World's Best Wellness Specialist By Condé Nast Traveller 2026

Healing Holidays has once again been named World's Best Wellness Specialist in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards 2026, with an outstanding score of 98.76. In the world's best tour operators list, it remains the only wellness travel specialist to appear, this year and at any point in the past ten years. Readers also singled out Healing Holidays for holding one of the finest address books for accommodation. In wellness travel, that is the key to the most coveted spas, clinics and sanctuaries in the world.

There is no jury and no editorial panel behind this honour. It is decided by the travellers themselves: the discerning, well-travelled readers of Condé Nast Traveller. For a house devoted entirely to wellness, there is no more meaningful endorsement.

How the Readers' Choice Awards Work

The 2026 Readers' Choice Awards mark the 29th edition of Condé Nast Traveller's annual event, and the format remains refreshingly simple. The survey is created entirely by its readers, who name the hotels, destinations and operators they hold to be the world's best.

• A vote of substance: thousands of respondents submitted their ratings through a secure website between 1 April and 30 June 2026. Condé Nast tabulated the results.
• A demanding threshold: to be eligible, a candidate must receive a minimum number of responses and achieve a minimum overall rating.
• An exacting score: each candidate is assessed on criteria relevant to its category, using a five-point scale (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor) converted to a percentage. The average determines the final score, calculated to four decimal places and published to two.

A score of 98.76 is therefore a measure of reader satisfaction, expressed in numbers: the average of the ratings Healing Holidays received from Condé Nast Traveller readers, not an editorial verdict.

The Only Wellness Specialist on the List, for Ten Years

Plenty of travel companies will arrange a spa break. Healing Holidays does something altogether rarer: it lives and breathes wellness. A house devoted entirely to the art of restorative travel, it stands alone on Condé Nast Traveller's list of the world's best tour operators. In ten years of Readers' Choice results, no other wellness specialist has joined it.

Distinction of this kind is not a matter of a single standout year. It is earned through consistency, season after season, and it speaks to what Condé Nast Traveller readers recognise in Healing Holidays: unrivalled wellness expertise, a peerless network of retreats and a standard of personal service that is rarely matched.

The 2026 result arrives alongside two other major honours:

• UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist: Condé Nast Traveller called Healing Holidays "the leading authority on wellness travel". It praised the agency's hands-on approach of personally testing every spa and retreat before recommending it, likened to the vetting process behind the Michelin Guide.
• Frances Geoghegan, World's Top Wellness Travel Specialist 2026: the founder and owner of Healing Holidays was individually named number one on Condé Nast Traveller's Top Travel Specialists list.

Together, these honours make Healing Holidays one of the most celebrated names in wellness travel. It is recognised at individual, national and global level.

Why Healing Holidays Keeps Winning

Frances Geoghegan founded Healing Holidays more than 20 years ago. She built it on the belief that a truly transformative health journey demands specialist knowledge far beyond a standard booking. Over two decades, the team has cultivated deep, trusted relationships with the world's finest wellness destinations. These range from Ayurvedic ashrams to medical spas in the Austrian Alps, and from tropical sanctuaries in Southeast Asia to restorative thermal and thalassotherapy retreats across Europe.

Being named the World's Best Wellness Specialist brings privileges that cannot be found elsewhere:

• Privileged access: priority bookings and room categories at leading spas and retreats, unavailable to the general public.
• Preferred rates: negotiated pricing and added-value wellness packages you will not find booking directly.
• First-hand knowledge: our consultants travel extensively to test treatments, meet practitioners and assess facilities in person. They visit everywhere from palace spas to intimate holistic retreats. Meet the wellness experts behind each recommendation.
• Impartial counsel: unlike resorts promoting their own properties, Healing Holidays offers unbiased guidance across its entire global wellness portfolio. See how to choose the right spa.

This foundation is why Healing Holidays remains the reference for Condé Nast Traveller readers. It is also why travellers who value genuine wellness expertise over a generic booking service return again and again.

What This Recognition Means for Travellers

For anyone planning a wellness escape, this award is a reassurance, not just a title. It confirms that you are in the hands of the only dedicated wellness specialist on Condé Nast Traveller's list of the world's best, as rated by thousands of discerning travellers. Every recommendation has been personally vetted by the team. That holds whether your aim is profound relaxation, medical rejuvenation, longevity, weight management or stress recovery.

Signature Wellness Experiences Behind the Award

Healing Holidays' expertise spans some of the most coveted wellness destinations and retreat concepts in the world:

• Europe: from Alpine medical spas to Mediterranean thermal retreats, offering some of the continent's most advanced wellness facilities. Explore Europe's best medical spas.
• Southeast Asia: tropical sanctuaries in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam, blending holistic healing with luxury. See the best luxury wellness retreats in Thailand.
• India: authentic Ayurvedic retreats rooted in centuries-old healing traditions.
• Medical spa retreats: clinically led programmes combining diagnostics and treatment with five-star comfort.
• Anti-ageing and longevity retreats: cutting-edge protocols designed to support long-term health and vitality. Read our guide to the best wellness retreats in the world for longevity and medical wellness.

And much more, across a global portfolio crafted to fulfil every wellness ambition.

Looking Ahead

After ten years of recognition, Healing Holidays moves into 2027 with its position as the world's leading wellness specialist more firmly established than ever. The team continues to broaden its global network of retreats and destinations. It stays ahead of emerging wellness trends while remaining faithful to the personal, expert-led approach that earned these accolades. To discover the philosophy behind the awards, visit the About Healing Holidays page.

Ready to Plan Your Own Wellness Journey?

For those seeking a truly transformative escape, there is no more assured beginning than the world's most trusted name in wellness travel. That might be deep restoration, medical rejuvenation or a bespoke longevity programme. As the reigning World's Best Wellness Specialist, Healing Holidays offers insider access to the finest wellness retreats on earth, expertise honed through decades of personal site visits, and a standard of care reserved for those who accept nothing less than exceptional.

Speak to a Healing Holidays specialist today to design a tailor-made wellness journey built entirely around you.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards, and how do they work?

The 2026 edition is the 29th. Winners are decided by a survey of Condé Nast Traveller readers, open from 1 April to 30 June 2026 and tabulated by Condé Nast. Candidates need a minimum number of responses and a minimum overall rating to be eligible. They are scored on a five-point scale converted to a percentage, and the average determines the final score.

2. How long has Healing Holidays been recognised by Condé Nast Traveller readers?

For ten years. Healing Holidays is the only wellness travel specialist featured on the list of the world's best tour operators, this year and at any point in the past decade.

3. What score did Healing Holidays receive in 2026?

Healing Holidays scored 98.76, based on the satisfaction ratings of Condé Nast Traveller readers. Readers also credited it with one of the best address books for accommodation, meaning privileged access to the world's leading spas and wellness retreats.

4. What other awards has Healing Holidays received alongside this title?

Healing Holidays has been named the UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist. Founder Frances Geoghegan was individually recognised as the World's Top Wellness Travel Specialist for 2026.

5. What does it mean to book with the World's Best Wellness Specialist?

It means privileged access to exclusive rates and room categories, personally vetted retreats and spas, and consultants who have visited each destination first-hand. You also receive impartial advice across a global portfolio, rather than recommendations driven by a single resort's marketing.

6. Which destinations and retreat types is Healing Holidays best known for?

Europe, Southeast Asia and India, as well as medical spas and anti-ageing and longevity retreats. Above all, Healing Holidays is known for its consultative expertise: matching each traveller with the right retreat for their individual wellness goals.