By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky - 8.2.2025
Health, wealth and relationships are the three timeless markets, and hospitality touches all of them. The key question is, what does it truly mean to care for the health of a hotel guest?
This is where wellness (as the offering) and wellbeing (as the outcome) come in. Tracking how guests engage with wellness amenities can shape custom itineraries, increase ancillary revenue and even show tangible health gains over time, such as improving heart rate variability (HRV), a strong indicator of stress and vascular resilience.
You may wonder, “Why focus on wellness data when we’re still cleaning up our core ops?”
Fair question. But wellness is shaping up to be a trillion-dollar opportunity. Just think back to the last time you were unwell: productivity, plans and responsibilities all took a back seat. Wellness habits like sauna use, healthy eating and supplementation are increasingly seen as preventive health investments, reducing sick days and enhancing overall performance. And once someone experiences those benefits, the loyalty is hard to shake.
Wellness is habitual by nature, which means repeat guests and recurring spend. Travelers are now choosing hotels based on wellness offerings, whether it’s a destination retreat or premium amenities at a city property. That means hotels must identify their wellness-minded guests and tailor messaging, upsells and experiences accordingly. Data helps reveal patterns, inform capital decisions and build campaigns around high-value, health-conscious travelers.
Step one is merchandising wellness consistently throughout the guest journey. That includes marketing, packages, upsells and even group offers. Every digital interaction – from fitness class signups to gym keycard swipes – creates data. This should flow into your warehouse and CRM, where future AI tools will mine it for insight. Painful as integrations can be, tracking what guests book and when can drive improvements in RevPAG and even justify rate premiums.
A powerful real-world example is SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain and Mexico. Their 7 to 14-night programs span diagnostics, fitness, nutrition and hydrotherapy, with all of them being very data-heavy. Recently, they began integrating WHOOP wearables to track metrics like HRV, blood oxygen and recovery. That data feeds into SHA’s systems to adjust guest schedules in real-time. Bad sleep? Move the workout. Slow recovery? Add more protein. It’s dynamic personalization powered by health insights.
Yes, SHA is a specialized player, but it signals what’s coming. As wearable tech and wellness platforms become mainstream, the hotels that adopt early will be best positioned to lead. Don’t wait for perfect infrastructure; start where you are, and let data be the bridge to better service, better outcomes and stronger financials.
Together, Adam and Larry Mogelonsky are the principals at Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd., an asset management and hotel development consultancy. Their experience encompasses properties around the world, both branded and independent in the luxury and boutique categories. Their writing includes eight books: “Total Hotel Mogel” (2024), “In Vino Veritas: A Guide for Hoteliers and Restaurateurs to Sell More Wine” (2022), “More Hotel Mogel” (2020), “The Hotel Mogel” (2018), “The Llama is Inn” (2017), “Hotel Llama” (2015), “Llamas Rule” (2013) and “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012). You can reach them at adam@hotelmogel.com to discuss business challenges or for speaking engagements.
Are you an industry thought leader with a point of view on hotel technology that you would like to share with our readers? If so, we invite you to review our editorial guidelines and submit your article for publishing consideration.