Image courtesy of Angama Mara
An excellent hotel gym can make all the difference on your vacation. Travel is notorious for interrupting health routines, as it can be difficult to find the time or a decent gym while away from home.
Luckily, I’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Below are some of the best hotel gyms, with excellent fitness equipment, diverse classes, fantastic amenities or impeccable views (a breathtaking landscape makes any workout more enjoyable). And of course, you can decide to forgo the gym altogether and hit the spa or cocktail bar — because that’s wellness, too.
SIRO One Za'abeel
Image courtesy of SIRO One Za'abeel
In many ways, SIRO was built for wellness. The modern hotel in Dubai takes health and wellbeing seriously, as evidenced by their spectacularly equipped Fitness Floor. There are three fitness zones — one for cardio, functional training (kettlebells, battle ropes) and weight training — as well as an Experience Box, a dimly lit space reserved for HIIT classes. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the Pilates and yoga studios with natural light. Blackout blinds and dynamic lighting make the cycle studio especially immersive. International fitness experts and professional athletes played a role in everything from the spaces’ design to the targeted group programming.
A big part of fitness is recovery, and SIRO One Za’abeel recognizes its importance. The hotel’s Recovery Lab includes a soothing lounge and Zen Room, cold plunge, sauna and steam room. To really level up your recovery, try a cryotherapy or EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) session. There are also IV drips, modular massages, assisted stretching and myofascial cupping, to name but a few additional treatments available. Prepare to feel like an entirely new person.
Fora Perks:
$100 hotel / resort credit, breakfast daily, an upgrade and extended check-in/out whenever possible.
Equinox Hotel New York
Images courtesy of Equinox Hotel New York and Jason Varney for Equinox
New York’s ultra-sexy Equinox Hotel is one of the most recent ventures of the exclusive Equinox brand, a collection of swanky gyms (known as "clubs") and spas. Wellness is baked into the brand’s DNA, and its designation as the “fittest hotel on Earth” is indeed merited. Here, you have access to 60,000 square feet, spread across two floors, of designated fitness space, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson River. Modern cardio equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes), kettlebells and weight machines abound.
Relax by the heated outdoor swimming pool, or opt for a faster pace in the saltwater indoor lap pool. Personal training is (of course) available, as are group fitness classes ranging from HIIT to yoga to barre. Complement your workout and boost recovery in the on-site infrared sauna or cryotherapy chamber before heading to the spa for a well-deserved deep-tissue massage.
Fora Perks:
$100 hotel / resort credit, breakfast daily, an upgrade and extended check-in/out whenever possible.
Santa Monica Proper Hotel
Image courtesy of Santa Monica Proper Hotel
It’s not difficult to find wellness-dedicated spaces when visiting California’s chic Santa Monica neighborhood, but few execute to the level of the Proper Hotel. The gym’s floor-to-ceiling windows allow in plenty of natural light, which bathes three separate spaces, all tastefully designed with wooden floors and oversized mirrors.
Top-tier exercise equipment abounds: Peloton bikes, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, a Peloton treadmill, a Tonal Mirror, water rowers, floor machines, stretching equipment. The hotel does not mess around when it comes to fitness. Private classes and personal training can be arranged, but complimentary daily and weekly programming with local experts — think yoga, HIIT and bootcamp — make getting in a sweat session seamless and enjoyable (the gorgeous rooftop and terrace settings don’t hurt, either).
Fora Perks:
$50 daily food / breakfast credit, a welcome amenity, & an upgrade whenever possible.
Puente Romano Beach Resort, Marbella
Image courtesy of Puente Romano Beach Resort
This luxury hotel’s sleek and modern fitness facilities reflect the resort’s overall appreciation of an active — and fun — lifestyle. Here, you can use the latest TechnoGym equipment, or take a class in one of the spinning, boxing or barre studios. On-hand medical professionals can consult on fitness longevity, while a certified sports psychologist offers mental coaching to help improve your tennis game (the tennis courts are, unsurprisingly, beautiful). The resort’s outdoor jungle gym is a unique, light-hearted and effective environment in which to train — a stimulating change of scenery. Afterward, the sauna and steam room beckon.
