Flying over barren mountains bound for Alicante, Spain, it’s difficult to believe I’ll be visiting two world-leading wellness clinics: the well-established SHA and the newly opened ZEM. The plane is filled with tourists, en route to places such as Benidorm, famous for its high-rises and nightlife, that feel as far away from a high-end wellness clientele as you can get.
But Alicante airport serves the larger Costa Blanca region and both SHA and ZEM sit high in the hills beyond Benidorm, with views of the Sierra Helada mountains and the green of a protected park that hugs the coastline. SHA will celebrate 17 years in business this year, with a second location in Mexico that opened in 2024 and a UAE location set to debut in 2026, while ZEM has opened just this year, only 30 minutes away from SHA.
I’ve come to see what it is about this magical corner of southeast Spain – where the climate and geography are reminiscent of Southern California – that has inspired two cutting-edge wellness clinics to be built so close together and whether the two are different enough for there to be room for them both in the market.
ZEM: A bold debut
ZEM Wellness Clinic Altea is an unassuming, gleaming white hotel amid a gated community of holiday homes in the Altea Hills. Everything is white marble and gold accents, reflecting the dual aspects of clinical wellness and luxury.
After check-in, I meet my ZEM Master, Carmen, who informs me that she will guide me through my journey. My three-day ZEM Essential programme costs €5,000 (US$5,868, £4,359) and has been designed as an introduction to a healthier lifestyle. Other specialist packages focus on weight management, detox, or both. Carmen has sent me an itinerary ahead of my visit, but a delayed flight means I have to skip a planned detox circuit at the spa and head straight to dinner.
My stay includes a well-rounded assortment of wellness tests, treatments and activities, including a nutritional assessment, fitness training, longevity medicine consultation, mindfulness session, cooking class, yoga and a series of different massages. Dotted in between are many touchless technology experiences – Gharieni Group has set up its first MetaWell Center in Europe here, meaning its technologies are integrated throughout the spa’s 42 treatment rooms.
ZEM’s healing approach is focused on Mediterranean longevity, which combines medical wellness with spa therapies, fitness, nutrition, nature and mindfulness and the owners have spared no expense in offering the latest both in equipment and testing capabilities. In all, ZEM offers more than 400 tests and treatments, led by specialists in fields from cardiology to dermo-aesthetics, regenerative medicine, endocrinology, psychology, nutrition, gynaecology and more. Perhaps most interesting is an impressive list of genetic tests which are available at an additional fee to assess the risk of everything from Alzheimer’s to pancreatic cancer.
Still, for ZEM’s clientele, consisting of high-net-worth individuals with a strong interest in their own health and wellbeing – a seven-night ZEM Detox programme starts at €11,000 (US$12,903, £9,523) – paying extra for a test to see if you’re genetically predisposed to certain cancers or to measure how long your telomeres are might be money well spent.
It’s worth noting that many of the consultations I had at ZEM’s wellness clinic were exactly that: consultations with specialist doctors or nutritionists and a chance to ask some general questions. There were very few medical tests giving me insights into my own personal health, though a seven-night stay would have included basic blood analysis.
One exception was the DermaGraphix body mapping, a high-tech scan of my skin, which identified at-risk moles and even took an incredibly detailed, magnified photo of a suspect mole and recommended a further assessment when I returned home. With a family history of melanoma, I wholeheartedly applaud this simple, non-invasive test that can catch problems early while also creating a baseline map of skin lesions for future checks – which can be life-saving.
Another useful test was the Tanita body analysis scale, which measures fat mass, muscle mass and quality, bone mass, visceral fat and total body water, as well as metabolic age and basal metabolic rate. I received a printout of results with a quick interpretation from a doctor, who emphasised the importance of building muscle to improve my metabolic age.
This was reinforced by my functional assessment and training, where a series of tests from Technogym Checkup showed that my Wellness Age is four years younger than my actual age.
However, that was mostly due to excellent scores in cardio, attention and brain speed and was brought down by my strength score. I’ve known I need to address a lack of upper-body strength for a while, but somehow seeing it in black and white made it exceedingly clear that it’s something I can’t afford to ignore.
