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The New 'Biggest Loser' Resort Reinvents Adult Fat Camp

Alright, we're stuck for words on this one: NBC's show The Biggest Loser has expanded its franchising to include a full-on fitness resort in Utah, only 90 minutes away from the capital of gluttony: Las Vegas. The Biggest Loser Resort Fitness Ridge is everything you could ever hope for from what is essentially a "fat camp" for adults: a secluded location, a big pool, in-room DVD players, a class called "living drums," and a gift shop.

Of course, since it is a fat camp, you'll be jogging around in the desert, treading water in that pool, watching DVDs on nutritional eating, and pounding the heck out of fitness balls in your "drumming class." And there's not a single Snickers bar to be found in the gift shop. Oh man, we are shaking in our spandex pants at the thought.

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Tags: Fitness Hotels / Berlin Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Spas / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags

Welcome to the Aspria Hotel: A Spa And Gym With Rooms On Top

Where: Karlsruher Strasse 20, Berlin, Germany, 10711

The W Barcelona may be stealing all the headlines but it’s not the only new kid on the European hotel block this autumn. The Aspria Hotel in Berlin looks pretty nice – and it’s rather more affordable, too.

Opening next month on 6 November in the posh Charlottenburg district (west of the Tiergarten), it doesn’t have the most auspicious of pedigrees – Aspria is a chain of health clubs in Europe - but they’re now offering accommodation at their digs in Hannover and Berlin. Original, but interesting – it means that the spa and fitness area are going to be souped up no end. In fact, the Berlin spa is going to be 14,000 m sq – to be shared by just 42 rooms. Look at that pool. We're doing lengths in our heads right now.

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Tags: Insane Hotel Packages / Four Seasons Hotels / Fitness Hotels / → All Tags

Four Seasons Westlake Village Goes Extreme with Weight Loss Package

Where: 2 Dole Dr. [map], Westlake Village, CA, United States, 91362

We're not sure we'd have a smile on our face after five days of fattie bootcamp.

Everyone is looking to shed a few pounds, but if you want to do it in a hurry, Biggest Loser style, check into the Four Seasons Westlake Village, whose California Health & Longevity Institute was featured in the TV show's premiere episode this month.

The CHLI offers a crazy-intense five-day Weight Loss Training package that's all weight-focused, all of the time. For a staggering $4,700 (which doesn't include hotel accommodations), you'll get a medical evaluation with a physician, including lab analysis; a choice of three alternative medicine treatments, such as hypnotherapy, energy healing or acupuncture; a read of your body mass composition in a space capsule-looking thing called a BOD POD; fitness assessments; a consultation with an exercise specialist and four personal training sessions; along with nutrition advice from a registered dietitian; follow up strategies and tools to keep up the healthy living after you check-out.

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Tags: Fitness Hotels / Mexico Hotels / → All Tags

Room Service That's Good For Your Health

Where: Xpa-ha, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

When we think of the Mayan Riviera in Mexico, we definitely don’t think of fitness (unless you count those ill-advised work-outs for your liver). Yep, say what you will, but we can’t help but think SPRING BREAK!! And not in a good way.

So while we were initially a bit skeptical of a hotel in the region touting its fitness program, we’ll have to admit Hotel Escencia did a nice job convincing us. First off, Esencia is a whole 46 miles from Cancun, making us fairly confident that it’s beyond the scope of wet t-shirt contests and beer pong. Plus, the hotel is located on a 50-acre private estate that was built originally for an Italian duchess. In other words, the place has good reason to think it’s too good for a standard hotel fitness room.

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Tags: Fitness Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Kimpton Hotels / → All Tags

LA's Hotel Palomar Understands You're a Work in Progress

Where: 10740 Wilshire Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90024-4493

For a lot of us, working out on vacation can be sort of a buzzkill. And even when we want to exercise, cramped hotel fitness centers trying to trick us with wall-to-wall mirrors are enough to stifle our good intentions.

