Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and the Valleys are awash in wellness, with healthy lifestyles increasingly spilling over into meetings agendas. Fitness, juicing, urban bike rides, yoga and overall detoxifying attitudes characterize the L.A. scene, and although planners need not completely dismiss the croissants and coffee, they might instead consider opting for blood orange rooibos and kale chips.
Downtown
Juice bars are the rage in Los Angeles these days. However, Juice on the Loose is a delivery-based operation specializing in the “removal of company defects and organizational toxins” via extraordinarily healthy juicing programs. Corporate packages are available for many types of private events, galas, movie shoots or product launches. Wherever a meeting unfolds in downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood or the Valleys, a juicing-based component will help bring everyone together.
“Our target goal is to get people juicing together and eating healthy together,” says Abby Lauren, owner of the company. “Because if one person’s eating bad, everyone’s going to eat bad. If one person’s eating good, everyone will eat good.”
Everyone from Porsche to NBC Universal to Guess have reaped the benefits of Juice on the Loose. Branding and logo options are possible for any meeting.
“A lot of companies will ask us to theme a juice for them,” Laurel says. “Or a lot of movie [companies] send us a movie poster on a sticker and we’ll put it on the juice.”
With downtown LA active on the wellness and craft beer fronts, groups will also be happy to know that those two are not mutually exclusive. At Angel City Brewery in the downtown arts district, groups can take advantage of the company’s Run + Yoga + Beer events that take place every Sunday morning. The adventure starts at 9:30 a.m. with a two-mile run around downtown, then a 90-minute Vinyasa flow class upstairs in the brewery’s mezzanine area, followed by a beer, all for just 10 bucks. According to Emily Hope, Angel City Brewery’s events coordinator, Run + Yoga + Beer usually gets anywhere from 20 to 50 people at a time, so small groups in town for business can be accommodated rather easily.
“It’s good for all levels,” Hope says. “It’s casual. It’s meant to be fun, not competitive. Even the run is for all levels of running. We get people from running groups and people who don’t run, but are just the beer drinking types.”
Hidden gems emerge everywhere in downtown L.A., especially when it comes to spas in the most unexpected places. For example, small groups or spouses can book time at Vertigo Salon, a sprawling 5,000-square-foot pamper palace located atop the historic Standard Oil Building, just blocks from L.A. Live and Staples Center. Themes of old-school L.A. glamour prevail and one can transform into a movie star in just a few hours.
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Hollywood
Adjacent to the Academy Awards, the Loews Hollywood Hotel already provides groups with numerous high-end amenities. On the fifth floor especially, though, groups will find Exhale, a highly acclaimed spa facility common for groups that come to L.A. for work. In addition to acupuncture, cupping, reiki, vibration therapy and other energetic treatments, private classes for groups can be arranged at Exhale’s brand-new fitness studio. Group rates and scheduling are available.
Kim Kiernan, spokeswoman for Exhale, says the facility as a whole plays right into the wellness trends currently raging in Los Angeles.
“Any group traveling to the hotel can take private classes, whether it’s yoga or our signature barre class, which is core fusion,” Kiernan explains. “It’s a great teambuilding activity, and it’s a great way to incorporate wellness into your meeting. If you’re there for a meeting and you want us to lead you in an opening breath, we can do that, or we can come in and do some stretching midday at your meeting tables.”
For small groups that want to get out of their cars, off the sidewalk and into exercise mode while still ingesting the rich history of the neighborhood, Hollywood Bike Tours takes a handful of folks at a time on a vivid storytelling experience. SoCal is normally inseparable from car culture, so at first, groups may not even be aware that bike tours are possible, but this outfit will change their opinions. Groups take a rollicking ride into scenic parts of Hollywood and learn about unique tidbits of history, landmarks, music, wildlife and nature, all of which are part of the Hollywood mystique.
If groups want to amble on their feet, Griffith Park is larger than New York’s Central Park. Situated on more than 4,300 acres, it’s an ideal location for a group hike. The park’s rugged hills and sparsely developed areas include a 53-mile network of trails. Skilled hikers can take a trek from the famed observatory parking lot to the summit of Mt. Hollywood for panoramic views of the L.A. Basin.
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The Valleys
The Langham Huntington in Pasadena already exemplifies legendary status, situated on 23 acres and offering 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. But with the new 11,000-square-foot Chuan Body and Soul Spa opening last month, a 23-page menu of treatments now becomes available. Guests fill out a questionnaire to determine the degree of balance or imbalance between their five Wu Xing elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. From there, a few thousand years’ worth of medicinal philosophy and attitudes combine to balance mind and body. Amber Voelker, the property’s director of group sales, says the facility offers product lines like Kerstin Florian, PRIORI, ZIRH and Deborah Lippmann, which have all created custom treatments and services that can only be found at Chuan Spa.
“Groups looking for health conscious activities will have access to the spa’s yoga and Pilates studio, meditation classes and a running and cycle club, which can all be arranged as [teambuilding] exercises,” Voelker explains. “Chuan Spa will also feature a VIP suite that can be booked for group treatments such as manicures and pedicures.”
In Studio City, groups that desire a proactive brand that combines a hotel, wellness cafe and subtle spa theatrics, but that need to escape the chaos of Hollywood proper, might check out the Blvd Hotel and Spa, which is a short walk from Universal Studios. Since Studio City is somewhat like “The Hollywood of the Valley,” groups won’t even feel that detached when setting up a few days’ worth of pre- or post-event downtime. Private productivity becomes the idea here, as all the sleeping rooms are suites and some include a full kitchen. The spa emphasizes wellness-based and rejuvenating treatments designed especially for the property.
Gary Singh regularly traverses downtown L.A., Hollywood and the Valleys in search of stories and stardom.
