THE JOURNAL

Spa and Wellness Area, Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy. Photograph by Mr Tyson Sadlo, courtesy of Palazzo Fiuggi
What does it feel like to be thoroughly, unequivocally well? To fizz with energy and radiate rude health? We’ve all dabbled with fads and fixated on surface-level self-care, but occasionally it’s time to roll out the big guns. Digging deeper into body, psyche and soul means going full throttle with science and surrendering, well and truly, to medically minded tech. These new high-concept retreats leave no stone unturned, thwart chronic complaints and equip you with a newfound ardour to take you through 2022 and beyond.
01.
RAKxa, Thailand

Swimming pool at RAKxa Wellness & Medical Retreat, Thailand. Photograph courtesy of RAKxa
Lassoed by the slow-flowing Chao Phraya River, RAKxa’s jungly Bang Krachao backdrop belies the cutting-edge concepts housed within. For, despite the sleepy, swaying palms and whistling kingfishers, this is not a place for languid lounging, but a next-level medical clinic run by a crack team of specialists at the top of their game. Particularly interest-piquing is the 10-night Mobilisation Programme, which aims to realign out-of-kilter bodies and bring lofty fitness goals into reach. After a few rounds of undeniably enlightening prodding and poking, you’ll find yourself pinballing between the physiotherapist’s table and the hyperbaric chamber. Then, it’s over to the medi-gym to be pushed to the limit by a former orthopaedic surgeon. You could be training to tackle K2 or set on ironing out a niggling spinal issue, but whatever the objective, expect to emerge considerably closer to reaching it, with a newfound appreciation for your body.
What to pack
02.
Six Senses Ibiza, Spain

Steam Room at Six Senses Ibiza. Photograph courtesy of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas
Tapping into the White Isle’s magnetic allure, Six Senses Ibiza takes a high-tech approach to wellness and remixes it to a sun-soaked Balearic tempo, splicing science with far-out wisdom to give the experience a deeply spiritual slant. The game-changing RoseBar longevity immersions, rolled out under the expert eye of Dr Tamsin Lewis, cleverly gauge the rate at which you’re ageing and determine how best to slow the clock. Biohacking therapies devised to turbo-charge the body’s natural recovery systems then go hand in hand with head-spinningly good holistic treatments. A 20-minute stint strapped into a pair of circulation-boosting Normatec compression boots might precede a soporific rub-down featuring gongs and breath work, and your time hooked up to a glutathione-packed IV drip could be followed by a soul-affirming sitting with a shamanic healer. Whether you dip your toe in the water or dive headfirst into one of the pioneering programmes, stays here can be third eye-opening.
What to pack
03.
One&Only Portonovi, Montenegro

Indoor pool at the Chenot Espace, One&Only Portonovi, Montenegro. Photograph by Mr Rupert Peace, courtesy of One&Only Resorts
Those seeking a total mind-body reboot will revel in the finely tuned plans proffered by Chenot Espace at One&Only Portonovi, an integrative retreat on Montenegro’s glittering Adriatic coast. Underpinned by the Chenot Method (a mixture of modern medicine and traditional Chinese healing), rebalancing stints here root out all manner of maladies and pave the way to optimum wellbeing.
Things kick off with a slew of doctor-directed biomarker screenings, followed by a meticulously mapped-out treatment schedule: colonics to jump-start sluggish bowels, cryo chamber blasts to combat inflammation and intravenous ozone therapy, an altogether bizarre (yet inarguably worthwhile) process during which blood is taken, fortified and reintroduced in a bid to fight fatigue and bolster the body’s defence mechanisms. It’s all rather surreal – and the full itineraries may find you breaking into a sweat as you dart between consultations – but the results really sing. And though the focus is decidedly lab-led, less intensive ministrations include ace-training with tennis pro Mr Janko Tipsarević and yacht-spotting from the mosaic hydro-pool.
What to pack
04.
Lanserhof Sylt, Germany

Indoor salt-water pool at the Lanserhof Sylt, Germany. Photograph courtesy of The Lanserhof Group
Familiar to even the most casual connoisseur of health, the name Lanserhof has become synonymous with head-to-toe regeneration and the latest addition to the line-up brings the tried-and-tested cure to a windswept island in the Wadden Sea. Anticipate not only an overhaul of your eating habits here, but a no-holds-barred journey of genuine self-discovery. A thorough gut reset is at the core of every programme – hence an emphasis on exhaustive chewing, Epsom salt glugging and rigorous abdominal massage – but the plentiful downtime means lucid rumination is all but unavoidable and with it comes a new level of clarity. Make no mistake, this is not for the faint-hearted, but you’re in tremendously capable hands and lasting change will be yours for the taking.
lanserhof.com, opens May 2022
What to pack
05.
Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy

Sala 4 Continenti restaurant, Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy. Photograph by Mr Tyson Sadlo, courtesy of Palazzo Fiuggi
Treading an expertly fine line between classic and contemporary, this marble-clad Art Nouveau retreat – in the hills just south of the Italian capital – takes the pursuit of peak wellbeing to new heights. Here, space-age tech gleams atop polished oak parquet and filtered daylight bounces off ornate architraves, but more absorbing than the knockout aesthetics are the targeted week-long immersions, which span supercharged detoxes to post-Covid rehabilitation. When you’re not hooked up to electrodes, head-clearing woodland rambles await, though the virtual reality workouts aboard the boundary-pushing Icaros virtual-reality fitness contraption make a strong case for staying indoors. With caffeine and booze effectively outlawed, the immune-boosting local spring water serves to plug the gap and there’s a great deal of solace to be found in chef Mr Heinz Beck’s inventive biodynamic menus, too.