Region's hotels embrace wellness

In a bid to attract millennial travelers and baby boomers alike, major hotel chains throughout the Gulf Coast are turning to health and wellness concepts to gain an edge.

Earlier this summer, the 719-room Tampa Waterside Marriott Hotel & Marina converted a full floor, or 34 rooms, to “Stay Well” rooms featuring advanced air purification systems, dawn simulation and circadian rhythm lighting, aromatherapy and a “Vitamin C-Infused Shower System” for guests' enjoyment and well-being.

Hilton, too, has rolled out health-related innovations at regional hotels, and begun offering healthier food options and snacks at various properties.

Now, it appears InterContinental Hotels Group is hoping to leverage the trend, as well.

InterContinental, whose flags include Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Kimpton Hotels and Crowne Plaza, is working to convert the Holiday Inn Lakewood Ranch to an Even Hotel.

Even, which operates a trio of hotels in New York City and lodging properties in Rockville, Md.; Norwalk, Conn.; and Omaha, Neb., features a raft of wellness-oriented amenities.
Specifically, Even offers in-room fitness equipment, guest exercise classes on site, “premium sleep systems” with “eucalyptus-fiber bedding” and nutritious snacks and other food offerings.

No word as yet on when the 128-room Holiday Inn Lakewood Ranch, which is owned by Ocala-based Kinsman Hotel Associates Inc., would undergo its conversion.
The hotel, at 6231 Lake Osprey Drive in Lakewood Ranch, was last renovated in 2008, according to its website.