whether you’re casually curious, wildly adventurous or ready for something deeper, these standout resorts offer a new way to rest, reset and rediscover your sense of wonder.
The Southeast
Sensory to Sacred
Dunya Camp | Summerville, Georgia
Dunya Camp takes luxury glamping to a new level with six private safari tents nestled in the North Georgia mountains. Each hideaway is layered with one-of-a-kind antiques and thoughtful comforts, from a four-poster king bed and climate control to a cozy living area centered around a wood-burning fireplace. On temperate days, open the screened flaps to the fresh mountain air, then step onto your private deck in the trees, complete with an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, cedar hot tub, sauna and hammock.
Whether you are headed out to explore the nearby Little River Canyon National Park or simply going on a hike around the property, Dunya provides luxe breakfast and lunch hampers to prepare you for adventure. Celebrating something special? Book a four-course chef’s dinner or Omakase Weekend, with seasonal fine dining served steps from your fire pit.
Don’t Miss: A Three-Step Mountain Reset
Stretch, steam and soak under the expansive sky with a private yoga session, followed by sauna aromatherapy with essential oils and face masks for two. Then settle into a long ritual bath with flowers, healing crystals, a bath bomb and Japanese onsen bath tab.
The Dunlin, Auberge Collection | Johns Island, South Carolina
Located just outside Charleston, The Dunlin, Auberge Collection, sits along the Kiawah River teeming with life. This picture-perfect Lowcountry retreat embraces slow marsh living and Southern hospitality, inviting guests to dine along the riverfront, set off on an adventure or simply relax and see where the day takes them.
Get out on the water with kayaking, paddleboarding, fly fishing or a guided boat excursion through the tidal flats. On land, bike nature trails, spot marsh wildlife or visit Kiawah River’s farmstead and Goatery for a look at community agriculture. The Dunlin also offers hands-on Lowcountry experiences like oyster shucking, crabbing and riverside seafood feasts.
Don’t Miss: Hive-to-Table Spa Rituals
At The Dunlin’s Aster Spa, French skincare traditions blend with local Aster flower honey for one-of-a-kind botanical treatments. For head-to-toe rejuvenation, try the Healing Honey Body Treatment, which pairs circulation-boosting dry brushing with a warm Midnight Honey Oil massage, aromatic towels, facial pressure point work and an herbal mist to leave skin glowing.
Blackberry Mountain | Walland, Tennessee
Steeped in generations of beloved Beall family hospitality at Blackberry Farm, Blackberry Mountain brings luxe accommodations, top-tier dining and dozens of unique wellness experiences to the Great Smoky Mountains wilderness. Polished but not overly manicured, a variety of stone cottages, treehouses and cabins offer unobstructed views of the mountains beyond while blending seamlessly into 5,200 acres of meandering streams and tall pines.
Explore out-of-the-box art studio offerings from Raku firing to meditative marbling through the practice of Suminagashi. Get moving with a guided hike or SUP circuit training at Valley Pond, before rounding out your day with a CBD massage or LED facial at Nest—the first Joanna Czech-certified spa in America.
Don’t Miss: Aerial Forest Yoga
Float among the trees in this unique aerial yoga experience, where soft silks support your body as you settle into the peaceful forest surroundings. Open to beginners, each 50- or 80-minute class is led by a skilled practitioner who will guide you through supported poses designed to improve flexibility, create space in the body, gently decompress the spine and quiet the mind.
SoHum Mountain Healing Resort | Asheville, North Carolina
A quieter counterpoint to Asheville’s creative energy, SoHum Mountain Healing Resort offers an immersive Ayurvedic sanctuary in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The intimate property has 11 private guest rooms, each designed as a healing sanctuary with fireplaces, private balconies and soaking tubs for an inward-facing stay centered around restand ritual.
For a lighter reset, guests can book SoHum’s Day Experience, where you can indulge in a four-course vegetarian meal and specialty spa treatments like four-handed Abhyanga and color therapy for chakra alignment.
Don’t Miss: Seven-Night Panchakarma Retreat
Often described as Ayurveda’s deepest reset, Panchakarma means “five actions” and traditionally refers to a cleansing and rejuvenation process designed to bring the body back into balance. At SoHum, the seven-night retreat turns that ancient framework into a full-sensory ritual, with daily yoga, morning fire ceremony, daily abhyanga warm oil treatments, color therapy, practitioner support and three elevated meals a dayprepared within Panchakarma guidelines.
National
Release and Reconnection
Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa | Tucson, Arizona
One of the country’s original wellness destinations, Miraval Arizona is an adults-only retreat set in the foothills of the sand-swept Santa Catalina Mountains. The Sonoran Desert setting shapes this mindful stay, from casita-style rooms and villas to nourishing cuisine and quiet desert pathways. In-room touches like meditation pillows and Tibetan singing bowls invite guests to slow down and soak in every moment.
