Juicing While Traveling: Hotels Offer Juice-Themed Vacations

Aug. 11, 2012 — -- Michelle Barna is a social media marketer who considers herself a "casual" juicer.

"I was eating badly," she said, "I needed to give my system a break."

So she bought a juicer. She owns a machine, does a one-day cleanse weekly and a three-day cleanse roughly once every month.

While Barna may be able to live without her juicer for a few days, there are plenty of people who'd prefer not, and the hotel industry has taken notice. Several properties around the country are now offering juice-themed vacations for the die-hards and juicing bars for the more casual.

"If you feel stressed out, fatigued, and sickly, or if you are always thirsty and eating uncontrollably, guess what? Your body needs a vacation," said Mina Gough, spa director of The Standard Spa, Miami Beach, Fla. "And that's precisely what a juice cleanse is for."

For the first time this summer, The Standard Spa offers juice and wellness programs. There are three- and five-day packages. Both include spa treatments, coaching workshops and a daily supply of juices. The remaining summer dates are Aug. 17-19 and Sept. 14-16 for the three-day package; and Aug. 13-17 and Sept. 24-28 for the five-day package.

"Hotels have taken notice that their travelers, especially those that spend time in the spa, are looking to keep their bodies healthy on the road," said Linden Schaffer, director of Pravassa, a travel company site that organizes wellness-based vacations. "These clients are not interested in spending time and money detoxing in the spa only to fill up on unhealthy, processed food."

At The Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., the bikini jumpstart package includes a one-day cleanse with juices delivered from the local favorite, Pressed Juicery. The package is available through Aug. 31.

In Santa Barbara, Calif., the Four Seasons The Biltmore opened an organic juice bar called Fins last month. Guests can create their own juice from kale, beets, ginger, celery and an assortment of other fruits and vegetables.

The new Travaasa Austin, a destination resort and spa, offers a class in juicing for its guests. Called Juicing 2.0, the class is designed to make juicing easier for those who've been overwhelmed by all the chopping.

"Juice bars have been a mainstay in gyms throughout the U.S., and with hotels offering juice bar options it's letting clients stay on a healthy path even if they don't have time to spend in the gym while they travel," said Schaffer.

While places like Miami and the California coast may be predictable places for juicing to be popular, juice bars are also popping up in one place more known for debauchery than wellness: Las Vegas. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's Juice Bar offers healthy juices and smoothies, but in typical Vegas fashion, lets guests add alcohol.

As for Barna, she's leaving for a vacation on St. John this week. She hadn't heard about the hotel juicing trend before our conversation, but was intrigued. As she was about to hang up the phone she said, "I'm going to go online right now and see if the hotel has a juice bar."