AccorHotels’ Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts brand has launched a trendsetting new concept, The Vitality Room, where guests can revitalise body, mind and soul.
Swissôtel has partnered with Wallpaper magazine to showcase the first dedicated Vitality Room at Swissôtel Zurich.
The new Vitality Room, a serene and stylish sanctuary, with bespoke wellness features to help guests maintain their mental and physical health while away from home, builds on Swissôtel’s exceptionally well-received Vitality Programme, an integrated approach to supporting guests by focusing on their general well-being and quality of life.
The Swissôtel Vitality Room was created in collaboration with a number of like-minded partners, including Vitra, Laufen, Dornbracht, Lasvit, NOHrD, Dinesen, Philips, iQAir, Interel and Krebs.
The partners all share a commitment to sustainability, luxury, craftsmanship and functionality in design with the intention of creating a contemporary, private space to promote and foster quality time.
“Feeling vital is a prerequisite to enjoying quality of life, and one of the key pillars of the Swissôtel experience. Our new Vitality Room, which seamlessly addresses many aspects of health and wellbeing, is literally the living embodiment of our brand’s values,” said Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts’ Vice President – brand, Lilian Roten.
The room’s interior space was designed by Wallpaper’s acclaimed Composed team, who are responsible for the magazine’s award-winning interior shoots. Highlighting key elements that define “wellness”, the room offers a clean, calm material palette, soothing black-out blinds, discreet technology and dedicated space for exercise and relaxation. The conventional hotel room layout has been reconfigured to optimise views and improve functionality, with many features, such as lighting, being modifiable to suit individual guest preferences. Overall, the effect is a serene, refined, and minimalist space.
Many amenities and features were exclusively developed for the Vitality Room, including the “Wellbeing Wall” where guests have a choice of three training modules. Space efficient and compact, it features simple, self-explanatory equipment, as well as a cyber-trainer, offering guests a productive, personalised workout within the privacy of their guestroom. For rehydration and replenishment, a refreshment centre offers engergising Vitality snacks and drinks, made with fruits and superfoods, often with a local twist.
Bespoke bath and shower features allow guests to adapt their experience through gently-coloured lighting and scent options or various water pressures that alternately soothe or revitalise. Furniture includes tables with adjustable heights and a variety of seating options and monochromatic GrandDouglas Classic wood brings a natural tactile experience and a sculptural look to the room, while a high-performance air purification system is beneficial for all guests, particularly those who are exercising. And, in a first for the hotel industry, circadian light features allow light colour to change, influencing the secretion of melatonin in the brain, helping travellers overcome jet-lag or lack of sunlight.
Swissôtel’s commitment to wellness is not only an integral element of its brand identity, but part of a larger travel movement. According to Susie Ellis, chairman and CEO of The Global Wellness Institute, “wellness travel will be the fastest growing tourism sector” (Future Of European Wellness, Travel, Spa and Beauty).
Further research indicates:
-Wellness tourism is already a $439-billion market, and is set to grow to $678.5 billion by 2017. (The Case for Responsible Travel: Trends & Statistics 2016)
-83% of travel advisors say consumers will pay a premium for wellness travel and/or for access to healthy products and services while traveling (Spafinder Wellness: 2015 State of Wellness Travel Report); and
-87% of wellness tourism trips and 84% of expenditures are undertaken by secondary wellness travellers (those who seek wellness experiences as part of their trips), thereby constituting the largest wellness tourism segment (Global Spa and Wellness Economy Monitor).
“There is a growing desire on the part of travellers to view their accommodations not just as a place to stay, but as a place to reconnect, replenish and revitalise,” said Roten.
“Our new Vitality Room is a unique place where our guests have the opportunity to be immersed in an environment of peace and health, where they can truly ‘live it well’.”