Resetting mental and physical health often requires more than short meditation or exercise sessions. Wellness retreats offer transformation through specialized amenities, expert staff, and unique locations. These retreats include spa treatments, meals, and wellness classes, while others charge for these individually. This article reviews some of the best weight loss spas and wellness retreats in the United States, highlighting their unique offerings and features.
Top Wellness Retreats in the United States
Castle Hot Springs, Arizona
Tucked into the red rock Bradshaw Mountains, Castle Hot Springs offers a true escape. Once frequented by affluent families and closed for over 40 years, it reopened in 2019 as a luxurious retreat with sound bath sessions and scenic e-bike tours. Guests can enjoy indoor-outdoor fireplaces and spring-fed tubs.
Golden Door Spa, California
The Golden Door Spa in Southern California offers all-inclusive, week-long health and fitness programs. These programs are typically reserved for women, with designated men and co-ed weeks at specific times throughout the year.
Cal-a-Vie Health Spa, California
This tranquil, Japanese-style resort sits on 600 mountainous acres in Southern California. It features over 30 miles of private hiking trails, a bamboo forest, and about 80 rejuvenating classes each week. The exclusive experience includes a daily massage, skin treatments, and farm-to-table meals.
Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, Florida
Located in Miami's North Beach, this five-star resort has one of the largest spas on the East Coast. At Carillon Miami, guests can challenge themselves with boot camps, boxing courses, yoga classes, or hydrotherapy sessions that end in an igloo-style cooling suite. The cutting-edge fitness center provides private training, group fitness classes, and ocean views.
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YO1, New York
YO1 is a wellness retreat set on 1,300 acres in New York's Catskills region, about two hours from Manhattan. At the resort, experts guide guests to create personalized experiences, including an Ayurvedic health center and programs that address anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia, infertility, and diabetes.
Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort, Hawaii
Billed as a "luxurious wellness enclave," Sensei Lanai offers tranquility and seclusion for soul-searching needs. Guests can opt into one-on-one sessions with experts, Thai aqua therapy, lakeside yoga, and elevated spa experiences featuring infrared saunas and Japanese soaking pools. The food is fabulous, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner by Nobu. Sensei can be a romantic retreat for couples, a wellness-focused vacation, or a pampering getaway for both men and women. With up to 16 different fitness classes to choose from at any time of day and private sessions with a trainer, all surrounded by the peace and quiet of Hawaii.
The Ranch, Malibu, California
The Ranch's sought-after seven-day wellness retreat is limited to just 25 guests and offers an immersive experience that includes fitness programs and plant-based meals. Guests stay in private cottages and enjoy an active schedule of low-impact exercise, massages, and a 1,400 calorie-a-day vegan diet. The Ranch Malibu assists guests in recalibrating their mind, body, and spirit through an intensive week-long endurance, wellness, and nutrition program. The results-oriented programs range from 7-day, 8-day, 9-day, and multi-week luxury fitness retreats designed to promote weight loss, health, and wellness, in beautiful surroundings in the Santa Monica Mountains. Each day includes 4 hours of morning mountain hiking, an afternoon fitness class, and restorative yoga or meditation, along with nap time and deep tissue massage.
Hilton Head Health, South Carolina
Located on Hilton Head Island, Hilton Head Health offers an all-inclusive approach to wellness. Guests can join boot camp, yoga, or TRX classes or go kayaking or paddleboarding. The on-site restaurant serves healthier versions of favorites like eggs Benedict and shrimp and grits. Celebrating 40+ years of healthy and sustainable weight loss programs, Hilton Head Health offers all-inclusive programs for those who want to kick-start a weight loss program or participate in a longer journey. Each guest room features spa-like touches, plush bedding, and convenient access to campus amenities. True Dining has perfected its recipes to control calories and meet dietary needs while making use of fresh locally-sourced ingredients.
Amangiri, Utah
This vast Aman property spans almost 1,000 acres in Utah's section of the Colorado Plateau. The red rock surroundings set the scene for treatments influenced by both Asian and Navajo wellness traditions. Amangiri offers a Grounding Journey and a Movement Journey.
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Shambhala Mountain Center, Colorado
This Zen Buddhist monastery and retreat, located at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, allows you to get away from it all and reset. You can create a personal program that fits your needs and either enjoy the solitude or join group meditations.
