New research from Hilton, Accor and other major hotel groups shows travellers are no longer treating spas, saunas, nature and recovery as optional extras. Increasingly, they are influencing where people stay in the first place.

For decades, luxury hotels competed over the size of the suite, the thread count, the restaurant, the view and perhaps the name of the chef. Wellness often sat somewhere further down the list, usually represented by a spa, a gym and a massage menu.

That hierarchy is changing quickly. Hilton’s 2027 Trends Report, based on a global survey of more than 14,000 travellers across 14 countries, suggests wellbeing is increasingly influencing the actual decision about which hotel a traveller books.

The numbers are significant. Globally, 61% of travellers say they are more likely to engage in water-based wellness experiences while travelling, while 54% are interested in heat-based wellness experiences such as saunas and steam rooms. Almost one-third, 29%, say they would book a hotel specifically because it has an on-site pool, while 20% would choose a property specifically for its sauna or steam room. Another 35% say outdoor areas designed for relaxation could influence their choice of hotel.

For Australians, the trend is equally pronounced. Hilton found 50% of Australian travellers actively seek experiences that calm the body and reset the nervous system, while 71% believe travel allows them to recharge mentally and physically in ways they struggle to achieve at home. Three quarters say being outdoors and breathing fresh air is central to relaxation.

Those figures suggest something much bigger than a resurgence in spa treatments. Travellers are beginning to evaluate hotels according to how well they will sleep, recover, move, switch off and feel during the stay. And Hilton is not the only global hotel group seeing the shift.

Accor Says Wellness Is Already a Priority for 79% of Guests

Accor, whose luxury brands include Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel, has conducted its own significant research into the role wellness now plays in hospitality.

Its research involving 7,500 consumers across six countries found that wellbeing is a priority for 79% of guests, a figure that helps explain why wellness has moved well beyond the traditional basement spa.

Accor has been particularly vocal about the evolution away from generic wellness towards more evidence-based, functional and personalised experiences. Its recent wellness trends work points towards functional fitness, nature, sleep, evidence-based treatments and a move away from superficial “health washing”.

The group’s 2026 travel research also found that 97% of travellers believe travel helps them recharge emotionally, while 95% want to maintain their normal lifestyle when they travel. Almost 60% associate wellbeing with shared experiences, supporting the rise of social wellness rather than the old model of disappearing alone into a treatment room for an hour.

That last point is important because contemporary wellness is increasingly about integration. Guests who exercise regularly at home do not suddenly stop caring about strength training because they are travelling. Someone accustomed to reformer Pilates, cold plunges, red light therapy or sophisticated recovery facilities may increasingly notice when a supposedly five-star hotel offers only several treadmills, a steam room and a treatment menu unchanged for a decade.

From Spa Treatment to Nervous-System Recovery

One of the strongest themes in Hilton’s new research is the desire to reset.

Globally, 65% of travellers actively seek experiences that help calm the body and reset the nervous system, while 76% say travel enables them to recharge mentally and physically in ways that are difficult to achieve in everyday life.

This changes the role of the luxury hotel. A guest who has just flown 14 hours from Sydney may not simply want Champagne on arrival and a marble bathroom. They may want to sleep properly, exercise when their body clock allows it, reduce jet lag, recover from sitting for an entire day and spend time outdoors.

The best luxury hotels are beginning to recognise that these things are not separate from hospitality. They are hospitality. Hydrotherapy is emerging as a particularly powerful part of this shift. Hilton says pools, cold plunges, saunas, bathhouses and hydrotherapy circuits are increasingly becoming central to hotel design rather than hidden inside a spa.

Its Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, for example, has an Aqua Wellness Centre incorporating hydrotherapy pools, an ice fountain, steam and sauna facilities. Conrad Orlando has developed an outdoor Water Garden, and Hilton reports that demand for outdoor bath treatments there has increased 60% year-on-year. This is where wellness begins to influence architecture rather than simply programming.

Nature Is Becoming a Luxury Amenity in Its Own Right

Hotels have traditionally sold views. Increasingly, they may also need to sell access to nature. Hilton found 79% of global travellers regard fresh air and outdoor space as essential to relaxation, while 54% spend more time immersed in nature while travelling than they do at home.

For Australian travellers, 75% say fresh air and the outdoors are essential to how they relax, making gardens, terraces, pools, walking spaces and natural environments more than decorative features. That creates an interesting challenge for urban luxury hotels.

A remote resort can offer beaches, mountains or forests naturally. A city hotel must think much harder about light, air, terraces, greenery, swimming, movement and the way guests connect with the outdoors.

The newest generation of luxury hotels is increasingly incorporating rooftop pools, garden spaces, outdoor gyms and wellness areas designed around daylight and nature rather than creating windowless treatment rooms underground.

Hyatt’s Miraval Research Goes Further: Can Hotels Actually Improve How We Feel?

Perhaps the most interesting research comes from Miraval Resorts & Spas, part of Hyatt, because it attempted to look at what happens after a wellness stay rather than simply asking travellers what they want.

A third-party study released in 2026 found that 66% of surveyed Miraval guests reported lower perceived stress following their stay, while 62% reported that benefits were still present 60 days later. Almost all respondents reported a strong sense of belonging after their stay, and more than 70% said they formed meaningful new connections while there.

This points towards the next important shift in luxury wellness: measurable outcomes. For years, hotels have sold wellness largely through emotion and aesthetics. Guests booked a massage because it felt relaxing or a spa because it looked beautiful.

Increasingly, consumers may ask harder questions. Did I sleep better? Did I recover? Did my stress reduce? Did this improve my fitness, mobility or energy? Did I learn something that changed the way I live after I returned home? That places much greater pressure on hotels to provide credible expertise rather than simply fashionable treatments.

Even Four Seasons Is Talking About Longevity

The shift is visible among the most established luxury hotel brands as well.

Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills expanded its wellness offering in 2025 with new treatments, wellness experts and in-room programming, explicitly acknowledging that luxury travellers increasingly want transformative experiences that support wellbeing and longevity, rather than relaxation alone.

That word, longevity, is now appearing everywhere in high-end hospitality. It reflects a broader evolution from the traditional spa model towards diagnostics, recovery, sleep, nutrition, movement, metabolic health and preventative wellbeing.

Some of the most progressive hotels in Asia are already well ahead in this area, particularly in Bangkok and Singapore, where wellness floors, medical partners, cryotherapy, Pilates, recovery spaces and advanced fitness facilities are increasingly being integrated directly into city hotels.

What This Means for Luxury Hotels

The conclusion from all of this research is relatively simple. A spa is no longer enough.

Guests increasingly expect wellness to influence the design and daily operation of the entire property. That means breakfast options that support different nutritional needs, gyms that are large enough for real training, better strength equipment, Pilates, recovery facilities, saunas, cold therapy, thoughtful sleep environments and outdoor spaces that people actually want to use.

It also means treating the traveller’s time and body clock more intelligently. A guest who arrives from Australia at 6am may wake at 3am for several days. A 24-hour gym, flexible breakfast, excellent blackout curtains and a serious recovery offering can matter far more to that person than another decorative object in the lobby.

Luxury hotels have spent decades perfecting what guests see. The next stage may be about perfecting how guests feel. And the Hilton, Accor and Miraval research all point in the same direction: wellness is moving from a pleasant addition to a genuine booking driver.

For hotel owners planning the next renovation or new opening, that distinction matters enormously. The question is no longer simply, “Do we have a spa?”

Increasingly, it is: “Will a guest choose our hotel because of how well we help them sleep, move, recover and feel?”

That is a very different standard, and the hotels that understand it first may have a substantial advantage.