Six Senses London Lands as Urban Wellness Sanctuaries Heat Up

A wellness arms race is on, as luxury hotels around the world compete for travelers who now want to feel inspired, enriched, and relaxed on their trips.

Ten pounds lighter, too, if you could possibly swing it.

These days it might take a vitamin drip, a tailored Ayurvedic treatment program, or a class on regenerative farming to really punch in the luxury weight class. While that kind of otherworldly wellness experience is normally reserved for glam remote islands and far-flung destinations, it’s now becoming a staple of urban locations, too.

Case in point: the yet-to-open Six Senses London at The Whiteley, a mixed-use development in West London. The first UK location for the Six Senses brand, the hotel — with reservations now open for stays from March 1 onward — is going all-in on its wellness amenities. Alongside 109 guest rooms, a 25,000-square-foot spa will span a full floor, complete with what’s said to be the first magnesium pool in a London hotel.

Think “London getaway” and you don’t typically envision whiling away the hours in a cryotherapy chamber, nor at a medical clinic devoted to longevity — both of which are available at Six Senses London. But increasingly these urban wellness spots are becoming de rigueur, as major cities look to capture high-end travelers’ desire for balm for body and soul.

“More people seem to be using major hubs like London as short mini-vacation stopovers en route to other places,” said Abbey Chase, business development manager for luxury travel tour operator Scott Dunn in the U.S. “So those few days in a city are kind of an entry point to the rest of a trip and a good opportunity to begin your vacation with some relaxation and downtime.”

On a recent tour at Six Senses London, due to open this year, guests were treated to a morning collagen broth and a curated movement and breathwork experience from Sanctum, a mindful movement community, where bodies were encouraged to move in a way that felt right to the dulcet tones of Moby. Off went the lumpy jumper and down went the London traffic-induced tension. The tone was set; phones were sequestered into hessian sacks, and a peek into the urban oasis began.

While the finishing touches are still being put in place at The Whiteley — a Grade II-listed landmark and former department store now designed by Foster + Partners — the resort feel is well established. The London location will mark Six Senses’ first foray into private members clubs with Six Senses Place and, once open, the hotel’s Whitely’s Kitchen, Bar, and Café will provide what’s being described as a vegetable-forward menu. In homage to gut health, the kitchen will feature a fermentation lab.

The bar at Six Senses Place, the brand’s first foray into the private membership club arena
(Six Senses/IHG Hotels & Resorts)

Urban Shift

The Six Senses approach at Six Senses London may represent something of a trend, as big luxury players work to get a foothold in major markets, said Richard Clarke, managing director at Bernstein and head of the global hospitality and leisure sector.

Aman’s approach speaks to this, too. Last year the hotel opened an urban resort in the heart of Bangkok, and its New York location in the center of Manhattan, which opened in 2022, boasts a 25,000-square-foot spa. A stone’s throw away by Manhattan standards, the Waldorf Astoria New York has just opened the largest Guerlain spa in the world, complete with a cryotherapy chamber, an infrared sauna and steam room, and an “arctic snow cave” for a specialized cold therapy experience.

“Typically, you associate Aman with [the desert retreat in Utah] so putting it down in New York is quite a shift, and a sign that people want something maybe a little bit more from their urban hotels,” Clarke said. “People might come and say, ‘Well, I want to come to New York for two days, why don’t I come for four days and do two days of spa relaxation alongside two days of dining and sightseeing.'”

No doubt you could see yourself doing that sightseeing-relaxation combo at London’s Six Senses. The hotel is close to the splendor of Hyde Park, the chaos of Paddington station, and the rather chichi dining scene in Notting Hill.

A day out taking in the Houses of Parliament followed by a cold plunge? Why not?

The Perfect Mix

“I feel like this year we heard a lot about like, wellness, wellness, wellness — and I think a lot of our clients are now looking for a perfect mix,” said Sarah Ives, who founded her company Ives Luxury Travel Agency in 2020 and works with private clients, including multi-generational families and high-net-worth individuals.

She said the wellness craze dominated 2025, but this year will be all about travelers who want the best of both worlds. She points to her recent trip to the French Riviera and Lily of the Valley, a lush hotel with a medical spa attached.

“You could go there and do a program, but you could also go there with your family and have chocolate souffle and Champagne all day if you wanted to,” she said.

Ives puts the luxury wellness push down to the increasing spending power of women and a new generation that’s all about experiences, not stuff.

“We’ve seen a rise of either solo female travelers or groups of girlfriends, mostly going for wellness,” Ives said. “Women have more stressful jobs and maybe more spending power.”

Plus, she said, Generation Z travelers are more focused on health.

“Gen Z, they’re not drinking that much,” Ives added. “They’re spending a lot more on holidays. Even things like a honeymoon need an element of wellness.”

But Does It Align the Chakras?

It’s not just the American and British traveler seeking a wellness sanctuary at all points of a journey.

Danielle Wilson, who runs Unique Family Travels in Dubai, started her company a decade ago after noticing a gap in the market for bespoke luxury travel experiences for families from the Middle East and the UAE.

“People are looking to create a deeper connection and not just surface level travel,” she said in an email. “The level of customization will thus become more pronounced: does the spa offer classes in regenerative farming as well as full moon ceremonies that align the chakras?”

For sure, the pressure is on for the next crop of offerings. Scott Dunn’s Chase, whose company has curated a two-week Sri Lanka journey that incorporates a holistic view of wellness, is increasingly seeing wellness manifest in new ways. One is around social connection, she said, as people see their relaxation being less about being in a hotel and more about forming a meaningful connection.

She said there’s significant anticipation for this year’s opening of Hotel The Mitsui Hakone, a 126-room property in Hakone’s premier hot spring resort area on more than 33 acres within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park — a property sure to wow given the popularity of its established sibling in Kyoto. The Zannier Île de Bendor, a 93-key hotel that will open in May at Île de Bendor, a private island on the French Riviera, is also an intriguing new opening, she said. The property has a 1,200-square-meter spa with a yoga deck.

“Everyone wants to come back from a trip feeling mentally rejuvenated in some way. But there are, of course, many ways to do that and for some people, a hike or a meeting with a local spiritual leader will be much more impactful than a two-hour massage,” she said. “People have always used travel as a form of escapism and that’s as true now as it’s ever been.”