Build your day around guided desert hikes, equine experiences, beekeeping, intuitive archery, culinary workshops, creative expression classes, meditation, breathwork, fitness sessions or restorative treatments at the Life in Balance Spa. For a deeper dive, Miraval Immersions offers multi-day masterclass programs led by expert specialists to help guests explore a specific wellness goal or personal intention.
Don’t Miss: Challenge Course
Part aerial adventure, part self-discovery exercise, Sky Island Traverse takes guests across a series of suspended ropes elements roughly 40 feet above the desert before finishing with a zipline descent. Guided by Miraval’s team, the experience turns height, balance and uncertainty into a focused lesson in trust, courage and moving through fear.
Aman | New York, New York
Above the hustle and bustle of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, Aman New York creates the feeling of a private wellness sanctuary suspended over the city. The hotel channels Aman’s signature restraint through oversized suites, working fireplaces, Japanese-inspired dining and a three floor spa devoted to longevity and optimization.
Researched, not routine, Aman’s spa treatments pair the latest technologies, like infrared light and electromagnetic waves, with expert-led medical consultations for real results. For a more private escape, book one of the Spa Houses, each with either a traditional banya or hammam, double treatment room, fireplace lounge, hot bath and cold plunge.
Don’t Miss: Djokovic Detoxification Programme
Curated in collaboration with 24-time Grand Slam tennis champion Novak Djokovic, this three-day program begins with a traditional Banya ritual, followed by hot bath and cold plunge contrast therapy. From there, guests move through full-immersion cryotherapy, hypoxia-hyperoxia therapy to support recovery and performance, Zen energy work with craniosacral therapy and acupressure, and yoga practice.
Alila Ventana | Big Sur, California
Big Sur’s foggy mornings, dramatic cliffs, looming redwoods and open ocean come together to create an elemental, almost magical atmosphere. Alila Ventana Big Sur leans fully into this natural drama with a serene, sophisticated retreat tucked between forest and coast, unfolding in layered terraces where rustic-luxe rooms and glamping tents sit above pools, gardens and winding pathways.
Connect with Big Sur’s wildness through Coldstream Bliss, a redwood hike, breathwork and secluded cold-water plunge. Get your hands in the dirt with foraging, communal harvesting and cold process soapmaking, or explore Big Sur’s raptors during a falconry experience with Master Falconer Antonio Balestreri. For something quieter, Reiki in the Redwoods brings energy work to the open-air Circle of Life sanctuary.
Don’t Miss: Japanese Hot Baths and Infinity-Edge Soaking
Heated to 104 degrees year-round, Ventana’s Japanese hot baths offer a traditional onsen-inspired communal soak beside the Mountain Pool. Follow it with the infinity-edge hot tub, framed by ancient redwoods and Big Sur Valley views, for warm-water therapy that can ease muscle pain, stiffness and tension.
International
Once-in-a-Lifetime Rituals
NIHI Sumba | Sumba, Indonesia
On the remote island of Sumba, horses still run along the sand, turquoise water folds into untouched coastline and the landscape feels worlds away from nearby Bali. NIHI Sumba turns that wildness into next-level Indonesian hospitality, with private villas tucked into tropical greenery, open-air living spaces, ocean views and the feeling of having one of the world’s most beautiful beaches all to yourself.
Connect more deeply to Sumbanese culture through village visits, traditional weaving, market tours, cooking classes and Sumba Foundation experiences that make the stay feel tied to the island, not separate from it. The foundation supports local communities through clean water access, health care, nutrition, education, vocational training and employment opportunities.
Don’t Miss: Swimming with Horses
At low tide on Nihiwatu Beach, guests are invited to mount a Sumbanese horse for a bareback ride along the sand before wading into the crystal-clear Indian Ocean. Guided by NIHI’s equine team and local horsemen, the experience asks you to trust the calm strength of your horse as you move with the tide and encounter one of Sumba’s most beloved traditions up close.
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland | Grindavík, Iceland
One of National Geographic’s 25 wonders of the world, the Blue Lagoon is famous for its soft blue geothermal water, rich in a rare skin-soothing combination of silica, algae and minerals. To experience the lagoon’s magic at its most peaceful, arrive early or stay at The Retreat, where guests have access to a private lagoon and Northern Lights wake-up calls during winter stays.
At the Retreat Spa, the Blue Lagoon Ritual turns those natural elements into a self-guided sequence of cleansing, exfoliation and hydration inside a sanctuary of subterranean chambers. Continue the reset across the Blue Lagoon with the steam cave, sauna or cold well, each offering its own take on heat, contrast and deep restoration.
Don’t Miss: The Lagoon’s Signature In-Water Massage
Step into a secluded lagoon and settle onto a flotation mat, wrapped in a warm blanket as geothermal water supports you through two hours of deep relaxation. Begin with a polishing salt scrub to revitalize the skin, followed by your choice of a silica or algae wrap and a gentle face and scalp massage. The experience concludes with a 60-minute full-body massage designed to release tension.
