Hotels and the yoga trend

Perhaps the time when most hotels include a yoga mat in the bedrooms is some way off. Yet providing yoga for guests is certainly a growing trend.

I am lucky enough to be staying in Thailand at the moment on retreat. Given its all-pervasive emphasis on wellbeing, it's hardly surprising that Kamalaya Holistic Spa, where I am staying, offers every guest a yoga mat.

But I was surprised to see that the the management team of Bangkok's fabulous Metropolitan hotel, which was my first stop in Thailand, also provided a yoga mat for each guest, plus a dedicated on-site studio.

It is not the only hotel doing so, by any means. The US chains Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Kimpton offer yoga classes as a popular add-on for guests.

In the UK, self-catering guests can also share the yoga fun. Cornwall's fabulous Cove offers private yoga classes to interested guests, while in Northumberland, the eco-aware A Space To Be, also has yoga on the menu.

As more and more travel companies embrace the eco-friendly mantra, adding yoga to the guest menu will seem increasingly like an obvious next step.

Lucia Cockcroft, editor