TLEE Spas + Wellness

In just its third year, the MICHELIN Key has become a meaningful recognition of exceptional hospitality, a distinction that looks at the full guest experience, from architecture and design to a property’s character, its connection to the destination, and the care delivered by its team.
 
We’re thrilled to see 13 hotels and resorts in TLEE’s portfolio earn one or more MICHELIN Keys this year and 4 others being recognized. Congratulations to the remarkable teams behind each property; these recognitions reflect the thought and dedication they bring to every detail of the guest experience.
 
We’re proud to have been part of the teams that helped create their spa and wellness experiences, and proud to see our collaborators continue to raise the bar for hospitality.

Does More Technology Mean Better Wellness?

The wellness industry is evolving rapidly, with new equipment, technologies, and modalities entering the market every day.

But more isn’t always better. For Caline Assilian, the question isn’t simply, What technology can we add? It’s: What does this space, this guest, and this experience actually need?

As part of her work at TLEE, Caline evaluates emerging wellness technologies through a holistic lens, considering efficacy, guest experience, operational requirements, utilization, investment and long-term value, as well as how meaningfully each technology supports the overall wellness strategy.

The newest modality isn’t necessarily the right one, and an impressive equipment list doesn’t automatically create a better wellness experience. The most successful technologies are those that support something more fundamental, helping people move, recover, connect, rest, and ultimately feel better.

“I think we’re moving beyond the idea of wellness as a place you visit within a hotel or resort and toward wellness being integrated into the entire experience,” Caline shares. “The spa will remain important, but increasingly it will sit within a much broader ecosystem that brings together movement, recovery, longevity, nutrition, sleep, nature, technology and meaningful human connection.”

“I’m particularly interested in how we make that evolution feel authentic rather than simply adding more amenities or the newest technology. The opportunity is to create environments and experiences that genuinely help people live and feel better, while still being intuitive, beautiful and enjoyable.”

“The most successful wellness destinations will be the ones that understand who their guests are, anticipate how their needs are evolving, and create experiences that can evolve with them over time.”

Where Operations Meet Experience

What happens behind the scenes is just as important as what guests see.

With a background in spa operations, including leadership roles with Aman and Exhale, Caline Assilian, Vice President of TLEE, brings an operational and financial lens to the consulting side of our work.

Having worked directly in operations, Caline understands the realities that begin after the doors open. Today, she uses that experience to help TLEE clients anticipate those needs earlier in the development process.

A key part of this work is translating a wellness vision into an operating model, considering how staffing, programming, capacity, service flow, revenue and expenses ultimately influence both the guest experience and financial performance.

Considering operations from the beginning allows us to shape environments that are not only beautiful and memorable, but functional, efficient, adaptable and positioned for long-term success. 

“A successful spa is one where the guest experience and the business behind it are equally considered. When we understand how a spa will operate from the beginning, we can design spaces that not only feel effortless for the guest, but are efficient, adaptable, and built to perform.”

Follow along this week as Caline shares her perspective on the business of wellness and what it takes to create a successful spa.

Inside TLEE: A Week with Caline Assilian, Vice President of TLEE

This week, we’re following the work of Caline Assilian to explore the diverse expertise and strategic thinking behind the wellness experiences we create at TLEE.

With more than two decades of experience, Caline brings a unique perspective shaped by both wellness and business. With a Doctorate in Traditional Chinese Medicine and a Bachelor of Business Administration, Caline combines her expertise across both disciplines to support the success and long-term performance of the spas and wellness destinations we create.

As part of TLEE’s project development process, Caline brings together wellness strategy, operational planning, financial analysis, market intelligence and emerging technologies to help shape concepts that are both compelling for the guest and viable in operation. Her work spans early-stage concept development through programming, operating pro formas, staffing, equipment strategy.

“My work sits at the intersection of wellness, hospitality, design and business, creating experiences that are thoughtful, innovative and built to perform. I’m particularly interested in where wellness is going next: beyond the traditional spa toward more integrated experiences that connect movement, recovery, longevity, technology, prevention and the environments in which we live.”

