With the stress that can come from working in a fast paced environment, it's important to remember the wellbeing of your biggest asset – your employees.
Treat them to a much-needed mini-break with a focus on health, wellness and rejuvenation with the Qantas Points you've accumulated in your Qantas Business Rewards account. Simply transfer points to staff Frequent Flyer accounts – or your own – and make a reservation through Qantas Hotels.
At a time when we're busier than ever, levels of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia are on the rise. But according to research by the Global Wellness Institute, this is not a situation we're comfortable with.
They found that we're increasingly looking for ways to prevent and alleviate the side effects of mental illness while staying fit and healthy in the process. Their studies show that in 2015, wellness tourism was the industry's fastest growing sector, with the US$563.2 billion global market predicted to jump to more than US$800 billion industry by 2020. Unsurprisingly, hotels and resorts are catching on, offering holistic solutions including nutritious meals and interesting fitness classes, mindfulness sessions and spa treatments targeting stress relief.
Here are six Australian hotels and resorts that offer everything you and your employees need to unwind, recharge and ensure you take on the rest of the year with a clear mind and healthy body.
The Darling at The Star, Sydney
This design-driven Sydney hotel is as popular for its slick rooms with harbour views as it is for its serene spa. You can book blissful facials, massages and body wraps but the ultimate way to unwind is to set aside a day for The Awakening. You'll forget you're in Australia's biggest city for five hours and be treated to a full body polish to stimulate skin regeneration, a soothing body massage and a lavish La Prairie facial. There's more: a light lunch and sparkling wine are served while therapists get to work on your mani and pedi. Know an employee who could do with a stay-cation?
Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel, Daylesford
Daylesford has its fair share of spas dedicated to the region's mineral springs but few are as pretty as the one at this Peppers hotel. Beautifully designed in wood and stone and with expansive views of the forest that surrounds, the calming space comes with a hydro-retreat, harnessing the healing properties of the mineral-rich water in spas and a plunge pool, as well as a steam room, lavender sauna and detox box. Soak away stress and tension, then slip even further into a state of relaxation with a treatment or spa journey. Thankfully, it's only a short stroll back to accommodation including a villa replete with its own spa tub.
Pullman Bunker Bay, Margaret River
You'll feel stress levels melt away when you arrive in the Margaret River, one of the few places in the world where grapevines and the ocean sit side by side. It's easy to lose track of time sampling wines from some of Australia's best estates – think of the antioxidants – or strolling along the sand at Bunker Bay; it's even easier to unwind in the Pullman's infinity pool or award-winning Vie Spa.
The beachfront sanctuary draws on the healing power of nature in its products, which feature ingredients such as bergamot, lemon myrtle, neroli and organic coconut. The Body De-Stress package – uniting a salt scrub with a Moroccan-clay cocoon, head massage and a lashing of body soufflé – will appeal to busy urbanites.
Elements of Byron Resort & Spa, Byron Bay
Sparkling sea, powder-white beaches, cafés and restaurants dedicated to nourishing, wholesome cuisine – it's no wonder Byron Bay is synonymous with feeling good. There are few places in the coastal city that endorse wellness and mindfulness quite like this award winning beachfront resort, where you can begin the day with a dip in the long infinity-edge pool or find some Zen by indulging in sigature treatments in the serene Osprey Spa. The only thing to do then is make a beeline for Azure Bar and Grill and experience the blend of elegant dining with a warm, family-friendly atmosphere, the hallmark that defines the Elements' experience.
Avalon Coastal Retreat, Tasmania
There's nothing quite like a nature retreat completely isolated from the rest of the world to make you feel relaxed, at peace and alive. You can reconnect with the Australian bush at this intimate lodge, which sleeps just six people and comes with everything you need to switch off and unwind.
From your perch outside Swansea in the state's south, you can watch the early sun coat Great Oyster Bay in a crimson blanket – your only task for the morning is to keep watch for the resident white-bellied sea eagle. There's no need to plan a thing but diversions might include reading by the fire, swimming at a beach where yours are the only footprints, collecting shells or pouring a glass of Tassie wine.
Chateau Elan, Hunter Valley
For the ultimate in relaxation, you'll want to reserve the Spa Suite at this Hunter Valley hotel. Not only does it come with a plinth-mounted spa bath but the room also features an Ergomotion bed that provides multiple massage therapies and a "zero-gravity" function to ensure the perfect night's sleep. You can gaze over the estate's vines or stroll to the kitted out day spa where you can ease into your treatment making the most of fresh and sea-water jacuzzis to kick-start the release of muscle tension. If you're not going vineyard hopping, be sure to book the Body Beautiful treatment that begins with an exfoliation and ends, four hours later, with a facial and light lunch.
You can book all of these hotels and retreats online at Qantas Hotels using points accumulated in your Qantas Business Rewards account. Spa treatments are usually at an additional cost. Find out how to transfer points from your Qantas Business Rewards account to any Qantas Frequent Flyer account here.
Qantas would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the local lands and waterways on which we live, work and fly. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.