West Hollywood Launches First Mind + Body Month

"Many months ago, we started talking about what we were going to do in September when the summer crowds go away and the weather starts to change a little bit," said Visit West Hollywood's Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Morris at a breakfast held at the West Hollywood EDITION hotel on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

"Polly Peak has been a partner with us, she helped us with our first Eat + Drink Week in West Hollywood — our restaurant week that we celebrate the beginning of every November," he continued, "and she said wellness is something that we need to lean into — let's do a wellness week like we do restaurant week and have businesses participate with us."

As they spoke about it, they realized they had far too many wellness experiences to offer in WeHo during a single week. "And that's how this [month-long] event was birthed," Morris explained.

Last year, the wellness market reached $480 billion dollars and is growing, Morris noted. "Our 30-day program aims to attract wellness-seeking travelers and reacquaint our local markets with the year-round benefits and diverse offerings that are available in West Hollywood, which is also the most walkable city in California," he said. "We have a walk score that's better than every other city in California, so we're well just by walking around!"

Some of WeHo's contributions to the world-wide fitness and wellness space include Barry's — which launched here nearly 26 years ago and now has 88 studios across 14 countries. "They started just down the street from us here, and they really pioneered the high-impact training concept that began so many other business," Morris said. "There's another place right here on the Sunset Strip, called Remedy Place — it pioneered the first social wellness club in West Hollywood and then it exported to the East Coast and it's going elsewhere now. ... In West Hollywood, we're really pioneers of what happens in the rest of the world. The world looks to us for what's next."

Kicking off Sept. 1 and running through Sept. 30 in partnership with the West Hollywood Tourism Board, West Hollywood Mind + Body Month includes experiences from over 50 businesses. Favorite hotels, gyms, studios, spas, retail outlets and restaurants will offer discounts and specials for everything from beauty services (at Spa Pendry at Pendry West Hollywood, Ole Henrikson, Sunset Marquis Spa or Bamford Spa at 1 Hotel West Hollywood, Joanna Vargas, the West Hollywood EDITION) to wellness and fitness classes (at Barry’s Bootcamp, SoulCycle, Rumble Boxing, DOGPOUND gym and more). For all the offerings, visit wehowellness.com .

Says Morris, "This month is our opportunity to invite everyone to explore new horizons — to explore a new workout class that you've heard about, or experience the spa that you've been coveting for a while."