Story | Leslie Yip
It was my first trip since the pandemic, and my friends were eager to find out what I did in Vegas.
“It was a wellness retreat,” I told them.
Wellness? In Vegas? Their eyes widen in disbelief.
You betcha!
From more than 30 world-class spas to wholesome restaurants and amazing nature hikes, you can make wellness either the entire theme of your trip or just a one-day grounding reclusion from the hustle and bustle.
To show you what a wellness itinerary in Vegas might look like, here is how I spent my first day.
Arriving in Vegas
To start my wellness trip right, I’m staying at MGM Park, the only non-smoking resort on the Strip. As I step into the lobby, the first thing I notice is a gentle floral freshness. Called Asian Garden, it is a blend of jasmine, lily of the valley, gardenia and green leaves. The subtle fragrance immediately makes me feel like I’ve found my oasis in the desert.
Do you tend to feel tired when you are travelling? Look for Stay Well rooms, available in many resorts in Las Vegas. They are designed to bring health to your hotel stay with features that minimize the impact that travel has on your body, providing you with better rest, fresher air, personalized lighting, a nutritious menu and more.
Since this is the first time I’ve travelled outside the country because of the pandemic, I am especially thankful for my upgraded Stay Well room, which features a number of amenities that focus on health and well-being.
For example, every room is equipped with a super-quiet air purifier to reduce allergens, microbes and other contaminants in the air. The rooms are cleaned with non-toxic products and UV lighting to reduce bacteria and viruses. Even the showers have an extra filter to reduce chlorine to keep hair and skin soft and smooth.
Stay Well rooms are available in a number of Vegas resorts, and each hotel offers its own unique touch. My room has an alcove bed with a natural memory foam mattress that feels like a cocoon. I’m really tempted to collapse into it after my early flight, but I have a muchanticipated lunch reservation at a celebrity chef restaurant and it’s noon. So, I just turn on the energizing light in the ensuite to beam away my jet-lagged sluggishness and prepare for my first meal in Vegas.
Eat Better, Feel Better
The bright and airy Giada at the Cromwell is the first restaurant opened by Giada Pamela de Laurentiis, celebrity chef and cookbook author. I particularly recommend her Eat Better, Feel Better, in which she walks you through how to select food that can actually make you feel better and helps you curate a personalized wellness routine to support a healthy mind and body.
The Seafood Tower at Giada at the Cromwell. With a Maine lobster tail, king crab legs, two types of oysters, shrimp cocktail and more, it is as much a feast for the eyes as for the stomach. From $89.99.
Her restaurant overlooking the Bellagio fountains is famous for its Italian dishes with a Californian twist, such as lemon spaghetti, marsala herb chicken meatballs and its namesake burger, featuring a blended beef and pancetta patty. Vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options are available. As I have a spa appointment following lunch, I decide to have something light, so I order … a seafood tower. Hey, it’s just seafood, even if it is a lot of seafood. Besides, I need something that will look amazing on my Instagram!
Of Salt and Tea
I’m booked into the Spa at the Linq for its new “Spill the Tea Body Refresher”. It begins with a full-body scrub with sugar grains and apricot seed powder, followed by the application of peach ginger shea butter. I feel as if I’m steeped in a southern sweet tea with peach, ginger, orchid and white tea. The treatment includes a pack of tea bags to take home—a signature blend of rose hips, lavender and butterfly pea flower.
The natural salt cave at the Spa at the Linq uses Himalayan crystal salts to help with congestion, asthma and other sinus conditions.
I’m offered more tea as I proceed to the second part of my spa experience—the Himalayan salt cave. Enjoyed by Europeans for centuries, salt therapy is also known as halotherapy. It is said to help one relax and breathe easier as salt helps alleviate many skin and respiratory ailments. A 30-minute session is included for those who book a treatment ($50 and up) in advance.
The walls of the cave are lined with glowing Himalayan crystal salts. As a first-timer, I’m expecting a warm and misty room, but it is nothing like that. The air feels fresh, infused with small particles of the highest quality salt to emulate the conditions inside a natural salt cave. The combination of my body treatment and the salt therapy have worked. I’m no longer doing mental mathematics with the time difference because I no longer feel travel fatigue.
Vegan in Vegas
I admit to being a true-blue carnivore, but in recent years, I have been trying to do “meatless Mondays”. Even if it’s just one day a week, I feel it’s a small lifestyle change that can make a difference to my own health and the environment.