Troutbeck, New York
Troutbeck is a 250-acre estate hotel in New York's Hudson Valley. In 2020, it opened The Barns, an on-site wellness facility with a 1,250-square-foot studio space where daily yoga, meditation, and dance-based movement classes take place.
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas
On the banks of Lake Austin in Texas Hill Country, Lake Austin Spa Resort packs its daily calendar with yoga classes, sound bathing, and more. Dining experiences center around wellness, with the resort's Nurturing Table concept favoring local ingredients grown steps from the kitchen. One-on-one sessions with in-house experts are offered before, during, and after a visit to help participants achieve their individual weight loss goals.
The Lodge at Woodloch, Pennsylvania
The Pocono Mountains provide an idyllic environment for a digital detox. Surrounded by 500 acres of woodland, the Lodge at Woodloch operates under a "let nature nurture" philosophy. Guests can choose from 35+ daily activities, including gardening on the on-site organic farm and spend time at the spa, with its al fresco infinity pool overlooking the woods.
Sensei Porcupine Creek, California
Combining data-driven health programs and the scenic beauty of the Santa Rosa Mountains, Sensei Porcupine Creek is more than just a wellness resort. The 230-acre property sits on Larry Ellison’s former private estate and features an 18-hole golf course once only open to professional athletes, celebrities, and dignitaries. Toeing the line between self-improvement sabbatical and vacation, Sensei Porcupine Creek is the ideal getaway for the chronically over-achieving. Formerly the private estate of tech wizard Larry Ellison, Sensei’s co-founder, this intensely isolated retreat hidden in the foothills of the Santa Rosa mountains is the brand’s debut in the continental United States.
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Mii Amo, Arizona
Mii Amo, nestled in Sedona’s Boynton Canyon, offers stunning architecture. The retreat unveiled a sweeping renovation with sleek spaces designed by Gluckman Tang Architects. Guests can choose from all-inclusive journeys ranging from three to 10 nights and spend their days indulging in sound baths, spa treatments, walking meditations, and bike rides on the 400-acre trail network. Surrounded by rusty red mountains and rock formations, the terra-cotta-hued sanctuary is the ultimate spa destination for inner transformation and self-care. It's a secluded hideaway set within the Boynton Canyon vortex, known for spiritual and healing energy, and away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Sedona. The recently redesigned refuge features 23 rooms and suites; a two-story movement and fitness studio; a new signature restaurant and culinary garden; a refreshed outdoor swimming pool and deck; a sunken living room space with built-in sofas; a designated consultation wing; and a juice bar.
Stanly Ranch, Auberge Resorts Collection, California
Wellness and wine go hand-in-hand at Stanly Ranch, Auberge’s third resort in Napa Valley. Set on a working vineyard, the property features 135 nature-inspired rooms and cottages, local and seasonally-driven dining, and an extensive wellness program centered around sleep, hydration, fitness, and mindfulness. Guests can plan their holistic wellness journey with sports experts, medical professionals, and wellbeing specialists. This might include a neuro-stimulation treatment at the spa or a movement workshop at the Fieldhouse.
Art of Living Retreat Center, North Carolina
Immerse yourself in a wellness retreat focused on health, wealth, and peace of mind. The Art of Living Retreat Center provides holistic treatments to maintain your health through lifestyle consultations to detox your body while shedding a few pounds.
Eupepsia Wellness Center, Virginia
Eupepsia Wellness Center’s individualized weight management program works with you to understand and achieve your ideal healthy weight through clean food programs and targeted fitness activities.
Skyterra Wellness, North Carolina
Skyterra’s LoseSmart approach to weight loss focuses on the concept of total body/total lifestyle which encompasses changing the composition of your body through body fat loss, a key to long-term weight control that is effective and sustainable. The wellness retreat maintains a maximum capacity of just over 20 guests on their 300-acre wooded campus outside Brevard, North Carolina.
Canyon Ranch, Arizona
The Canyon Ranch weight loss program is available in Tucson. An all-inclusive program is offered, and you’ll meet one-on-one with caring professionals - including physicians, life management therapists, nutritionists, exercise physiologists and more. The Lenox Health Resort Weight Loss Program at Canyon Ranch eschews what it calls “tedious, cookie-cutter weight-loss directives and dreary menus” and instead offers guests a whole-person program with access to top experts in nutrition, exercise physiology, life management, and lifestyle medicine - all working to tailor the best weight loss plan for each guest.
Pritikin Longevity Centre & Spa, Miami
Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Miami has been offering medically supervised, all-inclusive, structured and scientifically-proven health and wellness programs, including those focused on weight loss - since 1975.
