1 Hotel Hanalei Bay’s new retreats combine the healing powers of nature and cutting-edge technology.
Wellness has been a core pillar of 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay ever since the property opened on the north shore of Kauai in 2023. As soon as guests arrive, they feel their nervous system downregulate. The salt air, biophilic design, and magical view overlooking Hanalei Bay are an immediate tonic for life’s stresses. From the start, the hotel has treated wellness as a lifestyle, seamlessly integrating nutritious foods, mind-body activities, outdoor adventures, and R&R into every stay. At Bamford Wellness Spa, guests can experience the latest biohacks, like cryotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and pampering treatments, like the signature B Silent Ritual Massage. A team of body architects lead elite-level training sessions at Anatomy Fitness, the hotel’s athlete-worthy,10,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor gym. And guests can book everything from immune-boosting IV drips to B12 injections at Vitality Kauai, the hotel’s on-site functional medicine partner.
Now, the hotel has introduced retreats that taps into its incredible location, facilities, and experts. Nature’s Wellness Sanctuary is the overarching philosophy behind the retreat series. Guests can choose from three, four-day minimum themed retreats: Honua (earth) is rooted in adventure and fitness and designed for guests looking to push their athletic performance. Ahi (fire) is ideal for guests looking for transformation and centers around mind-body practices and metabolic insights. And Wai (water) is all about renewal and slowing down. Guests can also work on-on-one with 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay’s wellness director and Canyon Ranch alum, DeAnn Teixeira, to customize an itinerary to address exactly what their mind and body need.
I recently booked a personalized, four-night retreat loosely based around the adventure and fitness itinerary. Unlike other retreats I’ve been too, I wasn’t beholden to a room category. The hotel has 252 nature-inspired accommodations and options ranged from a 547-square-foot mountain view terrace king to a 1,200-square-foot ocean view suite and the grand, 2,400 square-foot Makana penthouse. I loved that I spent just as much time in nature as I did cocooned in the spa. And I always felt nourished, never deprived. The hotel’s restaurants have plenty of healthy, hyper-local menu items, and in March, more than a dozen plant-based, low-sugar dishes rolled out across the dining venues.
A series of high-tech diagnostics, including a VO2 max analysis to calculate my cardiovascular health, informed my training, which included slamming battle ropes and pushing a weighted sled along the gym’s turf as well as paddleboarding along the Hanalei River and hiking nearby trails. I pushed myself physically, but experiences, including an ocean float tank designed to lull me into a meditative state, and a grounding sound bath, ensured I always recovered fully before the next day’s effort.
Each day, I met with DeAnn for journaling sessions where I reviewed my goals and jotted down intentions. Even with four or five experiences per day, I still had plenty of down time to read by the pool, lounge on the beach, and savor the island’s stunning sunsets. I left feeling like I’d had both a reboot and a luxurious vacation.