CHICAGO—Guided by its purpose of care, Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced Hyatt Together—a digital platform for guests, members and customers featuring curated wellbeing experiences created by Hyatt colleagues from around the world. Aligned with Hyatt’s holistic approach to wellbeing, Hyatt Together content is focused on three pillars: Feel (emotional and mental wellbeing), Fuel (powering the body, including food, sleep) and Function (how you move and function in work and life). Hyatt is premiering expanded video content designed to bring its engaging, signature experiences outside of Hyatt hotels so that more people can have access, whether at home, or when they’re ready, while...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As all industries tackle the ongoing effects of COVID-19, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has sought to understand the resiliency of the design industry and profession through times of uncertainty. The 2020 ASID Interior Design Resiliency Report has released the results from its first phase, conducted during the summer of 2020 in partnership with Cosentino, Benjamin Moore and Emerald to further investigate interior design resilience by examining the impact of the pandemic, the response from the interior design community and the changes necessary in design to move forward. “In their day-to-day work, design professionals are creative problem-solvers...

As the travel industry slowly starts to recover from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, it is time for hoteliers to begin thinking about ways to entice cautious travelers who now value health and wellness above all else. Priorities have changed and guest expectations need to be considered moving forward. Prior to the pandemic, wellness was having a moment in the hospitality space, but now the crisis has intensified this priority, putting wellness and the awareness of personal health and well-being at the forefront of guests’ minds. However, the idea of wellness has changed and is now less about superficial spa...

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.—ADERO Scottsdale will open as a Marriott International Autograph Collection Hotel on October 1, 2020. With its elevated views of Arizona’s famed Four Peaks and McDowell Mountain Range, ADERO will be Scottsdale’s only Dark Sky Zone resort with a modern guest experience inspired by the surrounding Sonoran Desert. The complete development is led by Allen + Philp Partners Architecture and Interior Design, MONOGRAM Hospitality Interiors at BBGM, branding agency Epiphany and Aqua-Aston Hospitality, a leading hotel and resort management group. ADERO joins Autograph Collection’s diverse and dynamic portfolio of more than 180 independent hotels carefully crafted with vision and passion. Just like ADERO,...

CHICAGO—Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced a new collaboration between Hyatt’s Exhale brand and Amazon Halo, a health and wellness membership that uses technology to provide personal wellness insights and offers ways to improve users’ everyday health. Powered by a mobile app and accompanying wristband, the newly launched Amazon Halo service combines science-backed tools and Exhale’s streaming video platform, Exhale On Demand, to help users build healthier habits for life. Available for early access now, the Amazon Halo service gives users and Exhale members greater accessibility to Exhale On Demand’s fitness programs. Exhale On Demand fitness-focused Labs offered on Amazon Halo are one-to-four-week trackable challenges—like...

DENVER—Scott Milne*, Lead Energy Auditor and Commercial Consultant for Denver-based Rocky Mountain Efficiency Group, has launched the Elite Room concept to give hoteliers—“even the Days Inns of the World are looking for a solution,” he says—a leg up on their competition in the race to provide the safest and cleanest rooms for guests. “You have got to make people think your guestrooms are cleaner than their own home,” says Milne, a LEED GA. Now available, the Elite Room package consists of elements ranging from air purification to room disinfection to filtering chlorine from the shower you bathe in. “I came up...

NATIONAL REPORT—Over the past few decades, environmental and social factors, such as modernized living, have been driving the growth of wellness. While hotels are finding different ways to engage in this trend by incorporating wellness-related elements into the guest’s journey, destination spas are taking wellness to the next level with their unique offerings. This article takes a deep dive into wellness-hospitality development and discusses its distinguishing characteristics and key success factors. This article provides an overview of the underlying factors that are driving the growth in the spa-and-wellness hospitality sector. HVS has been tracking demand and growth patterns within this...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Plastic pollution of land, water and air is a global problem. Even when plastic bags or water bottles break down to the point at which they are no longer an eyesore, tiny fragments can still contaminate the environment. Animals and humans can ingest the particles, with uncertain health consequences. Now, scientists report that they are among the first to examine micro- and nanoplastics in human organs and tissues. The researchers presented their results recently at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting & Expo. It featured more than 6,000 presentations on a wide range of science...

NATIONAL REPORT—Earlier this year the Westin Houston Medical Center announced it was using LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots to sanitize and disinfect its guestrooms and common areas to help combat the threat of coronavirus. The robots use intense germicidal UV light to disinfect rooms by quickly destroying microscopic bacteria and viruses that may be missed during the manual cleaning process. Operated by hotel staff, the robot uses pulsed xenon (a noble gas) to create intense broad-spectrum UV light. The room disinfection technology was provided by Xenex Disinfection Services. Xenex Disinfection Services is just one of a number of companies now selling UV...

NEW YORK—Organic Spa Media, the leading authority in wellness travel, natural beauty and eco-living, announces the debut of The Wellness Experience, a new virtual summit featuring a roster of top industry experts and interactive live-streaming experiences. Developed in partnership with prominent virtual events platform 6Connex, the two-day event on October 20 to 21, 2020 will feature wellness content from a variety of leading international authorities. For the first time ever, consumer wellness aficionados, travel advisors and media are invited to interact with some of the brightest minds in the industry, with programming carefully curated by Organic Spa Media. The summit...