I remember growing up, going on vacation, and hearing my dad say that a hotel is just where you sleep. We never stayed anywhere fancy, and that was fine. As an adult, my attitude has changed. Aaron and I travel quite a bit both personally and professionally. If you’ve been reading this series on maintaining wellness while traveling for business, than I bet you can guess that finding a cheap room with no amenities is not what I am about to suggest. Here is why:
1. My hotel room is home base. It is my respite. After a busy day of business meetings, I need a place where I feel comfortable and can decompress. Less stress equals happier me! Yup, I am a hotel snob. It was a slow transition that I barely noticed, until a trip earlier this year where I was not in control of my accommodations and ended up in a Motel. Outdoor entrance, “non-smoking” room. Disgusting all the way around. A group of us were placed there as the trip was charity oriented. I lasted one night. And one night too long. I should have listened to my body sooner. I did not feel safe. I did not sleep as I was hyper-vigilent about every little noise. I checked myself out of the nasty place in the morning after deliriously Price-lining myself into ANY 4 star hotel in the downtown area at 2am. I’ve worked too hard to get my body well to let the stress and awful energy of a nasty hotel take me out for days following the trip.
I now know many of the larger hotel chains are offering amenities that support wellness. I had the pleasure to speak with a Westin Hotel (a part of the Starwood Hotel group) representative about what they are specifically doing to assist their clientele in meeting healthy living needs. I have to say, there are more wonderful options available than I ever knew…I am excited to share.
2. Food is fuel, and is a vital to wellness. I am happy to report hotels are finally moving away from the nasty continental breakfast; powered-egg and greasy sausage combination, and offering something that will actually support a healthy start to the day. The Westin has a program called Eat Well where they provide several options for fueling your day. SuperFoodRx options were designed by doctors and nutritionists. Some of the options include a yogurt, granola, and fruit parfait, pumpkin and carrot ginger soup, smoked jalopeno rubbed salmon tacos, and Alaskan King Crab and sweet potato cakes. Ummm….yum! Fresh by the Juicery provides custom juices, yes please!
3. Self-care can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Yoga and meditation is what I need to remain balanced. And guess what, The Westin offers both. With the Westin Well-being Movement one of the things offered is free yoga. Done. The Well-being Movement also offers Gear Leading in partnership with New Balance so you do not have to pack all of your workout clothing and gear. They have workout studios. They have RunWestin where you can join 3 and 5 mile guided runs through your city landscape. And if you don’t want to workout with other people, you can book a room with workout equipment. As for my meditation, they offer that too. The Westin is partnered with Headspace to provide mindfulness content.
Isn’t this wonderful? Once I learned of all these great programs The Westin is offering I started researching what else is out there. So many of the major hotels around the world are adding wellness options to their amenity offerings. It is so great to see that maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on the road is possible.
I want to thank Eric Frankum of The Westin Houston, Memorial City for sharing all this information and helping me educate and empower women to make the best choice for their body.
If you haven’t already, check out these other posts about Travel and Wellness:
Business Travel and Maintaining Wellness
Creating a Travel Schedule that promotes Wellness
MUCH LOVE!
