Wellness Travel Is Hotter Than Ever—Inside Hollywood's Go-To Health Retreat

As an editor, I have certain opportunities come across my desk that are simply no-brainers. Last month when I opened up my inbox and saw the words "invite" and "The Ranch" in the same email, there was no question that I was going to send in my RSVP.

For the uninitiated, The Ranch is a notorious wellness retreat in Malibu that the A-list set is known to slink off to for a complete mind-body reset. A quick Google search confirms this: Names like Michelle Obama, Brooke Shields, and Jessica Alba are among the first to populate on the wellness retreat's lengthy list of celebrity visitors. The weeklong escape is as much a physical challenge as it is a mental one, and in fact, its rigorous program and strict menu have become the subject of some critique, and no doubt fascination, on TikTok recently.

It's not just the online chatter, though. Wellness travel has never been hotter than it is right now. The wellness industry as a whole is booming, but according to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness tourism is projected to be valued at $817 billion this year and then see a hike up to $1.3 trillion by 2025, making it the fastest growth rate of any wellness market through 2025. Not only are we traveling more again in the post-pandemic era, but now there's an emphasis on the trips we take to be restorative and relaxing. People are craving ways to cure their burnout, truly unplug from their day-to-day lives, and do a thorough detox so they can go home feeling refreshed in a way that a typical vacation just can't always do.

According to the new-age travel agency Fora, this is a major trend that's already taking off this year. Beyond The Ranch, the Fora team shared that they saw wellness destinations including Canyon Ranch, Amangiri, Mii Amo, and 7Pines booking numbers for the first month of 2024 that have already surpassed those figures for all of 2023. Clearly, the demand is only skyrocketing, and as far as luxury retreats go, The Ranch is considered the gold standard.

The Property

This spring, The Ranch opened up its doors to its first East Coast outpost in the Hudson Valley, just under an hour's drive from Midtown Manhattan but in an area that feels worlds away. Its arrival comes at a time when wellness centers and spas have been popping up all over the New York metro area, cementing that New Yorkers are after some of the lifestyle balance that places like California have seemed to master. The biggest different between the two locations, however, is that while six-night stays are the norm at Malibu, the Hudson Valley outpost offers either three-night or four-night programs to cater to the 9-to-5 set looking for a long weekend getaway. Throughout my stay, I also learned that this location eases up on some of the strict guidelines, offering the option of doing a two-hour hike instead of the standard four-hour daily hike. It also began offering more filling snacks (at Malibu, guests are notoriously given a sachet of six almonds as their mid-hike sustenance) and introducing coffee into the morning routine.

As for the property itself, it's set in the most beautiful lakefront estate originally built by J.P. Morgan as his personal residence in 1904. Set on 200 acres of forested land with access to the trails in Harriman State Park for hiking, the retreat feels a world away from the city. Inside, the rooms are as immaculate as you can imagine, outfitted with plush Matouk robes and Frette slippers that accompanied the high-thread-count sheets and marble-finished bathroom.

The Activities

The day's lineup went something like this: a morning stretch and breakfast followed by a long hike, then lunch, a strength-training session, restorative yoga class, 50-minute Swedish massage, capped off by dinner. While we did so much in the course of the day, the schedule never felt rushed or overly full, and there was plenty of time in between to rest, hang out on the patio that overlooks the great lawn and lake, or utilize one of the plunge pools.

Overall, the program was highly structured, and every activity felt extremely intentional and results-driven. The strength training was formatted to enhance the day hikes and both were balanced with the restorative massages and yoga that help promote a quicker post-workout recovery.

The Spa and Amenities

As if the transformative changes the program promises aren't compelling enough, a 50-minute massage is on the menu. Every. Single. Day. For me, that fact alone was convincing enough to look into booking a follow-up visit. I don't need to spell out the benefits of getting a massage after a long day, but after all the activities I put my body through that morning, I couldn't imagine not getting that level of pampering.

In addition to the massages, there's an indoor and an outdoor pool, hot and cold plunges, and when I visited in mid-May, the promise that there would soon be saunas and options to kayak and stand-up paddle board on the freshwater lake.

The Food

Let's get into what we ate because everything was truly next-level. The entire property is plant-based, soy-free, and gluten-free, and the chef uses fresh, local ingredients where possible. With one main goal of the program being weight loss, they aim to feed you a daily intake of roughly 1400 calories, so you can imagine that the portions aren't huge, but I found myself feeling comfortably full after meals, and while some light hunger pangs bubbled up in the hour before meals, I never felt as hungry as I would have assumed given the lower calorie intake. Meals were fresh and filling with some examples including homemade granola cereal with berries for breakfast, beet burgers with kale chips for lunch, and a sweet potato "pot pie" for dinner.

What to Pack