Throughout the week, we’ll explore Caline’s perspective on the business of wellness, spa operations, emerging technologies, and the experiences shaping the future of the industry.

We’re excited to share that Jeanine Allpress Cliffe, President of TLEE, will be joining the Green Spa Network’s 2026 Sustainability Summit as a featured panelist. 
 
Taking place this upcoming week at Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, the summit brings together leaders and innovators across the wellness and hospitality industries to explore forward thinking ideas, and share knowledge.
 
Jeanine will share her perspective on where sustainability is headed in hospitality and how TLEE approaches these efforts through a human-centered lens. We’re looking forward to being part of the conversation and connecting with others who are working toward a more thoughtful, sustainable future.

What helps you feel like your best self?
 
We all have our own wellness rituals, the things we return to that help us feel grounded, energized, restored, and ready for what’s next.
 
Share below your wellness picks 🪷

From the Kohala Coast to Maui, guests are discovering immersive wellness experiences rooted in place at two TLEE projects, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Grand Wailea Maui.
 
Thoughtfully designed around the natural beauty, culture, and spirit of Hawaiʻi, each spa offers its own interpretation of connection wellbeing, inviting guests to slow down, reconnect, and experience wellness through a true sense of place.

This year, we’re thoughtfully integrating principles we believe are shaping the future of wellness design, and are here to stay.
 
Swipe through to explore the ideas shaping our projects and creating more connected, personalized, and deeply rooted experiences.
 
Textural Design:
Texture is a powerful tool in wellness design, creating sensory-rich environments that blur the boundaries between indoors and out through materiality, light, sound, and touch.
 
Sustainability + Biophilic Design:
Designing with nature, not just for it. We’re integrating sustainable strategies and biophilic principles to ground guests in place while creating spaces that give back to the environment.
 
AI + Technology:
Thoughtfully integrating technology to create more personalized wellness experiences, from intelligent equipment and diagnostics to customized nutrition, recovery, and health journeys.
 
Evening Activations:
Wellness doesn’t have to end when the sun goes down. Evening and nighttime programming creates new opportunities to activate spaces, extend utilization, and connect guests with the outdoors in new ways.
 
Wellness for All Ages:
Wellness is for everyone. We’re expanding programming to engage multiple generations, creating opportunities for children, families, and adults to experience wellbeing together.
 
Together, these shifts point toward a more holistic future for wellness, one that is more personalized, connected to nature and place, technologically informed, and designed to support wellbeing across every stage of life.

Have you ever gone to a place and felt a destination whisper its name, not in a language you speak, but in one your body already knows?

Every destination carries its own energetic signature, a composition of natural environment, cultural tempo, ancestral and elemental intelligence. A living vibration shaped by its geology, history, people, elements, and rhythm. Most of us pass through destinations without ever truly tuning in, but when we connect into the frequency of a place, we understand what a place is actually made of, and when we connect on an energetic level something shifts inside of us.  
 
In our recent collaboration with Midjourney Spa, TLEE led the experiential wellness journey, where frequency became a guiding design principle. Rather than viewing recovery and wellness as a treatment or physical sensation, we explored how sound, light, water, rhythm, and spatial design can work together to create environments that support regulation, presence, and restoration.
 
As Jeanine shares, “We leaned into the concept of ‘frequency as medicine’ and how this is being blended into so many aspects of a spa environment to create a fully supported sensory experience. These insights become the foundation, shaping the theme, design, and programming of the space. When a design is truly aligned with the energetics of a place, guests feel it, even if they can’t quite name it. It registers as resonance; a deeper, more meaningful impression that lands on a sensory, almost cellular level.”
 
The project reflects a broader shift in wellness. Wellness is no longer just about a spa appointment, a yoga class, or a sauna experience, but about the journey from arrival to departure, and everything in between.
 
Elementally attuned design isn’t just a philosophy, but also a measurable advantage. When programming is rooted in the true energetics of a location, it creates genuine differentiation in an oversaturated market. And when a guest experience is built from ancestral and elemental intelligence, it can’t be replicated elsewhere.