A Wellness Weekend at Baha Mar
Created with Baha Mar|
Published on: July 25, 2024
Baha Mar is made up of three different hotels—the Grand Hyatt, the SLS, and the Rosewood—each with its own unique energy. It’s a sprawling property on Nassau’s Cable Beach, with plenty to see and do for a family vacation, a friends’ trip, or a couples’ getaway. It was also the perfect backdrop for a three-day wellness retreat, which I was grateful to attend in the spring with an intimate group of guests. Our partners at Baha Mar put together the experience, and we teamed up with them to help shape select programming and add in a few special touches.
Below is a recap of what we did, which also serves as a preview of what’s to come in September, the next time the resort is hosting this experience, for a wider crew. (You can learn more and get your tickets here.)
Just three days at Baha Mar left me feeling more rejuvenated and stronger than when I arrived. It was a sweet reset, and we hope to see you there in September.
Day 1
FRIDAY
I arrived at the Nassau airport and headed to the Baha Mar lounge. The team there hooks you up with their black car transfer service, but it’s also easy to get a regular taxi if you’re landing late at night. The ride is only 15 minutes to the resort, and I felt an immediate sense of ease as soon as I stepped out of the car and into the gorgeous Rosewood lobby. At night, live music floats through the space from the hotel’s moody lounge, Manor Bar, which feels like you’ve been transported to a library speakeasy, with dark-mahogany walls and the coziest velvet and leather sofas to sink into and people-watch from all night.
That evening, I got ready to meet the other attendees of the weekend during a mix-and-mingle at Marcus Up Top, the rooftop bar at the resort’s Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House restaurant. The views were incredible, and we got to witness a gorgeous Bahamian sunset while enjoying a specially curated menu of fresh fish and other seafood, vibrant vegetables, and spicy cilantro margaritas.
DAY 2
SATURDAY
I’m not a morning person, but I was looking forward to our first 9 a.m. session with Isaac Boots, a celebrity trainer and choreographer who created his signature TORCHD workout when he was on Broadway. I knew class was going to be hard—like, really hard—so I (somewhat jokingly) asked Boots if he could go easy on us. “Never,” he replied with a diabolical laugh. I love his infectious energy—truly, I do. Forty-five minutes and a few Kylie Minogue songs later, we were all drenched in sweat, yet somehow everyone seemed to be smiling from ear to ear.
We were buzzing through the break and recharging with light bites and smoothies when a flock of pink flamingos appeared. They are the national bird of the Bahamas, and it’s hard to believe these magnificent birds are real until you see one up close. There’s a daily flamingo parade that starts at the resort’s animal sanctuary at Flamingo Cay, but we got a full-on private meet-and-greet with Baha Mar’s ambassador flamingos, named Baha, Lynden, Luca, and Indy.
Their appearance got us pumped for our next session with Koya Webb, a spiritual health and wellness educator and yoga teacher. Webb guided us through a gentle healing flow, knowing some of us—me—were still recovering from the TORCHD session. Her voice was calm and soothing, and I don’t know why but I started to get emotional during the affirmations. I guess I was feeling grateful for my body, the experience, and the magical setting of the Bahamas.
Saturday afternoon was spent at our leisure, but most of us headed to the Baha Bay Beach Club for a poolside cabana lunch and to lounge on the daybeds. There are a couple of infinity pools tucked away here that feel like they stretch all the way out into the ocean. Someone pointed out that they’d never witnessed more shades of blue in their life, and we all nodded in agreement while chowing down on fish tacos and Caesar salads.
That night, as I was headed to a group dinner at Costa, the resort’s Mexican restaurant with a Bahamian flair, I passed by a fire-and-water show at the Baha Mar Casino that I had heard happened every hour or so but that I had yet to catch. It was actually pretty epic. At Costa, dinner was long and relaxing, and after the churros I sent myself promptly to my room and tucked into the most restful slumber.
DAY 3
SUNDAY
A tiny bit sore, I woke up to my doorbell ringing. Lucky me, I had remembered to put in my room service order for breakfast before falling asleep the night before.
On Sunday, we were joined again by Boots and Webb in the morning, who led us through two more sessions. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but TORCHD felt a bit easier. I told myself I should commit to doing more of these workouts when I was back in LA.
For Webb’s session, we did breakthrough breathwork, which started with journaling about all the things we’d like to release. Webb guided us through a simple breathwork practice to help us move through stagnancy and open ourselves to love. What I learned about breathwork, thanks to Webb, is that it forces me to focus on the tender parts of myself that need attention. Which is as hard as—if not harder than—TORCHD at times. For an hour, I pushed myself to overcome the part of my brain that wanted to check my phone. I was proud of myself when I made it to the end of the session, and we all started dancing. There were tears—some were happy, some were cathartic. And there was a lot of hugging.
The rest of the day felt as close to bliss as one can get. We were treated to luxurious spa treatments at the ESPA spa, where they use local medicinal plants, sea salt scrubs, and essential oils to recalibrate your mind and body. And then there was more relaxing and pool time at the Nexus, an intimate members-only club. You can take the stairs from the club directly down to the beach, where a few of us jumped into the ocean, on the advice of Webb, who told us how she loves to cleanse in water after intense energetic sessions.
In the evening, our group did a Bahamian cooking class, which is regularly offered by Baha Mar to resort guests as an add-on experience. It felt like being on Top Chef. The night ended with us getting to eat our just-prepared lionfish en papillote under twinkling lights and, later, being serenaded by a live junkanoo performance that had everyone up and dancing around the table.
