How Four Seasons Costa Rica is Designing the Future of Spa, with Arnaud Dieutegard

Can a spa director also be a systems thinker, a creative artist, and a human performance strategist?

In this episode, Arnaud Dieutegard, Senior Director of Wellness, Spa & Retail at Four Seasons Costa Rica, shares how he's reimagining resort wellness, from creative leadership and culturally rooted experiences to peak performance programs grounded in science. Listeners will hear how one property is using data, design, and disciplined creativity to move beyond "amenities" and build a truly transformational wellness ecosystem for guests.

Arnaud traces his journey from a wellness-focused childhood in France to leading multi-property spa operations for Four Seasons, outlining how the role of the spa director has evolved into a strategic, revenue-driving position. Along the way, he unpacks new models in sleep health, retreat design, performance diagnostics, and the subtle art of teaching guests to listen inward instead of endlessly chasing external fixes.

What You'll Learn:

• How the spa business has shifted from "nice-to-have" amenity to strategic, performance-driven revenue center in luxury hospitality

• Why today's therapists must act as wellness experts, guiding guests with personalized education, not just delivering treatments

• How Four Seasons Costa Rica blends ancestral healing practices with modern technology to create memorable, differentiated guest experiences

• A behind-the-scenes look at Peak Performance programs, including MRI, bloodwork, sleep analysis, and lifestyle interventions designed for long-term change

• Practical insights into creative discipline, how structure, time-blocking, and constraints can actually unlock innovation for spa leaders and wellness entrepreneurs
  
  

Episode Highlights:

• 01:10 – What does a Senior Director of Wellness, Spa & Retail actually do across multiple Four Seasons properties?

• 07:45 – From hippie upbringing to Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and tuba: how early influences shaped Arnaud's view of holistic wellness

• 16:30 – The evolution of the spa director role: from "just keep guests happy" to driving revenue, strategy, and innovation

• 24:05 – Designing memorable spa concepts by merging ancestral rituals with modern technology at Four Seasons Costa Rica

• 32:50 – Inside the Wellness Chalet and wellness villa: building retreat-style experiences within a luxury resort environment

• 41:20 – How the Peak Performance program uses diagnostics and lifestyle intervention instead of quick-fix "biohacks"

• 48:40 – The Sleep Box: a curated toolkit for travelers that turns any room into a personalized sleep lab

• 55:15 – Discipline, creativity, and inner listening: Arnaud's prediction for the future of wellness and hospitality
  
  

Meet the Guest:

Arnaud Dieutegard is the Senior Director of Wellness, Spa & Retail at Four Seasons Costa Rica, where he oversees on-property operations and supports multiple Four Seasons spas across the Americas. With a background that spans aesthetics, holistic therapies, music, and hospitality leadership, Arnaud is known for designing wellness concepts that are financially sound, culturally authentic, and deeply human.

 

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:

• Cluster Wellness Leadership Model – Supporting several Four Seasons properties with shared expertise, concept development, and operational insight

• Ancestral + Tech Integration Framework – Designing experiences that pair local rituals (cacao, Ayurvedic and Chinese influences, Costa Rican ingredients) with modern modalities and devices

• Wellness Chalet & Wellness Villa Retreat Model – A contained, retreat-style environment inside a resort, where guests follo