From time to time, the discerning traveler needs a retreat to relax, a sanctuary to unwind, and a place to escape from the busy humdrum of daily life. The world’s most exclusive hotel brands are well aware of this, and offer a diverse range of luxury spa packages to pamper their high-end clients. Some ultra-luxurious hotel brands, such as COMO hotels and Six Senses Hotels, are even building their empires around health and well being. So put on your spa robe and get ready to have your mind, body, and spirit soothed at our choice of the top 10 best luxury health spa resorts and wellness centers in the world.
Think we missed one? Share your favorite spa in the comments section.
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10. SPA RESORTS – THE WALDORF ASTORIA SPA, BOCA RATON RESORT & CLUB, FLORIDA, USA
The deluxe Waldorf Astoria Spa was built to resemble The Alhambra Palace in Spain and offers over 50,000 sq. ft. of stunning architecture, grand arches, elaborate mosaics and luxuriant surroundings. With over 44 treatment rooms and a vast range of signature treatments, Waldorf Astoria Spa provides the perfect Florida retreat. Choose from an impressive selection of facials, massages, baths, wraps and scrubs to improve overall health and well-being. Indulge in signature services, including the Ritual Bath, designed to take you on a journey of unparalleled tranquility. Relax by the 10,000 sq. ft. spa pool and luxuriant gardens or enjoy a refreshing drink and light snack from the Spa menu.
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9.SPA RESORTS – IRIDIUM SPA, ST REGIS RESORT, MAURITIUS
Committed to providing an unforgettable wellness escape, the Iridium Spa at the St Regis Mauritius unites a timeless design, sparkling chandeliers, and elegantly crafted, private spaces with warm, metallic accents and incandescent garden views that evolve daily as the sun passes over the paradise island. Offering a spectrum of services customized to meet differing needs, the 12 treatment rooms—including the Iridium Spa Couple’s Suite—invite guests to relax as professional therapists work to revitalize the body, mind, and soul. Lounge-style seating and library programming impart the opportunity to relax pre or post treatment. Meanwhile, healthy food—ranging from sushi, sashimi, and Japanese stew to garden salads and vegetable prawn tempura—and beverage options provide energizing nourishment.
The St Regis Mauritius also features in our list of the 10 best resorts in Mauritius.
To read our review of the St Regis Mauritius, click here.
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8. SPA reserts – THE SPA, THE PENINSULA HOTEL NEW YORK, USA
High above the bustle of Midtown Manhattan, you can relax in the serenity, luxury and refinement of the award-winning Peninsula Spa at the Peninsula Hotel. You can experience spa treatments that are therapeutic, timeless and which offer an ideal retreat from the demands of the city. Leave the world behind and try one of the popular facials by the French luxury skincare line Biologique Recherche or opt for the ultimate in relaxation with the signature Deep Tissue Experience. The Spa features a stunning collection of 10 treatment rooms including a spacious Private Spa Suite, Nail Care Suite, men’s and women’s private relaxation lounges, an Asian tea lounge, and changing rooms with luxurious heat experiences. It doesn’t get any better than this spa resorts.
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7. TSCHUGGEN BERGOASE SPA, TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL, AROSA, SWITZERLAND
Switzerland could easily fill a top 10 of the best spas on its own. But the spectacular Tschuggen Bergoase Spa, next to the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, is our favorite. The architects used white granite, Canadian maple, and glass sails to create a state-of-the-art wellness area. Covering 5000 m² over four floors, the spa goes hand in hand with its stellar surroundings. The light sails and connecting bridge are made of glass. The spa and wellness facilities include – amonst others – and indoor and outdoor relaxation pool, spacious relaxation areas with 4 sun terraces, sauna area with separate ladies’ sauna, chill-out lounge with fire-place, 12 individually appointed treatment rooms (for massage, baths and beauty treatments) and a mountain sauna with snow terrace, bio sauna, steam room, ice and shower zone.
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6. AURIGA SPA, CAPELLA PEDREGAL, CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO
The 10,000m2 ocean view Auriga Spa is ideal for pampering with 10 private spa treatment rooms fashioned into round pod-like dwellings opening into the outdoor spa pool. You can enjoy a treatment with your loved one in the lavish couple’s suite and extend your experience by indulging in spacious private facilities featuring a fill and drain bath tub and a private pool. The spa also offers aquatic water therapy treatments and personalized sound therapy sessions designed to tune the body for a deep state of relaxation. Within the resort spa facility you will find quiet and active private lounges for ladies and gentlemen, separate wet areas with sauna, steam, ice room and whirlpool. The spa pool provides a tranquil environment for reflection as well as inspirational ocean views from the spa resorts.
