Hyatt Hotels is expanding its fitness and wellness offerings with the acquisition of the exhale spa company.
The Chicago-based company has announced that it will acquire exhale, which has 25 locations—both free-standing and in hotels–throughout the USA and Caribbean.
The move follows Hyatt’s purchase earlier this year of Miraval Group, which includes the acclaimed Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa.
Miraval also has properties in Austin and in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Hyatt would not disclose the purchase price for exhale. The company paid $215 million to buy Miraval and plans to spend another $160 million over the next two or three years to expand the Tucson resort, redevelop the Austin property, and acquire and redevelop the Lenox resort.
Hyatt will keep the exhale brand and not change its storefront or in-hotel locations. Some of those locations are inside non-Hyatt hotels such as the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica and the Gansevoort Park Avenue Hotel in New York.
“We know our guests demand (wellness offerings) and want that at home and when they travel,” says Steve Haggerty, Hyatt’s global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service. “So our acquisitions of Miraval and exhale are components of an overall strategy to deliver wellness to our guests and our colleagues.“
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Several major hotel companies have been increasing their health and fitness offerings. InterContinental Hotels Group created an entire brand focused on wellness called EVEN.
Hyatt plans to expand the exhale brand globally in free-standing locations and in select Hyatt hotels.
Hyatt has adopted a strategy to expand beyond traditional hotel stays in an effort to compete with the likes of Airbnb. This year, the company also invested in Oasis Collections, an alternative accommodations marketplace.