Through an AI-based assessment station, the Technogym Checkup also calculated mobility in my ankles, hips, shoulders and neck and my balance on both sides to give a complete picture of my physical and cognitive health. It then prescribed a training protocol, which included tips such as how much weight to start lifting to increase my upper body strength. If my gym at home was Technogym-equipped, that training protocol would then adapt over time – and even more interesting, if I came back to ZEM in a year’s time, I could (hopefully) see my work pay off when retaking those tests.
The high-tech fitness and medical wellness tests are complemented by spa treatments in ZEM’s 4,000sq m spa – offering everything from high-touch therapies, such as Thai massage and watsu, to high-tech options such as hyperbaric oxygen, infrared and plasma light sessions. The spacious, light-filled hydrotherapy circuit contains three saunas, a steamroom, ice room, Himalayan salt cabin and a hydrojet pool.
But aside from the technology or the extensive spa, perhaps the most impressive thing about ZEM was the most basic building block of health: the food. With an anti-inflammatory, plant-forward ethos, the meals at ZEM’s signature restaurant, Salvia, were colourful, beautiful, but most importantly: delicious. Executive chef Javier Esterri – who worked for neighbouring wellness clinic SHA a decade ago, and came to ZEM via sister property Palmaia in Mexico – creates nutrient-rich, farm-to-table meals that rival Michelin-starred restaurants, with much of the food supplied by ZEM’s nearby organic farm, Finca Althaya.
A cooking class with one of the chefs provided a hands-on activity and gave me a healthy recipe to take home as a reminder of my time at ZEM, which, together with my instructions for lifting weights and seeing a dermatologist, provided tangible takeaways to improve my health and wellbeing.
SHA: a seasoned pro
Travelling to SHA, the experience begins the moment I leave the airport. A uniformed driver meets me at arrivals and escorts me to what is quite possibly the most plush Mercedes I’ve ridden in, where – in addition to my cushy headrest and extra legroom, I find a SHA magazine to read, SHA-branded water in an eco-friendly cardboard container and wifi. The trip from the airport is almost exactly the same length as it is to ZEM – 45 minutes – and when I arrive, I’m greeted by a walkway lined with royal palms, a tranquil fountain emblazoned with the SHA logo, and a white marble lobby, where I’m easily checked in before being taken on a quick tour.
This is the group’s flagship site. Its 6,000sq m of spa and wellness facilities entice up to 6,000 guests a year staying in its 93 suites and 11 private residences.
A tray of remarkably delicious vegan cheese, along with grapes, dried apricots and nuts awaits me in my room, as well as a note from the hospitality director explaining that my experience will focus on balance and rejuvenation and thanking me for entrusting the team with my wellbeing. Another note explains the benefits of my snack: nuts are rich in omega 3 and have great anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective potential; dried apricots improve iron absorption, are rich in fibre and help regulate blood pressure; and grapes are antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying. So far, all I’ve done is check into my room, but it’s a fantastic first impression. I can tell that every detail and touchpoint has been thought through.
I’ve come for the four-day Rebalance & Energise programme, starting at €2,500 (US$2,935, £2,182), which is designed to reduce effects of chronic stress, optimise energy production at the cellular level by strengthening mitochondrial function, reduce fatigue and rebalance the body’s systems. The programme combines advanced technologies, treatments and a variety of consultations with experts in nutrition, osteopathy, longevity, hormones and general medicine. Additionally, I’m scheduled for specialist treatments including acupuncture, an abhyanga massage and shiatsu, alongside things such as cryotherapy and pranayama. A series of functional assessments and training rounds out the holistic programme.
Several weeks before my trip, I filled out a questionnaire, which has helped inform some of the treatments and consultations on my agenda. I begin the first evening with a general health examination and the Advanced Preventive Diagnosis, which is a combination of non-invasive, high-tech tests that give the doctors a comprehensive picture of my health, all of which took about 90 minutes.
