Biohacking Devices and Mayan Rituals

Hotel Esencia’s spa is ready for its grand reveal. 

The five-star boutique hotel, known for its 50-acre estate that was previously the home of an Italian duchess, on Wednesday is revealing the renovation and reopening of its Mayan-inspired spa, which now includes a second floor home to a sensory deprivation tank. This news follows the launch last May of a coffee table book with Assouline celebrating the hotel, as well as the announcement of Hotel Esencia’s next location, Château de Curzay in France.

While the spa at Hotel Esencia has always been a highlight of the property, hotel owner and chief executive officer Kevin Wendle, a former Hollywood producer, discovered a slew of new technologies and treatments during his travels that ultimately led to the renovation. 

“It’s really an all-new spa,” Wendle said. “Three years ago, we were just doing all the normal treatments that you would expect at the spa, but I wanted to take it to another level.”

He was inspired in particular by treatments and modalities he was experiencing at spas in France, Italy and Switzerland. 

“I saw things out there in the market that were a level above,” Wendle said. “I said, ‘Wow, if I could bring in some of these new technologies, integrate them, expand what was our old spa, add a second level, add all kinds of new treatments to integrate these ancient, traditional spa therapies with the latest and greatest in technology, we’d have something that would attract our high level clientele.’”

Therefore the spa menu now varies from ancient Mayan rituals, like a cacao ritual or a Temazcal, a hot steam bath, to popular biohacking technologies, such as an infrared sauna, sensory deprivation tank and ice baths. According to Wendle, the new approach is working — 50 percent of the hotel’s customers are repeat guests and many are coming back for the spa in particular.

“What we’re doing is all about longevity,” Wendle said. “It’s not just a buzzword for us. It’s something that we really look at.”

In terms of the ancient rituals, there are several other touch points that a guest will experience, including teas that the therapists make out of muddled herbs from the hotel’s garden and an ancestral energy cleansing ritual that begins each treatment.

“It was built in a way to be harmonious with the energy around it and Mayan influences, so that we can perform these ancient Mayan rituals that our spa therapists have grown up with,” Wendle said.

A slew of other new offerings also will be available, including a hydrotherapy circuit, where guests can jump from a steam room, a Swiss shower, a hot tub, an ice rub, an infrared sauna and a cold plunge, and conclude it all with a face and scalp massage.

One of Wendle’s favorite additions is the Lumenis NuEra Tight, a noninvasive skin-tightening treatment that uses radio frequency.

“The beauty of it is, there’s no downtime,” he said. “You can have this treatment with this deep radio frequency technology and go right back into the sun. Of course, we know the sun is not great for you, but [the] point is you can continue with vacation.”

Other spa menu highlights include an array of facials and massages, nail treatments, waxing, hair cuts and styling, energetic bodywork sessions, sound healing, meditation, yoga, breathwork, personal training and more.