Located on the northwestern tip of Saint Lucia, a 90-minute drive from the international airport, BodyHoliday lies in its own secluded bay, surrounded by 44 acres of lush tropical gardens. The multiple award-winning all-inclusive wellness resort offers 155 guestrooms and six restaurants, including a fine dining restaurant and a newly launched farm-to-table concept.
There is a 33-treatment room wellness center, offering a wide range of options including medically endorsed preventative therapies, Ayurveda treatments, pampering services, plus a range of activities that allow guests to keep busy from dawn until dusk. Since experiences at BodyHoliday are personalized for each guest, a vacation can be a haven of serenity or a hive of activity, and all with the same goal—to help guests meet their personal wellness objectives.
What are the main points of distinction?
Opened over 30 years ago, BodyHoliday was the very first “destination spa” in the West Indies and, over the years, has continued to win multiple awards. The resort is renowned for its approach and philosophy to create truly personalized wellness vacations/holidays that have the power to change lives with tailored and medically backed programs. The range of activities and approaches at BodyHoliday reflects the ebbs and flows of real life, allowing for a real shift in perspective for guests to incorporate into their lives back home. Guests can find a balance and choice here, from strict weight loss diets to indulgent fine-dining, high-intensity workouts with Olympic athletes to sleep-inducing Ayurvedic massages. BodyHoliday is an all-inclusive resort so the majority of the diverse range of activities and programs available come at no extra cost. For instance, a list of nine treatments are part of the all-inclusive menu, and every guest has the option to receive one treatment each day of their stay except on arrival and departure days. Another point of distinction: The resort is also known for its dedicated month-long themes offered nine months out of the year (thebodyholiday.com/theme-months)
What are the new health & safety protocols and procedures?
BodyHoliday is a Saint Lucia COVID-19-Certified property that reopened to guests on Oct. 1. The resort has undergone many measures for sanitization, physical distancing and other virus-related policies, to ensure the safety of guests and staff are in line with Saint Lucia’s thorough regulations. Enhancements to the guest experience include buffets being replaced by a la carte or table d’hote menus, and the introduction of a webroom, an online tool that allows guests to check-in and undergo the pre-arrival process.
As part of Saint Lucia’s strategy to minimize the effects of the global health crisis, visitors to the destination are only permitted to stay in COVID-19-Certified accommodations.
According to Rebecca Platt, Sunswept Resorts’ corporate director of sales & marketing, “This beautiful island in the West Indies has been widely praised for its excellent handling of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. It was one of the first in the region to reopen to tourists on June 4, and cases have remained low throughout.”
What new programs are being offered in a post-COVID 19 world…beyond the protocols and procedures…such as new offerings, programs or retreats?
The team of wellness professionals at BodyHoliday is currently working on a new program that responds to the impact of COVID-19. This new 360-degree healing program, focusing on both physical and mental health, will be unveiled later this year.
BodyHoliday already offers a wide and diverse range of activities and many of these have been refocused in light of the pandemic to hone into the benefits of restoration and recovery during this time.
The culinary team has also been working to enhance menus and the resort will be launching a re-brand of its Deli at its new Wellness Cafe.
What types of activities/programs are offered?
BodyHoliday offers an extensive all-inclusive activity programs. With over 50 different classes and activities to choose from each day—and with that menu of activities changing daily—there is something for every client’s interest and level of ability.
What types of clients does the property typically cater to and what clients would feel most comfortable at the property?
BodyHoliday is for anyone who is interested in health and wellbeing, which is often different for every guest. This can range from someone wanting to reconnect with themselves and take a pause from life, through to achieving a physical fitness goal. Healthy or indulgent, young or old, everyone is welcome to launch their journey to optimal wellbeing at BodyHoliday. There is a good mix of male and female travelers, age 25 to 60, mostly from the U.K., U.S. and Canada.
What client goals/intentions might be achieved by selecting this property?
Types of goals or intentions could be weight loss, a general reboot, learning ways to take better care of their mental health, rest and relaxation or learning how to incorporate a new wellness practice, yoga for example, into their daily lives.
Because the resort offers so many activities and programs within the health and wellbeing space—from sleep to mindfulness, restorative beauty to yoga, rest and relaxation to HIIT and quadrathlons, open water swimming to sailing with Olympic pros, Ayurveda to the unique Body Science program, which includes DNA testing and thorough medical analysis and preventative treatments—a vast variety of intentions can be addressed and goals achieved.
Can programs be customized to suit client’s needs?
All programs at BodyHoliday can be customized to suite each guest beginning with the option to schedule all activities and treatments through the webroom with the assistance of a pre-arrival concierge. The resort’s recently launched app is a pioneering guest experience tool that allows live chatting with a concierge to tailoring programs.
Platt says, “The level of details we learn about our guests from pre-arrival allows us to create truly bespoke programs that cater to the individuals’ needs.”
What is the best time to travel?
Saint Lucia’s peak season is December through to April, however the island is beautiful year-round and BodyHoliday welcomes guests 12 months of the year.
For more information, visit bodyholiday.com. For more recommendations for bookings from the Wellness Tourism Association, click here.
Recommend magazine has partnered with the Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) to bring you monthly columns to help travel advisors sell wellness travel. For more information on the WTA, visit wellnesstourismassociation.org
