High-tech wellness retreat featuring cryogenic chambers and infrared encapsulation for a superior health experience.
"The field is shifting," states Desmond Cawley, managing hotel ops at SIRO, based at One Za'abeel. Billed as Dubai's premier athletic hotel, it caters to athletic elites with fitness-centric lifestyles and promises no less than consultations with AC Milan football club, Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty, and boxer Ramla Ali.
SIRO flaunts a 2,000-square-foot gym equipped with tech-savvy gadgets tracking performance, smart scales, and body composition tools, coupled with an app for customized guest experiences, from diet to workout. The lodgings boast alarm clocks adjusted to guests' body rhythms and anti-gravity rocking chairs, with the recovery lab focusing on muscle recovery treatments, like the chilly cryotherapy and the MLX i3Dome that uses far infrared tech for muscle recovery.
"Take cryotherapy for instance — great for dealing with inflammation and speeding up metabolism," remarks Cawley, suggesting that the frosty minus 85°C (minus 121 Fahrenheit) chamber is best tried by veterans of ice baths.
He also admires the sci-fi MLX i3Dome, using far infrared technology for muscle pain relief, which is traced back to NASA’s 1990s experimentation with light therapy to stimulate growth in space plants and heal wounds in astronauts. Since then, it's been investigated for various purposes, including the latest, skincare. This 360-degree treatment combination of sauna, light therapy helmet for facial treatment, and red light for collagen production, green light for cleaning, and blue light for 'problem skin' is a rarity outside boutique clinics, certainly not in most accommodations, even in the luxury hotel scene, often indifferent to fitness and health.
Ambitious brands like SIRO and its parent company Kerzner International are integrating wellness into their hospitality fundamentals. D handling Dubai as its start, SIRO, Boka Place in Montenegro, and three more venues are scheduled for future opens.
"Each individual's body functions differently, aims for different wellness goals, and aspirations," says Cawley. SIRO's operates on maximizing performance and diminishing recovery times, enabling guests to make a quick return to their passion be it on the football field, tennis court, or gym.
From 'New Age' wellness to celeb biohacking
This technology-heavy version of wellness is a stark contrast to the ‘New Age' era, dominated by yoga, crystals, and green juice detoxes, according to Beth McGroarty, research director at the Global Wellness Institute.
"This is all about the billionaire tech moguls pursuing multi-million-dollar regimens in the pursuit of longevity," says McGroarty, discussing the growing high-tech, complex medical trend called "biohacking." This includes longevity clinics and drugs like Ozempic as people attempt to decrease their biological age.
The pandemic contributed to this trend, forcing the need for 'touchless' treatments and stimulating the appetite for evidence-based health solutions.
However, not everything is about science. "Some of it feels less scientific," McGroarty says, pointing a finger at treatment options like nutrient-infused IV drips, which lack concrete evidence in supporting their benefits outside of a doctor-prescribed, hospital setting. "Sometimes I think the ‘science' is just a smokescreen," she adds.
SIRO isn't the lone wolf in this high-tech muster, going head-to-head with athletic tourists-targeting health therapies. Fitness club juggernaut Equinox stepped onto the scene in 2019 with its high-tech flagship hotel in New York City, planning to launch 33 properties over the next ten years. Reputed medical-wellness resorts SHA Wellness and Clinique La Prairie are expanding beyond Europe, setting up shop at One&Only One Za'abeel in Dubai, mere floors above SIRO.
Meanwhile, home dwellers are likely not freezing themselves nightly, but data-driven wellness is rapidly becoming the norm. Most smartwatches can now collect medical-grade stats on heart rate, sleep patterns, and blood oxygen, with these wrist-mounted devices only getting smarter and sleeker like the Oura ring, a fashionable tracker that seems more like jewelry than a fitness device.
Thanks to the rise of generative artificial intelligence, McGroarty envisions even more potential for smart diagnostics. However, she insists on the need to set boundaries and evaluate where it's relevant, warning about the constant connection-induced stress and anxiety caused by work, news, misinformation, and social media.
Hardcore vs. 'radical minimalism'
Yet, not everyone approves of this high-tech approach to wellness.
While 'hardcore' wellness has been expanding, so has 'softcore.' Rejecting the past decade's over-optimized, commercial wellness routines, McGroarty observes a growing interest in low-key, minimalistic wellness, prioritizing social experiences and emotional well-being. This includes self-indulgence activities like 'bed rotting' and 'Hot Girl Walks'.
"It's all about striking a balance between technology and self-care," concludes McGroarty. "The future of wellness lies in harmonizing these two worlds.""
"Individuals are draining their funds on wellness, seeking extreme simplicity," she notes.
Even at SIRO, packed with advanced technology, Cawley has noticed a rise in the popularity of mental practice sessions such as meditation. "Back in the day, group exercise plans typically included more strength or cardio classes. Today, however, you see more mindfulness classes, including yoga and sound treatment," he explains.
For SIRO, there's a tech-savvy alternative to this: "vibroacoustic therapy," the futuristic version of a gong session. Guests lie on a massage table with a waterbed at the center, wear noise-canceling earphones, and listen to the carefully combined sounds of ocean waves colliding with a hypnotic synth music backdrop. The waterbed pulses along with the sound, supposedly relieving body tension, and SIRO claims it's meant for those dealing with sleep issues, stress, depression, or anxiety.
Although technology to help you unplug might seem overboard, for SIRO, the integration of health data is the key to the future of wellness, offering guests a data-driven, customized wellness program.
"Our aim is to use technology as an aid rather than a distraction," says Cawley.
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Guests at SIRO can utilize the recovery lab for various treatments, such as cryotherapy, which is known for its ability to reduce inflammation and speed up metabolism, making it an excellent choice for individuals looking to stay in shape during their travel.
Furthermore, SIRO's technology offerings also extend beyond the gym and recovery lab, with smartwatches and fitness devices like the Oura ring becoming increasingly popular for tracking health data while traveling. These devices allow individuals to monitor their heart rate, sleep patterns, and blood oxygen levels, ensuring they maintain optimal wellness even when away from home.
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