Long a hub of Fortune 500 corporations and more recently emerging as an entertainment center, Irving, Texas, is also well-versed in wellness options that run the gamut from nature offerings to traditional spa programs and several daring, and darling, variations of yoga.
“Wellness is just something that's on everybody's mind these days, whether you're in the industry or not,” said Maura Gast, executive director of Visit Irving. “When people think about the Dallas, Fort Worth and Irving area, they’re either thinking about that Western heritage or the urban business center type of thing, and this area is all of those things, but this area is also a lot of green, a lot of nature that people don't necessarily realize is here.”
While most may associate Irving with Las Colinas, one of the first master-planned communities in the U.S. and still the location of many top corporate headquarters, it and other areas in Irving also offer plenty of natural spaces to recharge.
[Related Podcast: Why Irving, Texas, Excels in Wellness and Hyper-Personalization]
“Within minutes of the convention center there's a promenade around the Lake Carolyn that touches several of the hotels,” Gast said. “If you walk across the street from the convention center you can be on a beautiful promenade, and when you get to the far side of the promenade you will be along the Campion Trail that runs almost the entire western border of the city.”
When completed in 2027, the Campion Trail will offer 22 miles of trails that connect to the 66-mile DFW Discovery Trail. Set along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, the Campion Trail is a riparian corridor that provides a riverfront setting perfect for all manner of recreational pursuits.
“There's some spots along the trails where you forget you're in the middle of a big urban area, with beautiful white cattle egrets and blue herons flying in and out,” Gast said.
The Lake Carolyn Loop is a scenic three-mile paved trail that encircles Las Colinas’ lake near the convention center and takes approximately 50 minutes to walk. The lake is also popular for water-based activities such as stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, with paddleboard sunrise yoga also in the offing.
Wellness Options at Irving Hotels
Moving to Irving’s “great indoors,” its top group-friendly properties have no shortage of top-flight wellness opportunities, too.
“You have a lot of the hotel brands, in our case at Westin, Omni and Ritz-Carlton, which are doing brand-wide [wellness] initiatives that say, ‘This is what we stand for.’ They make it easy for you. It’s OK if you forgot your tennis shoes; we will provide them for you. You know, the fact that there is even a thing such as goat yoga blows my mind—heated Pilates workouts seem difficult enough without throwing goats into it!”
Joking about Pilates goat yoga aside, following are some of the major wellness offerings at top Irving meetings properties.
The Westin Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas
Across the street from the convention center, this 350-room headquarters hotel with nearly 48,000 square feet of meeting space offers a 24-hour, state-of-the-art WestinWORKOUT Fitness Studio, along with brand-wide initiatives such as the following:
- WestinWORKOUT Gear Lending Kits
- A partnership with Strava that provides workout routes and fitness activity options in the local area
- Sleep Well Lavender Balm amenities
- An Eat Well Menu that lets guests select their portion size and nutritional balance
- A Sleep Well Menu that serves up a curated selection of sleep-enhancing in-room dining snacks
- Westin Fresh By the Juicery, which blends healthy juices and smoothies in partnership with The Juicery
Of course, the brand’s iconic Heavenly Bed products—a hospitality industry game-changer when launched in 1999 and with a next-generation bed rolled out last year—provide what is perhaps the most important wellness feature of all: a good night’s sleep.
Guests can also stretch and sooth their muscles in an outdoor heated pool and whirlpool spa, and its 10,000-square-foot Event Lawn and other outdoor spaces can be pressed into service for wellness breaks and activations.
Westin also promotes a "sound bath" wellness events that offer the following features:
- Floating Sound Bath: Guests relax on a floating mattress in the pool, accompanied by a neck pillow, blanket and eye mask for the ultimate comfort.
- Live Sound Healing: Guests are enveloped by the harmonious tones of singing bowls, chimes, gongs and other therapeutic instruments, expertly played by Se7en Waves practitioners.
- Tranquil Atmosphere: Gentle water movements and ambient sounds guide guests into a state of deep meditation and relaxation.
The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas
The newest luxury property in Irving, opened in January 2024, The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas offers 427 rooms and a hefty 80,581 square feet of meeting space, including a nearly 8,000-square-foot ballroom.
Set on a 400-acre former ranch and featuring 176,000 square feet of designated wellness space and two 18-hole championship golf courses, Irving’s newest entrant also boasts the following wellness attributes:
Brain Breaks, which integrate wellness into meetings by incorporating healthy snacks, spa and fitness teasers, and also placing stair steppers and stationary bikes at the back of meeting rooms to keep attendees energized.
A Meeting of the Senses, a global initiative across 60 Ritz-Carlton properties that curates sensory-rich experiences that meld local culture, wellness and culinary elements such as oxygen bars during breaks and guided attendee fitness sessions.
The Ritz-Carlton Spa & Salon offers a range of treatments inspired by nature.
TPC Las Colinas, the resort’s PGA Tour golf courses, is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and Environmental Leader that provides an opportunity to enjoy nature and encounter wildlife while playing.
The Nelson Golf & Sports Club, located adjacent to the resort, is a 176,000-square-foot designated wellness space that contains a gym, indoor and outdoor running tracks, a spin room and basketball, racquetball and squash courts. More adventurous attendees can participate in antigravity aerial yoga—which can be booked as a group activity—as well as relatively more mundane group fitness sessions and diagnostics analysis from trained professionals.
Omni Las Colinas Hotel
With 421 guest rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space, this Dallas-based luxury brand is literally right at home in the Metroplex. Wellness features include:
Mokara Salon & Spa, which provides treatments that include Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone and couples’ massages, along with facials, body treatments and salon services such as hair styling, manicures and pedicures. Operating from Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the spa caters to both individual appointments and group bookings, making it ideal for wellness-focused events.
The Omni’s Fitness Center is open 24 hours a day and features Peloton bikes, treadmills, ellipticals and weight machines. Runners and bicyclists can also avail themselves of trails at nearby Lake Carolyn.
Get Fit Kits are available upon request and allow guests to maintain their fitness routines in-room via equipment such as a five-pound kettlebell, mini contour weights, a muscle therapy foam roller, push-up bars and a yoga mat.
The resort’s Lakeside Pool & Cabanas offer more than 160 chaise lounge chairs, private cabanas and activities such as yard games.
Other Irving Wellness Options
Bringing wellness right into the destination’s primary convention facility, the Irving Convention Center offers a “Health Nut” break package that includes premade smoothies, granola bars, fruit kabobs, trail mix and infused water.
Getting one’s steps in is a popular wellness activity during any convention, so the Irving Convention Center has created a Walking Paths document that calculates the distance attendees will log onto their smartphones by tackling various circuits inside and outside of the facility.
Outside of the convention center and resorts, attendees can take part in recurring events at Toyota Music Factory, the destination’s mammoth entertainment district, such as free 45-minute “Poses on the Plaza” yoga classes led by experienced instructors.
And yes, the ever-popular goat yoga—what’s not to like about combining the meditative qualities of yoga with cute, domesticated farm animals?—has been offered both at the Toyota Music Factory and on the plaza of The Westin.
Connection
This article was produced in partnership with Visit Irving Texas.