To read our review of Capelle Pedregal, click here.
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5. THE SPA, FOUR SEASONS, KOH SAMUI, THAILAND
Amid the gentle sights and sounds of the jungle, far from hectic urban life in the authentic peace of Koh Samui, experience a delicate balance of refreshment for mind, body and beauty. The Spa’s nurturing treatments rely on centuries-old healing techniques and herbal and holistic remedies deeply rooted in Thailand’s rich spa heritage. Individual spa treatment rooms are housed in five salas – covered verandas – each with two indoor and two outdoor Thai-style massage beds, an outdoor shower, an outdoor bathtub and a steam room or indoor rain shower. A separate treatment sala is available for facials, waxing and other services, while the salon can provide additional services for special occasions. Afterwards, sip a tropical juice and savour the feeling of serenity in the Spa’s relaxation sala.
The Four Seasons Koh Samui also features in our top 10 list of the most spectacular cliffside resorts in the world.
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4. SIX SENSES SPA, ZIGHY BAY, OMAN
Wellness is not taken lightly at the spectacularly located Six Senses Zighy Bay Resort. It is a refuge for mind and body, a retreat from the busy humdrum of daily life, and a sanctuary of ultimate wellbeing. Committed to delivering integrated wellness experiences along with peace, tranquillity, fitness and health, the Six Senses Spa offers innovative and ancient holistic treatments from expert in-house and visiting wellness consultants. Besides traditional therapies such as Thai massages, stretching and acupressure techniques that will encourage relaxation and open energy channels for the feeling of wellbeing, the resort also offers locally inspired treatments inspired by age-old Omani traditions, hereby using plants, herbs and ingredients indigenous to the local area.It doesn’t get any better than this spa resorts.
To read our review of Six Senses Zighy Bay Resort, click here.
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3. THE SPA, BANYAN TREE MAYAKOBA, RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO
Banyan Tree Spa brings its award-winning blend of Asian therapies, featuring massages and body treatments inspired by traditional Asian healing disciplines, to the Americas at Mayakoba. As a spa innovator, Banyan Tree Spa Mayakoba introduced The Rainforest, a complete hydrothermal experience combining the best of European spa and hydrothermal therapy with the essence of Asian wellness philosophy to create a haven of serenity, warmth and comfort. At Banyan Tree Spa, the professional training of the spa therapists is the highlight of each spa experience. Banyan Tree Spa therapists undergo formal training at Banyan Tree Spa Academies in Bintan in Indonesia, Phuket in Thailand and Lijiang in China, ensuring that each spa experience is of a high level of consistency and quality that Banyan Tree Spa is renowned for.
To read our review of the Banyan Tree Mayakoba Resort, click here.
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2. THE SPA BY ESPA, ONE&ONLY REETHI RAH, MALDIVES
Together with ESPA, One&Only has created a luxurious island spa retreat, where tension dissolves with the gentle ebb and flow of the ocean as the cares of the world outside quietly drift away. Here, on idyllic sandy shores, you can succumb to the expert care of therapists trained in ancient healing philosophies and modern-day sciences. Luxurious treatment villas, nestled beneath thatched roofs each with spectacular ocean views, provide a perfect tranquil spa resorts for an individualised, holistic wellness journey. Facilities include swirling vitality pools, crystal steam rooms, saunas, stimulating ice fountains, exotic spa cuisine, a delightful juice bar and relaxation pavilions.
The One&Only Reethi Rah Resort also features in our top 10 lists of the best resort in the Maldives and the hotels with the most beautiful beaches in the world.
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1. COMO SHAMBHALA RETREAT, COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE, BALI, INDONESIA
More than any other spa resort in the world, the COMO Shambhala Retreat at the COMO Shambhale Estate near Ubud (Bali) provides a completely immersive, 360-degree wellbeing experience. Besides spa classics such as massages, guests can also opt for a traditional cleansing ceremony, which begins with an immersion in the sacred waters at Tirta Empul temple at nearby Tampak Siring. A priest then completes the purification with a blessing in the temple. There’s also a range of water-based therapies, which use water from the estate’s spring. Each morning guests can take complimentary yoga classes with a view on the rainforest canopy. It doesn’t get any better than this spa resorts.
The Como Shambhala Estate also features in our top 10 list of most beautiful hotel pools in the world.
