Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, once lamented in an interview, “I can buy anything I want, but I can’t buy time.” He wasn’t the first to assert that time is a finite, precious commodity, nor will he be the last.
A growing number of luxury hotels, often in collaboration with medical professionals, biotech firms, skincare companies or wellness brands, are bullishly investing in onsite longevity centers, believing they can prove Buffett wrong and provide their guests with the ultimate amenities — increased vitality, less pain and illness and, of course, more time.
“Wellness travel is more than a reset,” explains Julia Lavine, the chief brand officer at Arizona’s CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa. “It’s a long-term investment in how individuals age, thrive and engage with their lives. Travelers are increasingly seeking experiences that nurture physical health, mental clarity, emotional resilience and meaningful connection [because] longevity is defined not merely by the number of years lived, but by the quality of those years.”
To achieve those lofty holistic aspirations, longevity centers are typically stocked with cutting-edge gadgets like hyperbaric chambers and float pods, staffed by experts in medicine, nutrition and beauty, and run on a combination of scientific research, traditional techniques and unconventional beliefs. They often work in conjunction with a hotel’s existing spa, gym and culinary departments.
“Partnerships between med spas and luxury hotels make perfect sense,” says Dr. Lisa Benya, a co-founder of CURE, which opened a second office in Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village in 2023. “Luxury hotel guests value these services and have the means to afford them. The hotel environment is a happy place for most people, so it calms them and makes the experience less scary.”
Benya continues, “A lot of what we do now takes several days to get the best lasting results, so it’s convenient to stay close. And what better place to recover than a plush hotel room with room service?”
Given that — along with a Global Wellness Institute report predicting that wellness tourism, especially that which revolves around longevity and aging issues, will be an $8.5 trillion industry by 2027 — expect to see many more longevity centers popping up over the next few years. But here are some longevity innovators that you can visit now.
Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village
Los Angeles
When it comes to wellness trends, Angelenos are usually early adopters, if not the ones setting them. Nearly 20 years ago, former Dole CEO David Murdock established the 11-acre, 269-room hotel on the suburban edge of L.A. to support his passion project, the California Health and Longevity Institute.
Learn the work-life balance secrets that helped Murdock reach the ripe old age of 102 during two-day stays; four-day programs with specific goals like sustainable weight management, optimum performance and beauty enhancement; private company retreats; or annual memberships.
The renamed Center For Health & Wellbeing culls expertise from a sizeable team of exercise physiologists, psychologists, energy healers, dietitians and chefs who oversees counseling, the state-of-the-art gym with its spin and yoga studios, mountain hikes, meditation areas and a wellness kitchen where immersive cooking classes take place.
The Four-Star spa is more than 40,000 square feet — the Four Seasons brand’s largest — and features a wellness space, 28 treatment rooms, a salon and a barbershop.
The aforementioned CURE offers concierge medicine, executive physicals and an ever-growing menu of med spa services to address everything from hormone imbalance to hair loss and injury recovery. You could begin with foundational treatments such as injectables and laser peels before transitioning to more advanced innovations like platelet-rich plasma therapy, brain mapping and neurofeedback evaluation.
Six Senses Ibiza
Between the alcohol-fueled boat rides, all-day sun worship and all-night foam parties, Ibiza has a rollicking reputation. The Four-Star Six Senses Ibiza aims to help travelers make better choices while bopping around the Balearics, starting with portfolio-wide sustainability initiatives and a sleep-optimization program that includes sleep tracking, a jet lag-fighting app and temperature-regulating pillows.
This outpost from the beloved wellness-centric brand takes well-being a step further with RoseBar, a longevity center overseen by Dr. Mark Hyman, physician and author of Young Forever. The space blends ancient traditions such as energy clearing and yoga with cutting-edge science and tech, including pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, red-light saunas and hypoxic interval training to elongate your time on Earth.
Stays range from three to seven nights and are customized after biomarker testing, one-on-one consultations and gut health profiles. In your free time, head down to the cave-dotted shores to meditate, hang in the hammam and fill up on farmers market-fresh food to further nourish your body.
One&Only One Za’abeel
Dubai
The decadent desert metropolis seems to have everything vacationers might desire — the world’s deepest dive pool, ski slopes, camel racing and a rotating dinner table that floats nearly 165 feet in the air. So, naturally, it already has a high-end health haven inside a gleaming high-rise.
A visit to One&Only One Za’abeel’s Longevity Hub Dubai by Clinique La Prairie starts with a detailed inside-out assessment, which looks at things like immune health, metabolism and energy level to establish your personal longevity index and decide which therapies might best serve you. Its lengthy list includes neuro wave stimulation, green light therapy, laser treatments, cool sculpting, microneedling and chi nei tsang (bodywork that focuses on the stomach and diaphragm).
Pre-set themed treatment groupings offer quicker fixes for those who’d rather spend more time feasting on French cuisine from a heralded chef or listening to a DJ at the sun-soaked rooftop pool.
Longevity Hub also conducts body composition analysis and tailored diet or training regimens for guests struggling with weight. Proprietary supplements based on the almost century-old Swiss wellness sanctuary’s research are more functional souvenirs than Dubai chocolate or sand art.
Portrait Milano — Lungarno Collection
Call it divine intervention. The Milan outpost of Ferragamo’s hospitality empire, which was built within a 16th-century colonnaded seminary, is the first hotel to partner with The Longevity Suite, a leading European operator of innovative biohacking and anti-aging clinics.
Numerous Portrait Milano programs address poor sleep, whether caused by jet lag, chronic insomnia or high cortisol levels, with tactics like cryotherapy, dry floating and sensory deprivation. Under show-stopping vaulted ceilings, the 7,500-square-foot Longevity Spa also features a pool, steam room, sauna and relaxation lounge.
The reset continues at 10_11 Bar Giardino Ristorante, with its menu full of nutritionist-approved meals. In-room minibars can be filled with smoothies, teas and juices or removed altogether. The team is so invested in self-care success that an assistant manager, who’s also a triathlete, takes guests biking around town, running in Parco Sempione or swimming in nearby lakes.
Falling Rock at Nemacolin
Farmington, Pennsylvania
Ancient Chinese medicine meets modern science in the serene hills of the Keystone State at the Holistic Healing Center. Overseen by Dr. Jerry Lin, who specializes in acupuncture and apothecary remedies, the center is within the Five-Star Falling Rock, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired boutique hotel. Guests staying at the other two Nemacolin resorts can also book the Brain Fog Buster (which includes acupuncture, red-light therapy and float therapy), infrared sauna sessions, mobility or posture alignment checks or crystal-powered chromotherapy.
Pair a session with already-included fitness programming, such as the intro to tai chi, or even some pampering at the Four-Star Woodlands Spa. The latter could include shirodhara, the Ayurvedic practice of streaming oil on the third eye to induce a blissful state.