After this, it’s time for dinner at the outdoor rooftop SHAmadi restaurant, where nearly every table is full. I’m glad to see there are plenty of other solo travellers, but also quite a few couples and several tables with four or more people. The guests come from all over: plenty of Brits and a few Americans, but over the course of my stay, I meet a Lithuanian woman and her mother, a Lebanese/French family who live in Saudi Arabia and an older German couple who’ve been coming to SHA for 10 years.
The SHA nutrition philosophy is based on a balanced, natural and alkaline diet, with a focus on whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and seaweed. Three options are available: the SHA Menu, which is the least restrictive; the Biolight Diet, an intermediate menu; and the Kushi Diet for those wanting to control their weight, which serves smaller portions with a focus on seaweeds, soups and purees. I opt for the Biolight plan for most meals, which includes things such as red prawn ravioli with miso sauce or seabass papillote and seasonal vegetables; and desserts (only at lunch) such as coconut panna cotta with berries. Much like ZEM, the food is spectacular and I could feel a difference in my energy levels after just a few days.
Tea is a big part of the nutrition plan at SHA. After meeting the nutritionist, I’m prescribed teas such as kukicha, kombu, apple kudzu – at each mealtime. Daily afternoon teas also present an incredible assortment of beautiful teas in glass pots, with details of their benefits carefully spelled out – dried daikon (for weight loss and headaches), adzuki (to promote digestion), shitake (to reduce cholesterol).
After breakfast on my first day, I meet with a doctor for a general medical consultation, where I see the results of my Advanced Proactive Diagnosis. This includes a 3D scan of my body, which shows the percentage of muscle mass and fat mass, BMI, visceral fat, cellular water ratio, waist-hip ratio, cellular water ratio and trunk-leg ratio; vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure; and my vascular age, based on arterial elasticity and peripheral elasticity.
But perhaps most interesting were the tests that measured stress and resilience, which used arterial pulse waves to evaluate the balance between my sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The doctor explained that my nervous system is ‘very unbalanced’, with my parasympathetic nervous system showing a very low score, while my sympathetic ‘flight or fight’ nervous system score was well beyond the maximum limits. To someone who doesn’t generally feel stressed, this was shocking. My mental stress also came through as ‘very high’, but perhaps the reason I don’t feel stressed is that I also scored ‘very high’ on resilience, an indicator of how well I adapt to stress.
Still, the doctor emphasised that the most important thing I can do for my health at this point is to reduce the stress in my life and/or find ways to deal with it better, pointing out that in addition to putting me at risk for things such as cardiovascular disease or sleep disorders, long-term stress creates chronic inflammation and amplifies cellular ageing. She prescribed a breathwork class and added it to my schedule and suggested I adopt a daily meditation practice at home. But the biggest thing for me is simply recognising that the stress is there. I make a pact with myself to slow down and to use tools such as pranayama and meditation to bring more balance to my body.
Room for both?
In the end, despite all the high-tech testing capabilities, the things I took away from both ZEM and SHA were the most basic building blocks of wellness: eat well, sleep well, move your body, eliminate stress. Most of my areas for improvement I knew on some level, but seeing the measurements in writing really drove home the message. I’m pleased to report I’m now on a weight-training routine that I plan to see through and if I’m ever back at either ZEM or SHA, I’m sure it would be incredibly satisfying to see measured improvements.
The two locations have many similarities: a plethora of high-tech tests and equipment; access to specialist doctors; beautiful, healthy food; a wealth of spa treatments. But after 17 years in business, SHA is a well-oiled machine. The communication, customer journey and even its easy-to-navigate app all add to the overall experience. That said, ZEM boasts some of the finest technology on the market, as everything is brand-new, as well as an incredible chef, enthusiastic staff and its own organic farm. As ZEM finds its footing, it will be a worthy rival for one of the most celebrated wellness clinics in the world. And judging by the public’s ever-increasing interest in longevity and the expanding treatments available, I believe there will be room for both ZEM and SHA in the marketplace.