When we think of wellness travel, Las Vegas may not be the first destination to put its cards on the table.
It can be challenging to comprehend wellness in a city where the action whirrs in all directions or recovering from burnout when the sun burns by day and the neon lights burn all night.
However, today's Vegas is more than Rat Pack and roulette wheels.
With Nevada's positioning between the produce of America's Midwestern breadbasket and fruit orchards and seafood of the Pacific coast, it's become a mecca for food and nourishment, likewise, wellness. As we've previously noted, The Global Wellness Institute describes wellness travel as "travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing one’s personal well-being".
Let's examine why Vegas might be an ace in the wellness pack.
Stay Well
As one of the most popular convention locations in the country - hosting an average of 6.5m people per annum - Vegas has no shortage of frazzled execs and stressed workers who now find the office has extended into their homes.
The GWI has identified a specific type of secondary wellness traveller: "A traveller who seeks to maintain wellness while travelling or participates in wellness experiences while taking any type of trip for leisure or business." Sin City offers the chance to cleanse for many such visitors. Almost all of the hotel spa facilities offer day passes, keen to absorb clients from other hotels or Airbnb. Some take it a step further for their own guests. The MGM Grand offer Stay Well rooms with circadian rhythm lighting, dawn simulation alarms and Deepak Chopra-guided meditation. They say laughter is the best medicine, and the MGM Grand hosts frequent comedy shows, from Brad Garrett's Comedy Club showcasing up-and-comers to household names like Bill Maher. For more traditional Vegas pursuits, the Grand's Poker Room specializes in lower dollar games; so if poker presents a new challenge, enrichment of the spirit can come at a lower risk to the wallet. At the ARIA, things are a little more cutting-edge. The Spa and Salon at ARIA are the largest Forbes Five-Star Spa on the planet. Japanese hot stone beds known as ganbanyoku help purge toxins from the body. A Shia salt room offers respiratory relief while Kalologie Medspa provides medical spa treatments. For a little sinning, ARIA features what many may rank as the finest of the Las Vegas poker rooms. A frequent host to professional poker players, the ARIA is a professional environment, strictly non-smoking. Bring a bottle from Pressed Juicery tableside; there are four pounds of fruit and vegetables in each one.
(Photo courtesy of MGM Aria Las Vegas: The Shio Salt Room at Aria)
Discover Vegas
The GWI defines a primary wellness traveller as one "whose trip or destination choice is primarily motivated by wellness." For some, city breaks offer a chance to discover themselves more deeply. The anonymity of the bustling streets, combined with there being no expectations on a visitor, allows insight into one's place in the world. There's also stunning nature within easy reach of Las Vegas. It's only a 25-minute car ride to Red Rock Canyon, and concrete gives way to the vast wide open. There you'll find more than 30 miles of hiking trails, and trips to nature observation areas at sunrise or sunset can often lead to sightings of bighorn sheep, grey foxes and bobcats. A road trip of five hours from Vegas may be a little more daunting, but the Grand Canyon's more remote north rim offers stunning views and far fewer visitors than the guided tour of the western rim. All of us deal a little differently. Some people recharge by spending time alone; some need extended contact with the human animal (as Desmond Morris described us). Wellness can comprise feasts for the senses or food for the soul.
Las Vegas may have a winning hand, whichever card you draw.
Are you surprised by the wealth of wellness-inspired activities offered in Las Vegas?
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