From time to time, daily routines can become exhausting and uninspired, but these feelings can often be overcome by having a fun trip to look forward to. While some vacations leave travelers more tired than they were before, other destinations are inherently rejuvenating and promote greater health and wellness. All around the world, you can find spas and health-focused resorts that offer yoga, meditation, nutrition guidance, and self-improvement classes to help you get your life and health back on track. Here are some of the very best destinations to plan a wellness retreat getaway next time you need a little boost.

If you’re looking to recharge, Eden Roc Cap Cana is a top destination for wellness offerings in the Dominican Republic. They have an Endless Wellbeing package that is an immersive wellness experience, offering a personal wellness concierge that will create a customized schedule with wellness menus, treatments, and consultations with the property’s natural medicine guru. In addition to “health shooters” (which are expertly crafted dishes focusing on the 7 chakras), the resort offers reiki energetic massages with Shamans in the cenote, which is thousands of years old. Afterward, relax in a lavish boutique villa with a private pool or beachfront suite, then take a dip in one of the lagoon-style pools.

Published July 27, 2022
Via: tripstodiscover.com

Eden Roc Cap Cana | Punta Cana, DR 

“Our Caribbean Elixir features countless health benefits and delicious ingredients. Pomegranates are rich in vitamins; cinnamon is anti-viral and reduces both blood sugar and pressure; coconut water is a great source of hydration; and honey is rich in antioxidants—giving our spa guests a nice welcome refreshment that will leave them feeling good.” —Pedro Castillo, lifestyle, wellness, and spa director, Eden Roc Spa at Eden Roc Cap Cana (Dominican Republic) 

Published July 26, 2022
Via: americanspa.com

While the month of August is widely considered the end of summer, travelers are squeezing in last-minute beach trips and vacations, let’s not forget our emotional and physical health as a priority during National Wellness Month.

Eden Roc Cap Cana | Punta Cana, DR 

At the island’s only Relais & Châteaux property, become transformed with the new Reiki Energetic Massage. Performed in the property’s hidden Cenote, the natural features of the cave and the waterfall fountain’s healing sounds provide an even more therapeutic experience for guests. Reiki, which means “spiritually guided life force energy,” helps replenish and restore the mind, body, and spirit, these reiki sessions also promote healing and aid in stress reduction. Performed with one of the property’s three female Shamans, the Reiki Energetic Massage is a massage essentially without any touch. As the Cenote is thousands of years old, it is a natural connection with mother earth that has harnessed the energy of the land’s ancestors and travelers for centuries, which the Shaman channels for the treatment. The Reiki Energetic Massage begins with an aura cleansing, then power of sound is combined with the use of healing crystals on top of each chakra to restore balance to the holistic health of the body and mind guiding each guest’s journey toward purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in life. Price: $165 / 1hr

Published July 25, 2022
Via: Luxurytravelmagazine.com

These family beach getaways for 2022 are affordable options, many of which have discounts and deals included to get you the most bang for your buck.

Let’s be real: By the time summer rolls around, a lot of us feel like we need a break. And fortunately, the beach is a great option because you get to soak up the sun while the kids tire themselves out along the shoreline. If you’re looking for sand and surf, these family beach vacations for 2022 are affordable options—many of which have discounts and deals included to get you the most bang for your buck. Be sure to check with your destinations to find out the latest regarding pricing and availability, as some offers may be subject to change.

29. Cap Cana, Dominican Republic

Eden Roc Cap Cana in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic has multi-bedroom villas, each complete with a full kitchen, private pool and spacious living areas. There are also communal infinity and kids’ pools, as well as the Koko Kid’s Club for kayaking and bodyboarding. There are also private pizza-making classes, complimentary daily lunch for children and family movie nights.

By Jessica Sager | July 22, 2022
Via: Parade.com

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to be proactive with their own self-care and making small changes can have significant effects on one’s overall health,” says Anne Dimon, co-founder, president & CEO of the Wellness Tourism Association.

Now in its 11^th year, Global Wellness Day will be celebrated on June 11 as an impetus to raise awareness about living well and increase motivation, not just for the day, but for the remaining 364 days of the year. Celebrated on the second Saturday of June every year, the event takes place in more than 100 countries simultaneously and promotes a balanced lifestyle around the globe.

Global Wellness Day is an entirely not-for-profit day, a social project dedicated to living well. The purpose of the day is to ask the question, even if for just one day, “How can I live a healthier and better life?” and to direct the thoughts of both individuals and society towards “living well” and raise awareness.

Dimon, also founder and editor of Travel To Wellness, adds, “Launched when self-care was still considered a selfish pursuit and something that was not necessarily attainable to everyone and anyone, the significance of Global Wellness Day is that it helped change that perception.”

According to Dimon, the world has witnessed many new travel trends since the annual celebration took root. Among the most notable are:

1. While spa treatments and yoga sessions continue to be important options under the umbrella of wellness travel, they are not mandatory for someone embarking on a wellness vacation.

2. Wellness travel products are no longer all about the luxury experience. Wellness travel has become and will continue to be more inclusive and accessible.

3. Spending time in nature has become recognized as an important wellness pursuit and is the one thing that is most often mentioned in WTA Wellness Travel Consumer Surveys.

4. More people have become more knowledgeable about the science that tells us it’s the small changes we make in our daily lives that lead to better health. They have adopted more wellness practices in their day-to-day lives and these are the consumers who are driving demand for more wellness options when they travel.

5. The pursuit of wellness is in high-demand as travel resumes.

6. Authentic experiences that reflect the local culture and history of the destination are more in demand.

Eden Roc Cap Cana, the popular Caribbean resort known for its bespoke wellness experiences and putting the Dominican Republic on the map as a wellness hot spot, is hosting the official Global Wellness Day event. Pedro Castillo, director of Eden Roc Spa & Wellness Center, says, “Well-being is a way of life and we’re excited to spotlight this through the Global Wellness event.”