Red Mountain Resort, Utah
Red Mountain Resort enjoys a spectacular setting in the red rocks surrounding St. George, Utah. All-inclusive programs include a wide variety of fitness assessments and tools to meet your health and wellness goals. Red Mountain Resort’s Weight Loss & Living Mindfully program is a 8 day, 7 night retreat that combines daily guided hikes, fitness classes and individualized diet plans to help you come out refreshed and lighter. Make adventure part of your weight loss journey.
Miraval Austin Resort & Spa, Texas
Miraval is an immersive wellness experience through and through. Miraval is immediately understated and elegant; its arrival center is an airy space overlooking one of the property's two pools. Hyatt transformed the resort with six new buildings, including additional guest houses; all 117 rooms have also been overhauled, and there is a new pool as well as tons of new activities and programs.
The Role of Weight Loss Rehab Centers
Weight loss rehab centers provide holistic services and treatments to help individuals achieve significant weight loss goals. While at rehab, individuals learn to change their eating and exercise habits and address any medical and psychological concerns.
Comprehensive Wellness Programs
As individuals work through their concerns, they deepen their understanding of overarching wellness through educational sessions on self-care, meal planning, and more. Support can also be found through group therapy, individual sessions, and alternative therapies. The focus is on discovering how to adjust routines and lifestyle while making plans for life after rehab.
Eating Disorder Treatment
Some weight loss rehab centers also specialize in treating people with eating disorders. The treatment approach for centers that focus on eating disorders will address the underlying psychological, emotional, and behavioral aspects of the disorder. The ultimate goal is to help individuals make long-term lifestyle changes while improving their general well-being and preventing weight-related health conditions.
Eating disorder treatment at a weight loss center usually involves a multi-disciplinary approach focused on addressing the physical and psychological features of the disorder. Psychotherapy is the foundation of treatment for eating disorders and it will usually be customized to the individual’s condition, culture, age, experiences, and more. Some of the most common evidence-based therapies used to treat eating disorders are:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT teaches individuals to identify destructive thought patterns, develop awareness, change their thinking, and eventually their behavior.
- Compassion-Focused Therapy: This therapy helps individuals develop self-love and have compassion for the parts of themselves that are hurting.
- Family Therapy: This therapy is particularly helpful for children or adolescents, treating the family as a unit and empowering the parents to help their child through recovery.
- Nutritional Therapy: Focuses on establishing healthy eating patterns and addressing nutritional deficiencies.
- Physical Therapy and/or Yoga: These therapies connect individuals back with their bodies and reduce negative emotions or feelings of shame.
Cost and Benefits of Weight Loss Rehab
Weight loss programs can vary in price depending on factors like duration, location, and level of care needed. However, there are program options available that can fit almost every budget. Some insurance plans may cover a portion of your stay at a weight loss clinic, but it is best to check with your insurance provider and the program you are attending to get accurate information about the cost of treatment.
When attending a weight loss program, individuals work with a multidisciplinary team of professionals that assess their needs and unique bio-individuality to help them lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle when they leave. After guided weight loss, individuals will likely leave with improved overall physical health as well as a boost of self-confidence, self-compassion, and renewed energy. The medical team can help manage high blood pressure, diabetes, hormonal issues, and more, giving individuals a greater quality of life and a longer duration of time enjoying life. Improved mental well-being and reduced symptoms of depression or anxiety are also common outcomes.
Support and Counseling Services
Emotions can greatly impact food choices, especially when dealing with other mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, or stress. Most weight loss centers have counselors that address the emotional world. While working closely with a therapist during treatment, individuals can participate in several kinds of therapy including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Counselors help individuals identify and overcome thought patterns that are barriers to weight loss, emotional eating, stress, or low self-esteem.
- Trauma-Informed Counseling: Individuals work to address past trauma that has impacted their sense of self and heal the wounded parts of themselves.
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: This therapy helps individuals learn to become mindful, regulate their emotions, and tolerate distress.
Efficacy of Weight Loss Centers
Weight loss centers can be one of the most effective ways to reach health and wellness goals. A supportive environment, away from the stressful day-to-day, can help create and establish healthy habits that can then be transferred into everyday life. A dedicated wellness retreat is a great way to get started on achieving those wellness goals.
Additional Wellness Retreats Around the World
While many excellent wellness retreats are located in the United States, several international options offer unique experiences.
