My Favorite Wellness Travel Tip? Take Your Kids. Really.

I know what you’re thinking. Kids? At the spa? Is nothing sacred? And, believe me, several years ago, when I was in the throes of exhausted early motherhood, I was sleep deprived enough to probably whack someone over the head for even suggesting such a thing.

After all, spas and hot springs are supposed to help heal our frayed nervous systems, right? And last time I checked, there was nothing chill, zen, or even remotely quiet-zone–esque about kids. But perhaps, like many things, it’s simply about a slight twist in perspective. In many places in the world, spas and natural springs are intended to be a more communal, all-ages event.

Our first encounter with a family spa experience happened by accident. During Thanksgiving break in 2023, while visiting Yosemite National Park with my husband, mother-in-law, and our two kids (then aged four and seven), we were told that the little ones were welcome to experience the wellness facilities at Rush Creek Lodge and Spa. Each day, the property’s on-site spa hosts “morning family time” (from 8 to 11 a.m.), when kids and adults can enjoy the spa area, including a mineral bath with a granite waterfall, a Himalayan salt sauna, cooling shower streams, and relaxing loungers with views of the surrounding forest.

On the morning we planned to try it out, we arrived minutes before the family time was over (it’s impossible to get anywhere on time with young kids). We rushed to the dressing rooms to change and hurried to the tubs, showers, steam room, and sauna. While it was a short stint, I was moved by how excited my kids were to be included in an experience often reserved exclusively for adults.

That was the beginning of what has evolved into an ongoing exploration of spas and hot springs with our offspring. Each time we have undertaken this multigenerational bathing, soaking, and soothing ritual as a family, it has further exposed me to just how fun and, yes, even relaxing it can be.

It occurred to me that if we help children find mechanisms to regulate their nervous systems, they in turn won’t always make ours go so haywire. Perhaps they, too, could use some tools to help them de-stress and should learn a thing or two about hot and cold plunges, deep breathing, and mineral waters.

If you are interested in having a family-friendly hot springs experience, here is a collection of locations that includes both those we have tried ourselves and those that are on our list to explore next.

Courtesy of Glenwood Hot Springs Resort

Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Situated between Aspen and Vail in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, Glenwood Hot Springs Resort has a collection of natural spring pools—including the Grand Pool, the world’s largest hot spring pool—with a history dating back to 1888. Last year, the 107-room Lodge at Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, reopened after an extensive update, followed by the opening of the 16 luxury guest rooms and suites that now make up the new boutique Hotel 1888. These elevated accommodations are the perfect complement to the healing waters that flow into the Grand Pool, the Therapy Pool, the Yampah Mineral Baths, and, for the little ones, the Shoshone Chutes (winding outdoor inner-tube slides) and Sopris splash pads.

Bormio Terme, Bormio, Italy

With this year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics poised to thrust the Italian Alps into the limelight, the region is calling to my family. High on our wish list is this mountain retreat, where the men’s alpine-skiing and ski-mountaineering Olympics events will take place in February. The epitome of a family-friendly spa, Bormie Therme has children’s areas with slides and splash pads, in addition to “areas for everyone” that include a Finnish sauna, a Turkish bath, an ice bath, and indoor and outdoor pools, all of which are fed by a natural spring that emits water at between 98.6 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Children as young as babies (with swim diapers) are welcome, and there are swim lessons available for all kids, even newborns.

Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, Murrieta, California

Situated an hour-and-a-half drive south of Los Angeles, and an hour-drive north of San Diego, Murrieta Hot Springs Resort reopened in early 2024 after an extensive restoration as a 40-acre hot springs oasis with 174 guest rooms, a coffee shop, a poolside café and bar, a cocktail lounge, the upscale restaurant Talia Kitchen, a full-service spa, and a mix of kid-friendly and adults-only facilities. This past holiday season, my two dearest friends and their families joined my brood for two days of taking to the waters—a group of six adults and six kids, ages 6 to 13—and it was a blast.