By Camryn Rabideau | June 01, 2022
Via: Forbes.com

Be serenaded while enjoying your four-course meal in a truly unusual place.

Dusk is falling on the palm-fringed grounds of Eden Roc Cap Cana, a pristine beachfront resort on the private enclave of Cap Cana. Many guests taking the last swim of the day are unaware that mere yards away on the property, at the base of a 65-foot cliff, there is a hidden underground cenote, a reservoir filled with water that forms when a cave ceiling has collapsed.

Fewer still are aware that you can dine there — a unique experience that’s more than a little surreal.

The otherworldly feeling commences when I step onto a wooden staircase, that descends down, down, down into the cave. It’s dark, but the violet and pink lights that shine on the cave’s craggy walls provide just enough illumination. It’s all enveloped by lush greenery that resembles a sunken forest.

What’s that sound? No, not the cascading waterfall. Its music — specifically, “La Vie En Rose,” played by a French saxophonist named Pascale, who is standing on a rock at the base of the cave.

At the bottom of the steps, waiter Oscar Alcantara guides me to a table glowing with candlelight that has been set up on a deck inside the cenote. My four-course in-cave dinner is about to begin.

When the resort was built in 2012, it was constructed around the cenote, protected by the government as a natural area. Then, in January of 2020, it played host to 250 people for a film festival. The event planner wondered: why not host the screenings inside the cave?

“Everyone loved it, because it was so unusual, and the acoustics were amazing,” says Eden Roc Cap Cana’s managing director Stefano Baratelli. Last year, the walkway and an open-air wooden deck was constructed inside the cenote for intimate private dinners.

Many people who want to celebrate a Big Event do something like dinner on the beach, says Baratelli. “This, they haven’t done. Almost no one has.”

The sky high above the cave slowly grows dark, as fireflies meander by, and swallows dart in and out. After some house-made sourdough bread with delicious coconut butter (salted butter whipped with coconut cream) the four-course parade of dishes, finessed by Executive Chef Adriano Venturi, begins.

There is crudo de Chillo (raw snapper with pineapple and passionfruit juice), discs of caramelized eggplant parmigiana, deeply flavorsome roast chicken from a local purveyor, cooked on a bed of hay, and five versions of Dominican chocolate.

The dinner, with Champagne, a private waiter, a saxophonist (or, if you prefer, a violinist, or trio) and a cave-side massage which you can take the next day, is a splurge at $1,200 per couple — but it is unforgettable. The stars are coming out, the lapping waters of the cenote and Pascale’s haunting notes of “You Go To My Head” echo off of the walls; for the first time in my life, all I want to do is linger in a dark cave.

By Jancee Dunn | June 01, 2022
Via: Food & Wine Magazine

While the bar exudes mid-century vibes of the Mediterranean, the cocktail selection is decidedly local.

Tucked away inside Eden Roc Cap Cana, a secluded beachfront resort on Dominican Republic’s exclusive Cap Cana enclave, is a surprise: the Riva Bar, not the usual Caribbean-themed watering hole, but a tribute to the sleek, sexy speedboat Riva Aquamara.  Known as the Ferrari of the boat world, the Riva Aquamara was the epitome of glamour (“sun, sea, joie de vivre” was its irresistible ad slogan when it launched in 1962.) Sophia Loren, naturally, owned one; James Bond smoothly piloted the iconic pleasure boat in GoldenEye.

Mahogany panels on the Riva Bar’s walls mimic the boat’s glossy wooden hull, while the leather bar stools are the precise zingy turquoise of the Aquamara’s seats and padded sundeck. A gleaming two-foot replica of a Riva Aquamara perches jauntily on the counter; a bossa nova version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” pulses in the background.

While the bar evokes the golden age of the Cote d’Azur and Portofino, its offerings are decidedly local. All produce in the drinks — passionfruit, lemon, pineapple, coconut, herbs — is sourced right from the island. Along with signature cocktails such as Rivas & Med (gin with a ruby blend of Luxardo maraschino liqueur, raspberry and strawberry syrup, and a splash of balsamic vinegar) bar manager Ezequiel Huerta says that no one can leave the island without trying Mama Juana, as ubiquitous in the DR as Presidente beer.

Mama Juana’s history dates to precolonial times. Originally made as a medicinal elixir for aches and pains by the Tainos, the indigenous people of the Dominican Republic, it’s a blend of bark from local trees, herbs, dark rum, honey, red wine, fruits, herbs, and spices. “Mama Juana is also known to be…” Huerta pauses delicately. “..a bit of an aphrodisiac.”

Early Spanish explorers are said to have mixed European alcohol with the Tainos’ herbal tea. During the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, the sale of Mama Juana was prohibited, except by those with a medical license.

It has since come roaring back. The ingredients vary from region to region, and might include Maguey leaves, Anamu, an herb common in Central and South America, cloves, molasses, cinnamon, or Star Anise.

“Everybody makes it a little differently,” says bartender Andy Cedano, pouring a small glass (it’s usually taken neat.)  “My great-grandfather made it one way, another person might make it another way.” The slightly syrupy, dark red liqueur tastes a bit like port, with a spicy, rich kick.

“When you go to Mexico, you have tequila,” says Cedano, topping up the glass. “When you come here, you have Mama Juana.” Hummingbirds flit above a nearby turquoise pool that looks lifted from a Slim Aarons photo as the music is turned up for cocktail hour — a bit of La Dolce Vita right here in the DR.

By Jancee Dunn | June 01, 2022
Via: Food & Wine Magazine