September 18, 2012 -- Updated 1341 GMT (2141 HKT)
Travaasa "experiential" resorts offer a class in pressing fresh juice at properties in Austin, Texas and Maui.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hotels are catering to guests' desire for a shot of health away from home
- Juices in a variety of unique fruit and veggie combinations are catching on at upscale hotels
- Try a Cellulite Reduction drink or a Jetlag Rescue Smoothie at London's Sanderson
(CNN) -- Juice -- a basic staple of any hotel stay, right? Out on the breakfast buffet, with OJ leading the way and perhaps a choice of grapefruit, apple or tomato for the daring few who may feel like deviating from the mainstream.
Well, think again. Juice -- freshly-squeezed from an arcane assortment of veggies as well as fruit, and in more combinations than you can imagine, has become a unique selling point at several hotels this year. These are places that believe juice is not just for breakfast, but at the center of wellness or detox programs they say jaded travelers are crying out for.
"Business as well as leisure guests are buying big into our juice offerings," says Mina Gough, spa director of The Standard, Miami, which has done so well with a new juice and wellness program, other hotels in the group are preparing to follow suit.
"There's been a real buzz in the group about how so many different categories of guests have embraced the chance to detox with fresh juice," she says.
"Business travelers may not be able to devote themselves to the full wellness program, with scrubs and massages, but they'll still do juice for breakfast and lunch, then go out for a regular business dinner.
"They like the way it makes them feel so much, many finish their stay with a full-day juice detox."
These are not any old juices -- for morning, The Standard is currently blending cantaloupe and ginger into its freshly-squeezed OJ -- the ginger works as an anti-inflammatory -- and proposing a pint of tomato-carrot-red pepper-cucumber-fennel and lime juice midmorning to improve digestive health.
It gets a little out there by evening, when a pint of green juice pressed from kale, collard greens, romaine, cucumber and green apple is proposed as a meal replacement designed to detox the blood.
Working in the hotel? Room service is ready to deliver coconut water to sip throughout the day.
A less likely venue than a Miami Beach spa for a detox program is a big city hotel. But the InterContinental on London's Park Lane is introducing just that, under the direction of Thandie Newton's naturopath, Elizabeth Peyton-Jones.
"It will give all the tools and support needed to begin a new lifestyle, including a pre-stay fridge analysis, a two-week detox and a follow-up motivation call," says hotel spokesperson Patty Kahn.
"We know many guests are looking for ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle while traveling," she adds, noting that the hotel will also create juices to guests' own specifications, even if they're not registered for the detox experience, which must be booked ahead.
No advance warning, however, is needed for delivery of an Antioxidant Revival drink (apple, raspberry and blackberry juice), a Vitamin C Blast (orange, mango and pineapple), an apple-ginger-cucumber Booster and similar health drinks. All are available at every bar and restaurant in the hotel or 24/7 via Room Service.
Another London hotel embracing juice in a big way is the uber-coolSanderson, whose Long Bar has a "sin-free" section where mixologists create health drinks.
Choices include the Cellulite Reduction Cocktail (pink grapefruit, orange, dandelion, burdock, lemon and pineapple juice) and the Jetlag Rescue Smoothie in which scary-sounding "stabilized oxygen" is added to orange juice with hemp seeds and vitamin C powder. In the Agua spa, guests can find more exotic drinks like goji berries from the high Tibetan plateau, blended with seaberry, pomegranate or lychee juice.