Fora Perks:
$100 food / beverage credit, breakfast daily, an upgrade & extended check-in/out whenever possible.
1 Hotel South Beach
Image courtesy of 1 Hotel South Beach
The 1 Hotels are thoughtful about everything — their airy, soothing design, their commitment to sustainability, their farm-to-table food and, of course, their gyms. They are a paragon of wellness travel on numerous fronts. The gym at this sexy Miami location is helmed by Anatomy, the community-centered health club focused on sports performance and holistic strength training and conditioning.
You can sign up for numerous complimentary group classes, from boxing to yoga, meditation to weight training. Personal trainers are available, too. And if you just want to stick to your own routine, the sleek 14,000-square-foot space has ample cardio equipment, punching bags, treadmills, weights and yoga mats.
Fora’s Perks:
$100 hotel / resort credit, breakfast daily, an upgrade & extended check-in/out whenever possible.
Amanpuri
Image courtesy of Amanpuri
At Amanpuri, an ultra-luxe getaway in Phuket, Thailand, wellness is front and center, as it is at all Aman hotels. This resort offers various wellness immersions, depending on your goals — weight management, detox, life reset, stress management — all of which integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern medical interventions.
For those looking for something a bit less intensive, hit up the gym, which overlooks the glistening Andaman Sea. The view is difficult to beat, especially with the floor-to-ceiling windows. The tasteful space, accented with dark wood, houses free weights and cardio equipment (the ocean view makes workouts significantly less painful). You can take group classes (Muay Thai, Pilates, HIIT, TRX, bootcamp), play tennis at one of four beautiful courts, book a session with a personal trainer or swim laps in the 60-foot lap pool.
Fora Perks:
$100 hotel / resort credit, breakfast daily, an upgrade & extended check-in/out whenever possible.
The Venetian Las Vegas
Image courtesy of The Venetian Las Vegas
The famed health-centric hotel collection Canyon Ranch helms the over 100,000 square feet of fitness and wellness space (which includes two gyms) at The Venetian. Free weights, kettlebells, battle ropes and cardio machines equip this well-appointed health club. You can work out in the dedicated interval training room, or scale the 40-foot rock climbing wall before indulging in a self recovery session augmented by Hypervolt percussive therapy devices.
You also have the option to get granular about your physical fitness: the 80-minute comprehensive assessment includes a heart rate test, body composition analysis and musculoskeletal evaluation. The results are reviewed by an exercise physiologist, who then designs a tailored exercise regimen for you.
Honorable mention: Angama Mara
Image courtesy of Angama Mara
The gym at this luxurious, bucket-list-worthy tented safari camp is small and mighty. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in design. The sleek open-air space overlooks Kenya’s Maasai Mara, an expansive savannah. It’s well equipped, too. Hop on a stationary bike, treadmill or elliptical, choose from a selection of strength training equipment (dumbbells, kettlebells) and roll out a yoga mat for a Vinyasa flow with one of the most stunning views you’ll likely ever encounter. Angama’s infinity pool is flanked by red lounge chairs on a chic wooden deck — which, of course, also allows you to take in the savannah below.
Honorable mention: Capella Ubud
Image courtesy of Capella Ubud
This luxe hotel's state-of-the-art gymnasium tent is known as The Armoury, a sleek, refined space with wooden floors and patterned wallpaper. It's open 24 hours, so you can come and go as you please. But you can also book a personal training session or join Pilates, yoga and barre classes. Fitness extends beyond the gym, too, with group boot camps, aerial yoga, guided mountain bike rides and jungle hikes.
Fora Perks:
Complimentary 50-minute massage for two, breakfast daily, an upgrade & extended check-in/out whenever possible.