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Healthy, Happy Quests Outsourcing health and wellness options is one way to provide amenities. Friday, February 05, 2010 Beth Kormanik

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From serving healthy dining options to offering wellness-based spa treatments, many hotels are catering to their guests' health needs like never before. With a health-obsessed nation and an aging Baby Boomer population, it's not a bad idea.
 
New companies have formed to help hotels fill that niche.
 
One must-have amenity for mental and physical well being, especially at high-end resorts, is yoga. Bella Luna Yoga, based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is a placement firm that helps connects hotels with yoga instructors. It works as an exchange program: the yoga instructor and a guest stay for free at the property for one week and teach yoga classes for guests. The instructors can also perform consulting on building a wellness program.
 
"It's hard to find qualified yoga teachers," said Kim Moon, a representative for the company. "Hotel executives do not necessarily know what to look for in a teacher. We take that burden off of them."
 
Hotels can also call on the company when a resort's regular yoga instructor goes on vacation and they need a substitute, she said.
 
Clients include the Half Moon Resort in Jamaica, Mii amo in Sedona, Arizona, and Hidden Valley Inn in Belize.
 
Bella Luna started last year and already has hundreds of yogis in their network, Moon said. Bella Luna collects a fee for the placement, and in return offers a cost-effective way to provide a wellness product for guests.
 
Some hotels choose to charge guests for each class, while others offer them without a charge or include them in a resort fee. The classes can take place in dedicated fitness class spaces, or, if weather allows, can be held outdoors.
 
To be part of the network, the instructors must have completed at least 200 hours of a Yoga Alliance-approved training program and must have a professional license. Instructors are required to have at least two years of experience teaching yoga professionally. They also must participate in continuing education courses.
 
The instructors are independent contractors that do not receive employer-provided benefits, Moon said, and they carry their own professional liability insurance.
 
"It's a necessity to be competitive with leading hotels," she said. "If you have yoga you will have an edge for today's modern travelers."
 
Another new health-related company seeking to help hotels help guests is AmeriDoc. The Sunrise, Florida, company is a pioneer in the field of telemedicine, which provides on-demand telephone and email physician care.
 
Jerry Phillips, a representative for the company, described the service as an added amenity for guests that could pay for itself with a surcharge of $2.50 a night per occupied room.
 
Here's how it works: When a guest forgets a prescription medication, needs a refill or becomes sick, they call the hotel's front desk and the operator transfers the call to AmeriDoc. Then the hotel's responsibility ends. The guest then goes on to a consultation with a doctor, where medical services can range from providing general advice to making a diagnosis, recommending treatment and/or prescribing medication. The patient's records are securely stored online.
 
The service is available to guests 24 hours a day.
 
AmeriDoc is a different service than traditional nurse hot lines, according to representative Kelly Howell. The physicians are medical doctors who have the ability to call in prescriptions. The physicians are based in the United States and licensed here.
 
The concept shows that it's possible to look after a guest's physical health without taking the steps and training that a hotel specializing in medical tourism would.
 
Phillips said AmeriDoc could become a revenue source for hotels. Hotels can weave the program into their existing service by having their concierge pick up prescriptions, for example.
 
The company has been in place at hotels for about a year, he said. About 15 percent of guests end up using the service.