Hotels are offering guests $12,000 stem cell therapies, chewing lessons, and IV drips in luxury wellness kick – Business Insider Africa

The Wall Street Journal reported that New York's Peninsula hotel, German medispa Lanserhof, and Four Seasons Resort Maui in Hawaii were among hotels diving into bizarre wellness courses to attract wealthy, increasingly health-conscious guests.

The report said a cornerstone of Lanserhof's program was the Mayr Cure, which involves a multiday fast, lessons in proper chewing - with more than 30 chews per mouthful recommended - and abdominal massages. The hotel is expected to introduce MRI machines and CT scanners for preventive diagnostic sessions. If that isn't enough to satisfy guests, there's also an on-site psychologist.

Lanserhof is not alone in offering an array of expensive alternative treatments, according to the WSJ.

The Four Seasons in Wailea, Hawaii, where rooms can cost $20,000 a night, offers guests a selection of intravenous (IV) Drips and Ozone Therapy alongside Los Angelesbased preventive and diagnostic health care center Next Health. The hotel also offers guests 60-minute stem cell therapy sessions, costing $12,000 each.

"According to research, [stem cells] can help orchestrate and improve cell communication, optimizing the efficiency of a variety of bodily processes, which may improve overall vitality," Next Health president and co-founder Kevin Peake told the WSJ.

But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released warnings about regenerative medicine therapies including stem cells in the past. It had received reports of blindness, tumor formation, and infections due to the use of unapproved products.

High net worth individuals are spending more on alternative treatments, according to a report by the Global Wellness Institute.

The report found the global wellness economy was worth $4.4 trillion in 2021, with wellness tourism accounting for $436 billion. The study expected wellness tourism to grow by more than 20% per year between 2020 and 2025 after a pandemic-induced slowdown last year.

Alex Glasscock, CEO and co-founder of Ranch, told the WSJ that bookings at the group's Rome-based spa, where guests engage in four-hour hikes and deep tissue treatment, were starting to fill up six months in advance in a sign of resurgent demand.

The hotels and medispas mentioned in the article didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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Hotels are offering guests $12,000 stem cell therapies, chewing lessons, and IV drips in luxury wellness kick - Business Insider Africa