Since I didn’t eat meat for lunch, why not do the same for dinner and my weekly goal will be met? So, I’m headed to VegeNation in downtown Las Vegas, a casual restaurant serving 100 per cent plantbased foods. However, meat and cheese lovers need not feel deprived here. You will find mac-n-cheese and even a Nashville-style chicken sandwich on the menu, but everything is made with vegan ingredients. Mind you, the portions are huge.
On the subject of vegan, what do you call someone from Las Vegas? Apparently, it is “Las Vegan”, pronounced as vay-gan, not vee-gan.
Well Begun Is Half Done
Since this is meant to be a Zenful getaway, it is important to minimize the risk of stress on your trip. My suggestion is to have a plan, but not a rigid schedule, so you never need to feel harried. Also, it helps to know what your options are, so you can be fluid about what you want to do.
In the next two pages, I have listed some of the spas and restaurants I visited to help make your trip planning easier. Namaste!
AHH, SPA …
You do not need to pre-book a treatment in order to access most Las Vegas spas. Many offer a day pass option, which lets you access the spa amenities for a few hours or an entire day. These may include water therapies, such as hot tubs, saunas, hydrotherapy circuits and ice plunges, frequently with complimentary refreshments and snacks.
Personally, I prefer lounging in a spa rather than sitting poolside in Las Vegas. It can get really hot outside in the summer and quite chilly in the winter. Whereas, the spas are always maintained at a comfortable temperature. Moreover, they are typically quite mindful as to the number of users at any given time, so it is usually quite tranquil. I just bring my Kindle and can spend the whole afternoon there, happy as a clam.
Here are some of the spas I have visited, with highlights of each facility. Every one of them offers day passes, with or without a booked treatment.
Sahra Spa, Salon and Hammam at The Cosmopolitan
Inspired by the desert sky and mystifying sands, going to the Sahra Spa is like a vacation within your vacation. The signature full Hammam experience is called the Moroccan journey. It is 130 minutes of pure bliss, which includes dual exfoliation using a traditional kese mitt and a softening scrub, a detoxifying rhassoul clay masque, a full-body massage and the use of a eucalyptus steam room.
The famous waterfall inside the Sahra Spa at the Cosmopolitan. Spa amenities include an invigorating vitality pool with experiential monsoon rain showers, steam room, sauna and cool mist room. There is also a state-of-the-art fitness centre.
Sans treatment, you can lounge by the hot tub or in the swanky sitting area. This is where I read an entire book in one afternoon. The dressing area also has all the options and gadgets you need to prepare for a night out. Day passes for hotel guests are $60 (Monday to Thursday) and $85 (Friday through Sunday). The cost for non-hotel guests is $100, subject to availability.
The Spa at Virgin Hotel
Virgin Hotel is a recent addition to the Las Vegas Strip, part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, which opened in March 2021. The spa offers a multiple of massage and skin therapies, including a European-style facial using FarmHouse Fresh products that are gentle enough for sensitive skin. There is a great lounging area by the one-of-a-kind roman-style bath. Daily spa passes are available for both hotel and non-hotels guests, starting at $65.
Awana Spa at Resorts World
Immerse yourself in the healing waters of the “fountain of youth”—six interconnected vitality pools against a digital backdrop of snowy mountains inside the Awana Spa at Resorts World, a US$4.3 billion operated by the Malaysia-based Genting Group that opened in June of last year.
The 27,000-square-foot Awana Spa at Resorts World is a destination unto itself. The treatment menu reads like a round-the-world itinerary, with many Asianinspired experiences like “Balinese Waves”, “Bangkok Thai Wellness”, “Tokyo Escape” and “Hong Kong Layover”.
A three-hour Fountain of Youth passport ($120) lets you enjoy the pools, as well as the heated Crystal laconium room, tepidarium chairs and the experiential Rain Walk. With the passport, you can also book a 30-minute “event sauna” called Art of Aufguss. It showcases a theatreinspired heated room with aromatherapy, choreographed music, lighting and dancing towels.
Canyon Ranch Spa+ Fitness Club at The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas
At 134,000 square feet, this is billed as the largest spa resort in North America. Guests can choose from more than 150 incredible services, from foot massages to facials, body scrubs to barber service. An all-day access pass is available, which includes the exclusive Aquavana experiential rooms, where you wander from one room to the next, or follow a recommended sequence to focus on relaxation, energizing or stress relief.($75 Tue-Thu, $100 Fri-Mon for hotel guests; $125 for non-hotel guests.)
