Gyms, spas and complementary wellness services have increasingly become crucial additions to any hotel experience, but they still mostly remain optional add-ons.
Siro One Za'abeel, a soon-to-open hotel in Dubai, is challenging this ethos by putting fitness front and centre in its five-star offerings. Out with the generic fitness clubs and in with specialised holistic amenities.
Hotel operator Kerzner International – owner of Atlantis and One&Only – is the brains behind this new property, which is set to have a two-phase opening. From next Thursday, guests and members will be able to access the dedicated fitness and recovery floors, while rooms will be available to book from February 12, starting at Dh900 per night. Although we were told these will go up to Dh3,500 during peak season.
The hotel occupies seven floors of the newly opened One Za'abeel dual towers – from level 30 to 37 – with access available via the tower's main lobby.
As soon as you exit the lift, you know you've entered a world of its own. There is no intimidating reception, only sporty front-of-house staff armed with iPads to check guests in should they need assistance. Otherwise, room check-ins can be carried out through the Siro mobile app, which serves as an all-in-one platform for other hotel features, such as meal plans and group classes.
The concept is based on five “biohacking pillars”, hotel manager Desmond Cawley tells The National during an early tour of the venue. These are fitness, nutrition, sleep, recovery and mindfulness.
The fitness and recovery floors
Guests first arrive on the fitness floor, which spans a 900-square-metre area with purpose-built zones for training. One section has weights for resistance training, another has treadmills for cardio and there are studios for spin, Pilates, yoga and high-intensity interval training.
Hotel guests can access this area, but the fitness lab also allows non-guests to sign up for a typical membership package, with prices starting at Dh785 for a month or Dh7,095 for a year. Members also get other benefits such as discounts on room rates.
One level up is the recovery lab, which features several treatment rooms, offering myriad therapies that go beyond traditional spa services found in regular hotels. There is a cryotherapy (or cold therapy) room, a vibroacoustic therapy room and several others equipped with more generic recovery tools.
The therapies are individually priced, but there are also areas guests and members can access free of charge, such as steam and sauna rooms, as well as the plunge pool and relaxation zone, with massage chairs and a Himalayan salt wall.
The rooms
These also differ from regular hotels. Televisions are swapped with projectors that include in-house training content for those who want to try in-room guided workouts during their stay. The mattresses are thermo-regulated, and guests can also choose from an extensive pillow menu.
Each room has a recovery cupboard, with exercise balls, stretch bands, a meditation cushion and yoga mat. The mini bar is filled with healthy drinks and snacks, and the in-room dining menu includes macronutrient measurements. Guests can also ask for the staff to draw an ice bath for them, if they wish.
For those who want a more premium stay, the hotel has 12 bigger suites, six of which are fitted with fitness-focused amenities, while the other half are focused on recovery. The fitness suites, for example, have cardio equipment in the living area, while the recovery options include stretching accessories.
All suites have their own treatment areas for in-room therapies, which can be enjoyed while soaking in the world-famous Dubai skyline.
