Intentional Travel: Transformative Stays for 2026

2026 is the year for intentional travel. slower pacing, restorative environments, and experiences that prioritize clarity, wellness, and cultural connection. These properties and programs span wellness sanctuaries, heritage hotels, design‑forward urban stays, eco‑luxury retreats, and deep cultural immersion journeys, each offering a grounded way to begin the year with purpose.

Ananda in the Himalayas  Rishikesh, India

Ayurvedic Wellness Reset for Clarity and Balance

Located on a 100‑acre Maharaja’s estate overlooking the Ganges Valley, Ananda in the Himalayas is an ideal place to begin the year with holistic renewal. Programs are tailored by senior physicians and expert therapists, combining modalities such as Ayurveda, TCM, Yoga, Vedanta, and emotional healing to support personal goals. Specialties range from women’s wellness and fertility to diabetes management and sleep enhancement, creating a deeply individualized experience.

The resort’s wellness philosophy centers on food as medicine, with meals crafted according to each guest’s dosha or body type. Days open with sunrise yoga, followed by guided meditation and Vedanta philosophy sessions that anchor purpose beyond the mat. The spa blends classical therapies with contemporary diagnostics, offering a grounded sense of progress. Guests leave with long‑term frameworks, sleep routines, breathwork practices, and mindful nutrition that extend well beyond their stay.

Imperial Hotel, Kyoto , Japan

Heritage Hospitality Reimagined for Modern Renewal

Opening March 5, 2026, the Imperial Hotel Kyoto marks the brand’s first new property in three decades. Set within the restored 1936 Yasaka Kaikan in Gion, the 55‑room boutique hotel blends preserved architectural detail with contemporary calm. Culinary offerings span four venues, including French Cuisine REN, shaped by conversations with local producers, and All Day Dining YASAKA, where a wood‑fired oven anchors signatures like the Yasaka Burger and a light, warming curry. The Old Imperial Bar introduces original and limited cocktails, while The Rooftop offers guest‑only terrace views above lantern‑lit streets.

Service is rooted in omotenashi, anticipating needs with quiet discretion and encouraging guests to adopt Kyoto’s gentle rituals, afternoon tea, pre‑dawn shrine walks, or a quiet hour for calligraphy. Rooms are designed as warm, minimal sanctuaries, while public spaces invite stillness and thoughtful pacing. As twilight settles over Gion, the hotel mirrors the city’s unhurried beauty, creating a setting where intention naturally becomes habit.

The Dylan Amsterdam, Netherlands

Culinary Creativity Meets Performance Wellness

On the Keizersgracht, The Dylan Amsterdam offers an intimate, design‑led refuge where culinary artistry and modern wellness coexist. Two‑Michelin‑starred Restaurant Vinkeles is known for technique‑driven cuisine that balances restraint with soulful flavor, while the High Wine experience reframes the canal‑side afternoon as a gentle ritual of curated vintages and inventive bites.

This spring, the hotel introduces a new TechnoGym facility designed for travelers who prioritize energy, sleep, and recovery. Programming centers on performance wellness, helping guests maintain rhythm and clarity between cultural explorations. Rooms and suites are layered with warm textures and quiet tones that encourage slower pacing and post‑dining reflection. Outside, independent galleries and studios make creative discovery effortless without rush. A soft canal walk after dinner and a focused morning workout create a cycle that feels elegant rather than disciplined, proving that refinement and wellbeing can share the same itinerary.

Hotel Belmar Monteverde, Costa Rica

Eco-Luxury and Restorative Sleep in the Cloud Forest

In the Monteverde cloud forest, Hotel Belmar enters its 40th year with a renewed focus on sleep as the foundation of wellbeing. The new Sleep Ritual program integrates natural soundscapes, herbal infusions from the hotel’s garden, breathwork, and guided wind‑down practices that support circadian alignment and deeper rest. Guest rooms draw the forest inward through warm woods, organic fabrics, and terraces that encourage twilight transitions, while signature suites frame views that quietly signal calm to the nervous system.

Days unfold at a gentle pace, forest bathing among epiphytes, dawn birdwatching, and low‑impact hikes that pair movement with discovery. Sustainability is woven into every detail, from renewable energy and regenerative gardens to local sourcing that shapes menus at Cervecería Belmar and the farm‑to‑table restaurant. The hotel’s Artist Residency program fosters cultural exchange and invites guests to engage with creators in meaningful ways, complementing Belmar’s regenerative ethos and deep connection to the cloud forest.

Naya Traveler, Bespoke Journeys

Cultural Immersion as a Framework for Intention

Naya Traveler designs journeys for travelers who believe transformation happens through connection. Newly launched Mongolia itineraries immerse guests in nomadic lifeways—time with herder families, stays in gers, horseback traverses across steppe and dune, and sunset visits to the Flaming Cliffs. Guides bridge culture with context, ensuring each experience feels elemental, raw, and deeply moving. Travelers may share bowls of airag under endless blue skies, ride through the Orkhon Valley and the Gobi, or witness the Golden Eagle Festival in the Altai Mountains.

Across all destinations, Naya centers places where culture is lived rather than staged. Itineraries begin with a conversation about purpose, and pacing is calibrated to avoid performative tourism. Safety and comfort are handled discreetly so attention stays on the relationship between traveler and host, land and livelihood, journey and self. Evenings around a shared hearth or family table turn travel into dialogue instead of consumption, leaving guests with perspectives shaped by care and connect.

Bettoja Hotels Rome, Italy

Heritage and Renewal in a City Built on Ritual

For nearly a century and a half, Bettoja Hotels has welcomed travelers to Rome, and Spring 2026 brings renovations that honor lineage while refining comfort across its historic properties. Guest rooms incorporate period‑sensitive details, improved acoustics, and circadian‑supportive lighting designed to restore travelers returning from days spent wandering the city. Public spaces are refreshed with subtle modern enhancements that support ease, rest, and an unhurried pace while preserving architectural heritage.

Daily rhythm becomes the guide mornings begin with espresso at a marble bar as the city stirs awake, afternoons stretch into meandering walks along cobblestones, and evenings settle into softly lit dining rooms shaped by family recipes refined over generations. Service remains warm and quietly attentive, grounded in a legacy of family‑led hospitality practiced as stewardship rather than performance. In a city where tradition is a living force, Bettoja Hotels offers a way to experience Rome through intention and pace, turning everyday gestures into the most restorative part of the journey.