‘Houses Not Hotels’ has served as the operating principle for Upper House since long before it became a tagline.
It has been an overarching guide for all three ultraluxury properties in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai, denoting a foundational orientation around going the extra mile for each guest to create exceptional moments during each stay, and then continuing the relationship long after departure. This brand DNA also reveals itself through the latest expansion of its House of Healing program to give guests a range of practical wellness offerings despite not having the space in an intimate urban hotel versus that of a gigantic resort spa.
And what is this program exactly? It’s a two-day discovery offered at all three locations that connects guests with resident practitioners through curated experiences ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture and Gyrotonic sessions to hair spa therapies, tea ceremonies, Gong sound journeys and more.
But here’s where House of Healing shines: it understands the ‘urban context’ of wellness. Unless destination resorts, guests to a metropolis are often coming for short leisure stays, business trips, events, MICE or other occasions where the length of stay is low and healing isn’t the primary purpose. Limiting these signature programs to two days minimizes the friction of incorporating them into guests’ ever-frenetic lives.
Now that all luxury brands are deepening their wellness footprints as a means of differentiation, this flexibility and diversity of experiences packaged into each House of Healing program offers a genuine way to creating something meaningful for guests. Another important distinction is the inspiration provided for guests after the stay, as each package includes discussions that touch on gut health, posture, sleep and other topics, all over a great meal shared amongst participants.
Going one step even further, the program is not uniformly applied to all three properties; each is given its own flavor based on the practitioner residencies in a given city at a given time of year. For instance, Upper House Hong Kong has no dedicated spa in its four walls, so the team brings red light and PEMF therapy, sound healing and chakra rebalancing into the guestroom. Upper House Shanghai meanwhile blends social wellness, high-tech recovery and traditional practice in one programme within its common spaces.
It’s a very complex configuration to design and operationalize. Shepherding this project is none other than Kristina Snaith-Lense who serves the dual role of leading wellness across the brand and is the general manager opening the Upper House Shenzhen location set to open in 2027. It was an absolute delight to meet Snaith-Lense during the last trip through Hong Kong, and then to organize this interview to learn more about the brand’s vision for House of Healing.
Why does each House have distinct programming rather than a standardized formula across the brand?
As Houses not Hotels, we lean into the uniqueness of each individual house and the beauty of the city in which they reside. Rather than a one size fits all approach, we take a more measured lens to the destination and the experts we have on property.
Each House curates its own program, so Hong Kong might lean into the pace of an urban sanctuary while Chengdu embraces something slower, closer to the rhythm of the city itself. We are cognisant that the tastes, habits and time pressures of our audience in each city may differ too.
It’s the same instinct that shapes everything else about our Houses and the brand – we are a collection of individual Houses, not a chain, and wellness must feel as considered and site-specific as the architecture does. House of Healing, our inaugural wellness discovery programme in each city is a great example of this. The two-day programme reflects the rhythm of each city by offering experiences that restore and connect guests to place. No two Houses are alike, and each destination brings its own character and local practices.
How do these residencies help to offer something new at any time of year? Why does that give an advantage to the wellness programming versus a static menu?
We are very much an experience-led proposition. Of course, we have our staple programming and always-on treatment menu, which are then injected regularly with newness either in the form of a pop-up, residency, trial or event. This allows us to test each market on what is attractive and have longevity to stay, and most importantly learn what does not work with less risk of investment.
We love to bring in new practitioners and new offerings! This year alone, that’s ranged from our Traditional Chinese Medicentre with Chain’s to Hot Sculpt conditioning by And Sculpt in Hong Kong, to our very first Hair & Scalp Spa by Zeva debuting at Upper House Chengdu China. In Shanghai, we recently launched our new reformer and gyrotonic Pilates studio. A returning guest in September finds something they couldn’t have had in May. That rhythm keeps us responsive to what’s happening in wellness right now, rather than locking us into one static offering that ages the moment it’s printed.
How did you go about partnering with the right visiting practitioners?
We have been very lucky to partner with an all-star lineup of permanent and visiting experts internationally, which all kick started from a long-term personal friendship with Lindsay Jang, consultant for Swire Hotels (our parent company). From the inception of bringing in Family Form to the Upper House Hong Kong six years ago, this very organically grew the brand appetite for residencies, based on growing guest engagement and demand for these wellness and community led experiences.
