Casting an eye on the future of wellness for 2026, we spoke to Tracy Lee, Founder and President of TLEE Spas + Wellness, who talks us through the elements of performance, ritual, and connection shaping a new wellness era…
This year’s forecast spotlights three major shifts transforming the industry: the rise of longevity and performance technologies, the resurgence of sound and communal bathing, and the evolution of community-rooted wellness destinations.
“As we step into 2026, the wellness landscape feels more intentional and more grounded than it has in years,” said Tracy Lee, Founder and President of TLEE Spas + Wellness. “After a long cycle of hype-driven products and fragmented trends, individuals are gravitating toward experiences that feel purposeful, sensorial, and rooted in results.”
The Longevity Boom
One of the clearest movements gaining momentum is the rise of longevity and performance-driven wellness. Once reserved for elite training environments and bio-optimization circles, longevity has now entered the mainstream, reshaping design, hospitality, and personal routines. Across TLEE Spas’ portfolio, performance lounges are emerging in new forms such as Paris Hilton’s at-home longevity suite, and a comprehensive tech-forward offering at the upcoming W Hotel & Residences in Calgary, Alberta.
These spaces echo themes from this year’s Global Wellness Summit where leaders highlighted the future of cellular health, recovery science, and evidence-based tools for long-term vitality. Now valued at an extraordinary $6.8 trillion, the wellness economy is expanding rapidly with longevity at the forefront of this year’s conversation. The sector continues to mature, blending validated biotechnology with environments that foster consistency and ease.
“What struck me most from the highlights at the Global Wellness Summit was how seamlessly medicine, science, and traditional wellness are speaking the same language,” continued Lee. “We’re at a moment where advanced diagnostics and epigenetics sit comfortably alongside breathwork, movement, and community. The future of longevity isn’t extreme, it’s integrated, grounded, and deeply human.”
Image credit: Ammortal
Technologies like AMMORTAL, now embraced by collegiate and professional athletes and teams, and Aescape Robotic Massage, are defining this next chapter. TLEE Spas is integrating these innovations into luxury hotel and residential projects, bringing advanced recovery and performance modalities into beautifully designed environments. Aescape introduces a new layer of personalised care, delivering quick, precise robotic massage sessions that seamlessly complement thermal circuits and broader recovery programming.
As Caline Assilian, VP of Operations and Wellness at TLEE Spas, noted, “People are looking for performance support that feels natural and grounded, not clinical or complicated. The tools have evolved and so has the mindset. Longevity is becoming an accessible part of daily life.”
Image credit: Halehouse / Auberge Resorts Collection
A New Era of Sounds and Bathhouses
Alongside performance wellness, 2026 marks a powerful return to sensory rituals rooted in nature, sound, and communal bathing. After years of isolating self-care routines, individuals are seeking places where wellness feels collective rather than solitary. Urban bathhouses, once historical fixtures of civic life, are reemerging with a modern sensibility.
TLEE Spas’ forthcoming project at W Calgary stands at the forefront, reimagining the bathhouse as a dynamic social wellness hub. Designed to blend heat, cold, rest, and sound into a cohesive journey, the concept incorporates gathering spaces and mental wellness programming intended to elevate community wellbeing. A major focus is an expansive sound component including a DJ booth for curated programming, and immersive technology envisioned for the ceiling and throughout the wellness areas to create a sensorial, shared atmosphere that evolves throughout the day. Beyond personal transformation, the project illustrates the broader civic potential of wellness spaces: job creation, community partnerships, and neighbourhood revitalization rooted in thoughtful, culturally attuned design.
A similar philosophy guides the next generation of destination resorts. At Milaroca, A Belmond Resort, wellness is embedded throughout the property through distributed activation areas, each designed to immerse guests in acoustics, nature, heat, and touch. Programming draws from ancestral rituals and intuitive therapies where sound healers, movement guides, and culturally rooted practitioners lead experiences that feel ancient with a modern touch.
Music is central to TLEE Spas’ vision for wellness spaces, and the team is committed to expanding its integration across even more projects in 2026.
Image credit: TLEE Spas+Wellness
Community-Driven Wellness Design
The broader movement toward connection is also defining how wellness destinations are designed. More people are seeking membership-based environments and community wellness offerings that emphasize belonging over exclusivity. This shift reframes luxury as something lived in, familiar, and culturally attuned.
At Napa First Street Resort in downtown Napa Valley, TLEE Spas is helping elevate the new hotel and branded residence with a spa and wellness offering designed for the surrounding community. The concept features communal bathing, advanced fitness programming, and curated treatments crafted for repeat visits and everyday use.
As these trends accelerate, the industry is also letting go of what no longer resonates. Guests have grown sceptical of technologies marketed with dramatic claims but limited research or inconsistent results. Overly complicated, tech-heavy wellness concepts are fading as consumers push for clarity and evidence. Innovation remains vital, but only when it aligns with purpose, integrity, and sensory grounding. TLEE’s philosophy embodies this balance: technology is used to enhance, not replace, the rituals that have supported human wellbeing for centuries.
Image caption: Six Senses Kyoto | Image credit: Ben Richards
A Recalibration in Luxury Wellness
Overall, the patterns emerging in 2026 signal a broader recalibration. People want fewer choices, not more. They yearn for environments that feel refined rather than overwhelming, and experiences that combine natural elements, cultural narrative, and sensory intelligence with thoughtful use of science and technology. Longevity, sound, bathing, and community-driven design are resonating because they are elemental, enduring, and rooted in human connection.
For TLEE Spas, these trends affirm the path of the work already underway: wellness environments that are timeless yet progressive, structured yet sensory, and deeply attuned to the emotional and physical needs of today’s guest. As a new year begins, the future of wellness is becoming clearer, guided not by spectacle, but by purpose, beauty, and a return to the rituals that stand the test of time.
Main image credit: Ammortal