Spa Acquae at JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
Located off-strip near Red Rock Canyon, the hotel property feels like a tropical resort, albeit in a desert setting. Surrounded by cascading waterfalls and lush landscaping, the newly-renovated, co-ed hydrotherapy circuit pool and lounge lets you extend your spa experience to the outdoors. Daily spa access is $25 for hotel guests and $45 (Mon-Thu) or $55 (Fri-Sun) for non-hotel guests.
The newly renovated Hydro Lounge at the off-strip JW Marriott offers tables, couches and day beds for rent, and you can order food and beverages delivered right to your party
The Spa Experience includes the use of the ritual area and fitness centre, as well as access to the hydro lounge and hydrotherapy circuit pool. Entrance is complimentary with the purchase of a spa or salon treatment of $65 or more.
OOO, fOOD!
The food scene in Vegas has been changing in recent years. While opulent meals from international institutions are still going strong, the new movement is to endorse healthier eating options, incorporating sustainable ingredients as well as simpler methods of preparation. A crop of meat-free eateries have also opened, widening the dining choices.
Harvest at Bellagio
With an ethos of sustainable and locally grown ingredients, executive chef Isaiah Torres is taking farm-to-table to new heights. The menu selection includes artisanal cheeses, adventurous small bites, fresh sustainable seafood cooked in a stone oven, fire-grilled superior cuts of beef and organic poultry from the rotisserie and market-driven sides that change seasonally.
Harvest at Bellagio serves elevated farm-to-table dishes. Whether you are a vegetarian or a carnivore, you will not be disappointed.
The local ale-brined and hay-smoked roast chicken and the Viking Village scallops done in a turmeric beurre blanc and served atop a celeriac puree with a dollop of caviar are two dishes you must try. A new vegetarian menu, with inventive and super-delicious vegan options, was launched this summer.
Saffron, The Vegetarian Eatery (off-strip)
The plaza in which this restaurant is situated is beyond nondescript, but don’t let that deter you. Inside, it is like a private royal garden oasis, complete with an indoor pond. The same attention to detail is put into its ingredients, incorporating as many local and responsibly-sourced ones as possible. For example, the mushrooms are sourced from a local Las Vegas boutique urban farm, whose mission is to sustainably grow healthy gourmet mushrooms through regenerative practices.
Saffron is an off-strip vegetarian restaurant serving Asian-inspired dishes.
Start your meal with the grilled watermelon salad with pickled lotus root and heirloom tomato, tossed in yuzu vinaigrette and cracked black pepper. For your entree, consider red or green curry—or both.
Crossroads at Resorts World
Crossroads is the first fully plant-based Italian/Mediterranean fine-dining restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. Vegans, flexitarians, omnivores and meat enthusiasts can all have a seat at the table to indulge in curated offerings by acclaimed chef Tal Ronnen and executive chef Paul Zlatos.
Fans of the Los Angeles hotspot can enjoy the collection of Chef Tal’s signature dishes, including the stuffed zucchini blossoms, impossible cigars, pizzas and pastas. Chef Tal even created signature dishes specifically for the Vegas market, including a caviar and chips dish and chestnut foie gras.
Kassi Beach House at Virgin Hotel
Escape to the Italian seaside at Kassi Beach House. Overlooking the pools, it feels like a coastal trattoria. The most popular item on the menu must be the wood-fired, oven-baked pizza. Choose from all-vegetarian toppings or go extravagant with the truffle pizza—think truffled ricotta cheese, shaved black truffle and white truffle oil.
There is also a three-course “Family Style” option on the menu, which is like an Italian omakase. Depending on how many people are in your party, the chef will prepare all their favourite items, share-plate style.
BEYOND FOOD AND FACIALS
The crimson rock formations in Red Rock Canyon look even more stunning in real life. Pink Jeep Tours offers hotel pickup and drop-off, and a multitude of guided daytrip itineraries.
Think Pink
See the natural side of Vegas through the Mohave Desert in a pink jeep. Itineraries can be as short as a three-hour roundtrip to Red Rock Canyon, where you will see other worldly rock formations and ancient tribal artwork; or spend the whole day exploring, going all the way to Eagle Point on the western rim of the Grand Canyon, and walk atop the Hoover Dam to see the Colorado River.
pinkjeeptours.com
Sky High
See the world-famous neon landscapes of the Las Vegas Strip from the best perspective—in the sky. The luxury Airbus helicopter has a wraparound glass cockpit, so every seat is a prime seat. Make sure your camera or mobile phone is well-charged, as you will want to film the entire 12- to 15-minute flight. It is truly a lifetime experience.
maverickhelicopter.com
