Wellness, Reset: Four Days at JOIA Aruba by Iberostar

There are press trips, and then there is the kind of trip that recalibrates you. My four days at JOIA Aruba by Iberostar fell firmly into the second camp.

JOIA opened in January 2025, steps from the powder-soft sand of Eagle Beach, and it wears its newness well. 240 rooms and suites, an infinity pool with a swim-up bar, a genuinely serious fitness center, and design cues drawn from the parrotfish, the little reef workhorse responsible for Aruba’s famous white sand. From the first welcome cocktail at the Zima Rooftop Bar, the place felt considered rather than flashy.

The wellness programming hit every note I look for. We opened mornings with HIIT in the gym and sunset yoga on Eagle Beach with local instructor Glendeline Maduro, the kind of session where the breeze does half the work for you. The 80-minute Earth Experience at Spa Sensations, all almond, mimosa, and musk, may have ruined ordinary massages for me permanently.

The standout, though, was a day spent off property. A restorative hike through Arikok National Park doubled as a crash course in Aruba’s geology and ecology, our guide narrating the divi-divi trees and rugged volcanic terrain the whole way. That same hands-on spirit carried into the Royal Aruba Aloe Scrub Making Workshop, where we cut, harvested, and blended fresh aloe into a personalized scrub. Aruba practically runs on aloe, and building one from the plant up was the most fun I have ever had with skincare.

A small, surprising highlight: the water. Aruba’s tap water is among the purest anywhere, and after a couple of days I was genuinely chasing glasses of it. Who knew?

Then there was the food. The welcome dinner at Bucatini delivered Aruba’s only antipasto station, prepped fresh daily. Marea leaned into bright, authentic Caribbean flavors. The farewell at GAIA House of Grill, a brand new upscale steakhouse built around a repurposed divi-divi tree, was a fittingly excellent send off. Worth noting for fellow plant-based travelers: JOIA recently earned Vegan Hospitality certification.

For the golfers, lunch at Tierra del Sol (the island’s only 18-hole championship course, designed by Robert Trent Jones II) came with a clinic and ocean views that made bogeys forgivable.

None of it would have landed without the people. The JOIA staff and our IHG and Iberostar hosts were, without exaggeration, the best part of the week, anticipating needs before we voiced them and treating a group of journalists like old friends. JOIA sits within the IHG and Iberostar Beachfront Resorts strategic alliance, which means IHG One Rewards members can earn and redeem points across 60-plus beachfront properties, this stunner included.

I came for a wellness reset and left with a new benchmark for what hospitality can feel like. If Aruba is on your list, put JOIA at the top of it.

This story was originally published by Men’s Fitness on Jun 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Fitness as a Preferred Source by clicking here.