Those seeking serenity had adults-only areas where they could escape the underaged, while our multigen motley crew spent our time dipping in and out of the cool, warm, hot, and very hot geothermal baths. We applied clay body masks that stiffened in the warm Southern California sun. We soaked in individual tubs along the on-site lake. We rocked in hammocks between soaks, and when we tired of bathing, we took walks, played football, and ventured to the neighboring Old Town Temecula, a cute, kitschy ode to the Wild West.

Niseko Grand Hotel, Hokkaido, Japan

Now that we’ve had a bathing experience in South Korea (see the next listing), we want more, more, more. Up next, we hope to travel to Japan’s northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido, during the winter for skiing and onsens. The benefit of the onsen experience at Niseko Grand Hotel is that it has a large open-air hot spring set in a lush garden, and unlike traditional onsens, where bathing is done nude and separated by gender, this one allows mixed bathing in bathing suits, making it amenable for families with kids. There are also women’s and men’s (separate) indoor and outdoor baths. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (late enough to serve as a great après-ski activity), and the minimum age is four years old.

Photo by Michelle Baran

O’Reve Hot Spring and Spa, JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, South Korea

While we were in South Korea this past fall, I was floored by how family-friendly the spa culture there is, with everyone from 8-month-olds to 80-year-olds lounging and soaking side by side.

During a luxurious stay at JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa on the southern coast of this volcanic island lovingly referred to as “the Hawai’i of South Korea,” the adjacent O’Reve Hot Spring and Spa opened my eyes to what a magical bonding experience spas can be for families.

At O’Reve, children receive their own smaller spa pajamas (just like adults), and the facility has a dedicated kids’ room with coloring and an interactive projection game for when they’re not trying out the sauna and relaxation rooms alongside adults. My husband and I took turns getting treatments at the spa, and we fueled up with lunch at the on-site restaurant, where set menus included a steaming rice dish or noodle soup with endless sides, fruits, juices, and desserts. Patrons wear bathing suits to enter the various pools and hot springs.

Rush Creek Lodge and Spa, Yosemite National Park, California

What better way to recover from days spent hiking through old-growth forests and along granite peaks than with a soothing soak for all ages? Families often start their days with a bang, but the “morning family time” at Rush Creek Lodge & Spa is an ideal way to kick off the day more slowly and with greater intention, recognizing that always being on the go-go-go isn’t necessarily, well, necessary.

Rush Creek’s underaged spa offerings (complete with a boulder fountain and warm river rock beds where you literally lie down on a bed of rocks in warm water) complements the property’s exceedingly kid-friendly amenities, such as indoor and outdoor play areas and arts-and-crafts activities, plus a pool. This is a great way to dip your toe, so to speak, into an all-ages wellness experience.

Photo by Brice Ferre

Rio Perdido, Bagaces, Costa Rica

This sustainable boutique hotel in a rainforest in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is built along the geothermal Rio Perdido that forms natural pools for bathing, with three additional mineral swimming pools on-site fed by volcanic thermal waters. Guests can explore canyons, go ziplining, hike or bike along forest paths, go white-water tubing, take in volcanic views, and look for birds on 1,500 acres of biodiverse land that surrounds the property. There are 30 bungalows at this restful retreat, and though it is family-friendly, the minimum age is eight—so this one is on our future travels list.

Tips for having a successful spa and hot springs experience with kids

• Ask about age restrictions; even kid-friendly spas and hot springs can have minimum age requirements and/or conditions, such as ensuring that kids are potty trained.
• Hot springs can seriously range in depth. Don’t forget to be attentive to your kids if they aren’t confident swimmers, and bring floaties if your kids aren’t water safe yet.
• Nudity can be off-putting for kids if they aren’t used to it; you may want to prepare them beforehand if they will need to be nude or if there will be nudity in the changing areas.
• Make sure the kids (and you) stay hydrated. Kids aren’t always so great about staying on top of hunger and thirst, and hot springs can bring on both. Take breaks from the heat to refuel and drink water.