Stay Well

On a month-long journey, we visited hotels across the country to give their health and wellness offerings a workout. Here’s what made our hearts race.

VICTORIA

Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa
Couples in stable relationships should consider renting a two-person kayak from the Eco-Adventure Centre near the hotel, which is just north of Victoria. (Locals call the kayaks divorce boats: “You’re not paddling!”) Single adventurers can venture out solo or hire a guide to help find the picturesque bays and eagle-filled inlets. Or ask the front desk to arrange something more cerebral, and join marine biologist Brian Smiley on a guided excursion in a pontoon. Although it lacks in physical rigour, it offers invaluable intellectual edification.

Hotel Grand Pacific
Find the right partner, and a match on the hotel’s squash court can be the aerobic equivalent of the Alpe d’Huez stage of the Tour de France. If such high-level athletics are more vigorous than what you’re seeking, the hotel is equipped with a 25-metre ozone pool and a complete training facility, including free weights, Paramount strength equipment, recumbent bikes and a rowing ergometer.

VANCOUVER

Opus Hotel
For the quintessential Vancouver experience, coast through Stanley Park on one of the hotel’s sleek Jorg&Olif bicycles, and watch the ocean and sky attempt to outdo each other in shades of azure. Stop in English Bay and unpack the panniers that the hotel has filled with a healthy lunch of poached salmon, veggie wraps, mixed fruit and an oversize oatmeal cookie. There’s even a bottle of Oxia Personal Oxygen should you choose a particularly vigorous route. Upon returning to the hotel, draw yourself a bubble bath and fill the room with candles, using L’Occitane products to soothe your muscles.

Pacific Palisades Hotel
Among the most masochistic of exercise routines is this hotel’s boot camp, which starts at 6 a.m. After a few laps around the city, some rookies may retreat to the hotel pool, but those who endure are rewarded with endless jumping jacks, push-ups and lunges. Those two-kilogram weights might seem piddly at first, but soon enough they will feel like anvils. If the workout’s inherent benefits don’t provide sufficient motivation, reward yourself with a Foot and Body Love massage package later that day.

The Westin Grand Vancouver
Sweat in the seclusion of room 707 (a.k.a. the Westin Workout Room), one of the hotel’s three in-suite gyms. The living room of this executive suite comprises a high-tech treadmill, a yoga mat, free weights, a Swiss ball and a medicine ball. For company – and an optimal, well-structured workout – take a house call from Evolution Fitness trainer Shayla Roberts. Or borrow one of the hotel’s jogging strollers and take junior for a spin through Stanley Park. Supply your own yoga pants, puggle and latte.

WESTBANK, B.C.

The Cove Lakeside Resort
“Hit it!” The roar of the speedboat is followed by a small-scale tsunami that rushes past your face. If you’re a wakeboarding newbie, that water may be in your face more than past it, but by the end of your lesson from the Okanagan Wakeboard School, you will be shredding like a pro. If your idea of fun doesn’t involve 15 metres of rope, the hotel has two pools, tennis courts and a putting green. Either way, end your day at Spa at the Cove with a custom hydrotherapy treatment using the essential oils of your choosing.

BANFF, ALBERTA

Banff Caribou Lodge and Spa
Get comfortable: You’re going to be here for a while. The Red Earth Spa’s signature Essence of Canada treatment lasts three hours and includes seaweed scrubs, apple body wraps and a soak in a colour therapy bath, followed by a brief break for maple ice cream before moving on to the lip balm, a scalp massage and much scented misting. By the end, you might just be the softest, sweetest-smelling person in Canada.

CALGARY

Hyatt Regency Calgary
If you set out for your morning jog and suddenly find yourself in Stanley Park, things can get confusing. Fortunately, the hotel can provide a secret agent-style GPS wristwatch. Plus, Calgary’s Stanley Park is considerably smaller than Vancouver’s, so finding your way home should be a cinch. At the hotel, a fitness concierge can spot your bench press or have sneakers and swim goggles – as well as any other sports gear you’re missing – delivered to your room before you can say “Volumetrics diet.”

EDMONTON

The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald
For a first-timer, hearing “Your appointment for your Brazilian Toe Therapy has been confirmed for 4 p.m.” may incite confusion, if not a minor panic attack. But the unconventional stress-busting treatment scarcely resembles its better-known namesake and has nothing to do with hot wax. Somehow, with little more than the gentlest pinching of your toe tips, soothing sensations flood your entire body. It’s the perfect way to unwind after a long day on your feet – or to reward yourself after a victory on one of the hotel’s two squash courts.

WINNIPEG

Inn at the Forks
Don’t be alarmed if the treatment room begins to fill with smoke: It’s only the burning sage and sweetgrass, and it’s an integral part of Riverstone Spa’s signature hot-stone massage. Indigenous beliefs encompass seven directions, so a holistic treatment includes up, down and within as well as north, south, east and west. In a spiritual ceremony known as a smudging ritual, the smoke from the burning plants is wafted over and around your body with an eagle’s feather as a way of cleansing body and soul. Those courageous enough to face a Winnipeg winter day outdoors can strap on a pair of skates and glide along glossy trails formed by the frozen Red and Assiniboine Rivers.