I am very grateful for the privilege of collaborating with exceptional leaders and visionaries in the wellness realm. They have immensely enriched my own understanding of holistic wellbeing, showing me that true wellbeing thrives through both individual practices in different aspects of wellness and the supportive communities we build together. I feel enormously grateful to each person and their practice which has helped shape our wellness community.
The pandemic also granted us time, space and opportunity to test and trial. Like any relationship, there has to be synergy on both sides, and as a luxury hotel brand we must ensure there is a likeminded fit to our overall guest experience and that guest journey remains at the epicentre. In Hong Kong, our only House without its own dedicated ‘spa structure’, we have recently introduced in-room treatments to recalibrate the nervous system, targeting to minimise the anxiety of travelling, support sleep and reduce the impact of jet lag. The programming includes in-room chakra and crystal rebalancing by Stone & Star, guided meditation and sound healing by May Nagoy, as well as red light and PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic frequencies) therapy in partnership with Boncharge.
With the growing interest in these areas, I expect restorative practices to play an even greater role across luxury hospitality. And for Upper House, future wellness will take a personalised, data-driven approach to treatments designed to target specific needs and deliver measurable results. We will continue to approach each location and its audience respectfully, introducing the best in local expertise coupled with visiting international residencies.
How are these residencies packaged alongside the ultraluxury service that’s a hallmark of Upper House?
Our residencies are woven into the same unscripted, personalized hospitality that defines everything else at Upper House. A guest can book a staycation with in-room treatments, join House of Healing as a ticketed two-day wellness discovery programme, or simply drop into a residency or group class during a regular stay.
How do you design a program that combines the core need for social wellness as well as personal introspection within the same two days?
We launched House of Healing with the vision of providing a safe, curated space where guests and the wider community can take a break from their everyday life within our beautiful spaces to reconnect with themselves for as much or little time as they may have. It also offers the chance to explore new wellness trends and try them for the first time, seeing it as a sampling or taster session to test without full commitment.
Social wellness resonates so strongly today with our audience because they revel in ‘joining in’ and sharing a collective experience, not necessarily wanting to try it alone. Wellness is no longer seen as an isolated, solo journey, but one which can go hand in hand with human connection. When you join a group workout, a running club or a shared ritual such as a tea ceremony or sound therapy, it becomes a precious moment of bonding through a shared experience with like-minded people who also prioritise their own wellbeing. These shared experiences also include stimulating and thought-provoking discussions over healthy lunches where we gain more knowledge on an array of hot health topics from gut health to, posture, sleep and more. House of Healing has been inspired by our community and for our community, supporting and expanding through connections across different ages and genders.
Not to pick favorites, but is there one experience or practice that you find to be particularly transformative?
Wellness has been a heartfelt passion of mine, so this is very tough to answer. I frequent all our residencies across each House regularly. For me personally, I need to move and sweat daily, so I love being in Avey’s And Sculpt class in Hong Kong whenever I can or at the Girls Night Monday night runs with the Shelter Athletics family. In Shanghai, I jump straight into a Pilates session in our new dreamy studio.
I also lean into spiritual practices, such as doing regular cosmic readings and chakra energy rebalancing with Joyce at Stone & Star – our long-term wellness partner and a close friend of mine – to gain insights for navigating life. May’s sound sessions in her new studio are completely cleansing and recalibrating. For the past two decades, I have been regularly seeing my guru Pervin Clasper at her healing centre Shakti, a place that feels like second home to me.
Where is the line between cutting-edge and alienating when it comes to high-tech wellness at this level?
Technology should disappear behind the experience of the treatment. We use genuinely advanced tools including hyperbaric oxygen, red and near-infrared light therapy, and full-spectrum infrared recovery. The test we come back to is human touch. Any tech as a wearable device or an App should create ease and convenience not stress, so again it’s important that the guest experience is as considered and seamless as possible.
Aside from leading the wellness program for the brand, you’re also opening Upper House Shenzhen. When do you sleep?
I am definitely not a person that believes in the ‘you can sleep when you’re dead’ motto! I am a horrendous human being without good sleep! I am just very lucky to be in a part of the world where wellness is so accessible and the change culturally to see in Hong Kong and China is very exciting.
Shenzhen is an extraordinary, vibrant city shaped by the culmination of technology, art, culture, food, nature and remarkable forward momentum. While many luxury hospitality brands are establishing themselves here, the city is also home to a wide range of local boutique studios, gyms and day spas. This creates incredible potential for us to introduce distinctive wellness offerings, not to compete but to complement and add variety in the market.
