From Utah to Zambia, these are the most insanely luxe and outrageous spas and resort retreats available. So say goodbye to the harsh winter weather and get your butt on a plane to one of these dumbfounding locations to rejuvenate your mind, spirit and body.
1. Sha Wellness Clinic, Spain
If you’re looking to do some clean living penance for your other sins, the Sha Wellness Clinic will be a dream come true. You get a full series of blood tests, a complete medical checkup, and treatments prescribed based on the findings. The massages, acupuncture, and lymphatic drainage treatments will have you floating on a cloud. Also, bedrooms with terraces dedicated to “naked sunbathing”? Yes, please.
2. Hotel Maris Spa, Turkey
Set in the sunny Southern coast of Turkey, on the Datca Peninsula, you will have the most relaxing treatments of your life. Experience a 120 minute seal salt an oil scrub Aegean sea shell massage, after which you receive an amazing massage, where a smooth, heated seashell unknots your tension after expert hands do. Full on serenity, and you can choose which scented oil they heat and rub you down with.
3. The Mezzatorre Resort & Spa, Italy
In Naples, this romantic getaway is perched on a bluff above the sea providing a magical atmosphere. This five-star resort is situated between the towns of Lacco Ameno and Forio. The spa is located in a charming 16th century Saracen watchtower, you can take a sensorial journey across all-white rooms with treatments such as balneotherapy, and massages under canopies looking over the sea, and pomegranate trees.
4. Blue Lagoon Spa, Iceland
This full-service indoor-outdoor spa is built atop Iceland’s biggest natural hot springs, and offers a truly surreal setting. The geothermal seawater offers benefits to the skin, and they provide buckets of algae, silica, and minerals alongside the huge outdoor pool, which you can slather on and nourish your skin with.
5. Aqua Wellness Resort, Nicaragua
This resort and spa features a private empty horseshoe shaped beach, yoga, treehouse-style accommodations high on a hill with private plunge pools, healthy meals made with local ingredients, outdoor eco-environments, and the luxury of volcano gazing over the mountains.
6. Cabanas no Rio, Portugal
Just an hour south of Lisbon, unassuming waterfront cabins, which look like rustic wooden shacks, are on the riverfront. They used to be timber fisherman’s huts, and were transformed into a high-style space to accommodate two lucky people who get to unwind and recharge, viewing the stunning Sado nature.
7. Velaa Private Island, Maldives
The Maldives are beautiful all over, but this stunning resort takes the cake. And this picture is just it’s wine cellar. With 170 metres of lush green surrounding, and Asian inspired therapies that include Ayurveda, Yoga, and Meditations, you don’t need anything else. With a nearby champagne bar and hookah available, you can indulge and participate in clean living in the same vacation. Ideal.
8. Amangiri Hotel & Spa, Canyon Point Utah
34 luxurious rooms with amazing views of stratified rock are just the beginning at this Utah retreat. It blends flawlessly with its natural surroundings and the spa entrance resembles the nearby slot canyons. The treatments are Navajo-inspired and the setting is truly unforgettable.
9. Anantara Phuket Layan Reosrt & Spa, Thailand
This gorgeous Phuket island resort offered a tropical and calming bay setting on the Layan beach. Its Anantara spa is even more of a sanctuary, with 7 luxurious private treatment rooms, award-winning Elemis spa and aromatherapy products, and an Opi nail salon. Their signature treatment is a romance milky bath lace with purple royal orchids, where you get served a private tea service as well.
10. Camp Chinzombo at Norman Carr Safaris, Zambia
Brought to us by Norman Carr Safaris, this sustainable bush camp borders the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia which features six steel-framed villas that each have a private pool. It was designed by award wining architects, remaining luxurious but rustic with grass and canvas walls. The wildlife, which is lush on the riverfront, compliments your all-natural spa treatments, and all of the products are actually created onsite, using local, natural ingredients to make homemade scrubs, oils, and cleansers, like neem leaf and lemongrass. Purity at its essence.
11. Nayara Springs, Costa Rica
Enjoy the wondrous nature of Costa Rica while you receive private open-air treatment pavilions which look to the rainforest. Scrubs, wraps, and other treatments are made using organic coffee, chocolate clay, and volcanic mud. The mineral thermal springs which belong to the Arenal Volcano National Park that the hotel is located in is just the cherry on the cake.
12. Spa Halekulani, Hawaii
This is the definition of paradise, and it lives on Waikiki Beach. Take exercise classes for your mind and your body, and take advantage of treatments inspired by Asian and Polynesian traditions, like a luxurious tuarumi monoi-oil rubdown.
13. Hotel Arts Barcelona, Spain
The perfect spa for the urban adventurer who wants the beach and city lifestyle to unite. You have incredible views of the Barcelona seafront, high above the city and the Mediterranean. You can experience nature and secluded luxury in Barcelona, with luxurious treatments from the prestigious Spanish brand Natura Bissé.