But maybe we wouldn’t let ourselves go so much on vacay if more hotels took a cue from Kimpton’s new Hotel Palomar Westwood in LA. As part of its new “Work in Progress” package, the Palomar is partnering with celebrity fitness guru Gunnar Peterson and his new Beverly Hills gym (called Work in Progress).

The package includes a daily, customized 90-minute workout session with trainers Michelle Lovitt or Gregg Miele (whose clients include Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Julianne Moore). Sessions can take place at the Palomar’s on-site gym, Peterson’s new gym, or another of L.A.’s popular exercise spots (i.e. the Santa Monica stairs, UCLA track).

Other package perks for guests: a heart rate monitor at check-in, healthful organic afternoon snacks, free valet parking, and free transportation to alternate work-out spots (if necessary).

Rates for the packages start at $424 per night.

Tags: Fitness Hotels / Hotels Doing Good / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags

Hotels ♥ Your Heart Health

Where: 20 E Delaware Place [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60611

Ah, February — we all know this weighty month has equal potential to make your heart overfloweth with glee, or, well, shatter it into a million little pieces. But this being American Heart Month*, some hotels are actually concerned less with your love life and more with your cardio health.

Take the Talbott Hotel along Chicago’s spendy Gold Coast. This month partnering with the Almond Board of California, the hotel is offering guests heart-healthy almond snacks as well as a training consultation from an experienced instructor at the adjacent 55,000-square-foot Equinox Fitness Center, where guests have free reign like they always do.

In addition to the free bag of almonds, guests will be regaled with almond propaganda information. Like, did you know that almonds help maintain a healthy heart and cholesterol level? And that an ounce of almonds has 6g of protein and 3g of fiber? Well, if you were a guest at the Talbott you would.

*Random scary hotel fact: Less than 10 percent of our nation’s hotels have implemented a “Cardio Ready” program, which indicates hotels have invested a significant pot of cash in life-saving advanced defibrillator systems and staff training. Yikes.

[Photo: Trip Advisor]

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Five Hotels For Working on Your Fitness

As we are all too well aware, the start of the new year is typically the time to reflect on your health and make some resolutions to do better by it. If you're a frequent traveler, one of the first changes to make (if you haven't already), is to incorporate some light exercise into each of your days, since the rest of the time is spent stressing or eating food on-the-go. To gain musculature along with flyer miles, luckily a few hotels have a better idea of a workout than simply a few guilty stretches on the airplane to save you from deep vein thrombosis; they've got the goods to be our Five Hotels For Working on Your Fitness.

1. The Fitness Suite at New York's Affinia Dumont With a deal that's definitely not for the weak of wallet, the Affinia can plop you in a large deluxe room complete with cardio equipment, free weights, and sauna for $799 a night. If you're more about the vacation than the workout, stay in a regular room from $250 a night, and make use of their gym lockers, sneaker valet, mini-bar packed with healthy snacks, and "fit kit" ordered up for a mini tone-up in your room. The Affinia even offers a fitness concierge who offers complimentary wellness consultations, just in case you can't decide whether to start with your obliques or biceps.

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Tags: Hotel Openings / Marriott Hotels / Hotel Gyms / Renaissance Hotels / Renaissance ClubSport / Fitness Hotels / → All Tags

First Renaissance Clubsport Opens and Travel is No Longer an Excuse to Skip Workouts

Where: 2805 Jones Road [map], Walnut Creek, CA, United States, 94597

Calling all health-nuts, meatheads and normal people who enjoy working out: the first two Renaissance ClubSport properties have opened in Cali -- the first in Walnut Creek and the second more recently in Aliso Viejo corporate park.

Marriott and NorCal health club development firm Leisure Sports, Inc. have teamed up to create the new concept, which essentially boasts the same higher-end features of most Renaissance properties with monster fitness offerings.

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