Bodyholiday Saint Lucia
Dive deep into the West Indies to rejuvenate yourself with any fitness-related activity of your choosing. Rather than the typical gym setting, Bodyholiday Saint Lucia offers guests an array of activities catered to fitness and weight loss to choose from to shed a few pounds while having the time of your life on the islands.
Joali, Maldives
One exotic place to get fit and lose weight is the lush, green forests of the Maldives. Joali’s fitness experience program offers indoor workout experiences in the depths of nature with stunning oceanside views.
La Monasteire de Augustine, Quebec
La Monasteire de Augustine’s personal consultations provide you with the tools you need for your weight loss journey. Understand your personal dietary and physical needs under personalized supervision during your stay combined with fitness exercises and lifestyle habits you can incorporate into your daily routine.
Melia Punta Cana Beach, Dominican Republic
Take advantage of Melia Punta Cana Beachs exclusive YHI Moves and Wellness gym in the Caribbean.
Rancho La Puerta Fitness Resort & Spa, Mexico
Rancho La Puerta in Baja California, Mexico offers seven-night and longer stays that typically set the groundwork to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle which includes weight loss.
Richmond Nua Wellness Spa, Turkey
Shape your body quick and easy with Richmond Nua Wellness Spa’s Hypoxi program. Burn permanent fats in your body with their intensive fitness and vacuum therapy, with a personalized diet plan.
Spa Eastman Health & Wellness Resort, Quebec
Relax and enjoy with your individualized consultation at Spa Eastman Health & Wellness Resort. Russet says, "My husband and I recently returned from a 3 day stay at the retreat. We were there between programs, so were there to spend a relaxing few days.
The Original FX Mayr, Austria
On the aquamarine water of Lake Wörthersee in southern Austria, the Original FX Mayr is a destination for resetting your health. Their legendary “cure” combines medical and therapeutic treatments, plus intermittent fasting, to cleanse the body and mind.
Aro Hā Wellness Retreat, New Zealand
Overlooking the otherworldly expanse of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, Aro Hā is an intimate 20-room lodge offering holistic practices (such as yoga and meditation) meant to invigorate the body and recalibrate the spirit.
Six Senses Kaplankaya, Turkey
Across the bay from party-central Bodrum, this stretch of the Aegean coastline is all about reconnecting with nature, on hillsides dotted with cypresses and wild olives. When you’re not kayaking in the turquoise waters or strolling along the rocky coast, the aromas of that landscape make their way into the nearly 108,000-square-foot spa.
Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa, Thailand
A group of American hippies turned-real estate entrepreneurs opened this 76-room resort on the palm-covered slopes of Koh Samui. American architect Robert Powell sneaks references to Nepali pagodas into teak-clad buildings and bungalows set between the soaring trees, and strategic design maximizes tropical sea views from every angle.
TIA Wellness Resort, Vietnam
On a beachfront centered between Da Nang and Hoi An, the TIA Wellness Resort is a retreat that combines inspiring wellness with lavishing its guests with the luxury of a premium Vietnamese resort.
One&Only Aesthesis, Greece
Now this peninsula on the Athens Riviera pulls an equally glamorous crowd to the One&Only’s long-awaited Greek debut-a resort so rigorously art-directed that it sometimes feels like a movie set.
Chenot Palace Weggis, Switzerland
Guests embarking on a detox program (a meager 850-calorie daily diet) will encounter little temptation.
Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland
The Clinique La Prairie Weight Management Program offers a multidisciplinary approach with the assistance of a nutritionist, dietician, personal fitness trainer, psychologist, massage therapist and aesthetician. The programs includes extensive medical and wellness services, lodging and meals, spa services, and more, in a region of unparalleled beauty.
Capri Palace, Italy
Capri Palace is a beautifully equipped luxury hotel in Naples, Italy with a fully equipped luxury wellness spa with personalized programs and treatments. The Mediterranean Diet program at Capri Palace was developed by an MD specialist in food science, immunology and aesthetic medicine.
Euphoria Retreat, Greece
Euphoria Retreat’s Αadvanced Weight Management Program seeks to boost metabolic efficiency to both lose weight and change your body’s metabolism for long term results. This Program does not focus on cutting calories, but rather on your body’s fuel needs, and energetic activity assessed using diagnostic techniques. Your food, exercise, and treatments are designed for your own optimum results.
SHA Wellness Clinic, Spain
SHA Wellness Clinic is a weight-Loss program focused on restoring health and improving quality of life.