The 13 Best Spa Treatments Around the World
These days, when we fly halfway around the world and step off the plane in a new country, we’d rather seek out a place to undo all those travel-related aches and pains than, say, hit a museum right away. We need someone who can put their hands on our shoulders, tell us exactly what we’ve been doing wrong, and give a lymphatic facial massage that will make us look five years younger, no scalpel needed.
Visiting the spa used to be an activity you squeezed into vacation plans apologetically, maybe because your mother-in-law recommended a couples massage for some “quality time.” But all that has changed: now, the spa is increasingly a central part of the itinerary, not an afterthought. The flight dehydrates you, the dinners are late, the walking is endless, and somewhere along the way, your shoulders have migrated up to your ears. Why not feel your best while abroad?
These are, hands down, the best spa treatments and practitioners in our favorite cities around the world—whose products, skills, and decades of know-how can immediately locate your stress and eliminate it. Museums are optional—and we’ve all taken an art history course at some point! But one thing’s for sure: a spa appointment while traveling is a must.
The Facial Energy Massage at Spa Le Bristol Hotel by La Mer
Spa Le Bristol was an epicenter of Parisian luxury since long before anyone thought to package relaxation as “wellness.” The spa’s beloved Facial Energy Massage, which features Kobido facial massage elements, will make you look and feel revitalized. Trust us when we say the acupressure, lymphatic draining, and massage inspired by traditional Chinese medicine that works your meridians until circulation wakes up is worth every penny. Say goodbye to puffiness!
The Keravive Scalp Treatment at Aman Spa in The Connaught Hotel
The signature massages at The Connaught are nothing short of heaven: three hours of body wraps, exfoliation, massage, and a restorative facial. The add-on we always make time for is the Keravive Scalp Treatment. In under an hour, it cleanses, exfoliates, hydrates, and nourishes the scalp, tackling the buildup of products you thought you’d washed away while helping stimulate the follicles and supporting healthier hair growth. It’s non-invasive, painless, and frankly, the sort of treatment most of us would never think to book for ourselves when in town, which is precisely why it’s worth doing when you have the opportunity (and better still, the benefits extend well beyond the hour you spend in the chair).
Sacred Elemental Doors Treatment, Amanvari
Cabo San Lucas has long been Angelenos’ favorite shortcut to paradise, but Aman has now raised the bar rather dramatically with the new Amanvari in Baja, California. With just 18 Casitas, this new hideaway is extremely exclusive, particularly when it comes to the wellness offerings. The treatment to enjoy: Sacred Elemental Doors, which is a 90-minute journey through Amanvari’s contemporary Temazcal, where a local shaman leads guests through the ancient Mexican ritual representing air, fire, water, and earth. There’s copal smoke, herbal steam, chanting, and a cold plunge at the end—essentially, it’s every excuse you need for a blissful, healing afternoon.
Mocci Beauty Tokyo Signature Japanese Glow Facial
In Tokyo, it’s not unusual to hear of your friends leaving their five-star hotels upon arrival and heading straight to an appointment with none other than Miki, the aesthetician behind Mocci’s Japanese Glow Facial. Once you experience this service, you understand why she and her team are at the top of their facial game. This is far more than a facial, combining an incredibly relaxing upper-body and lower-leg massage, targeted blemish extractions (the kind that have become increasingly rare at high-end facials in L.A. and New York), then shifting into collagen-boosting peel and plasma therapy. There’s also an exosome-rich mask that brings your skin back to life—no needles, no lasers, no downtime, just Miki’s signature expertise to make you glow and feel beautiful.
Omakase Shinio Signature Massage at Shibui Spa in The Greenwich Hotel
For a New York City reset, Shibui Spa is a particularly civilized way to disappear for a couple of hours and return feeling like yourself again. The Omakase is the treatment to get: a bespoke, Japanese-inspired treatment that weaves in cupping, poultice, herbal heat packs, dry brushing, assisted stretching, and those wonderfully indulgent sake-infused heated towels, all tailored to what your body needs that day. It comes in 90- or 120-minute intervals, but we say take the full two hours. Whether you live here or are staying in the city as a guest, there’s no doubt you are pounding the pavement and keeping pace. So what’s another hour?
The Light Code Facial by Sarah Bradden
It’s become something of a ritual for celebrities and high-profile visitors landing in London: before the dinners, the fittings or the inevitable round of meetings, there’s often a stop at Sarah Bradden. Her modalities are more than a complexion glow-up; there’s something about her famed Bradden Method that leaves you feeling as though your entire system has finally exhaled. For the complexion booster, the heart of the treatment is the Microspear technology, which works like microneedling without the needles—delivering EGF, FGF and IGF growth factors into the skin’s basal layer to stimulate collagen, restore elasticity, and encourage cellular renewal. (You will be pink for the next 24 hours so make sure your event is two days away.) The blend of botanical extracts, hyaluronic acid, and squalane floods the skin with hydration; her signature Bradden Method layers in facial and body acupuncture, fascial release, PEMF, energy healing, and nervous-system support. The result is skin that looks smoother, firmer, and beautifully luminous, with the body feeling equally restored.
The Haute Couture Facial at Dior Spa NYC
When flying into New York, you really must make time for your face, especially if the flight has sucked the life out of your complexion. At the Dior Spa in Manhattan, the Haute Couture Facial—created with renowned aesthetician Sarah Akram—provides an impeccably restored, smooth, and unmistakably well-rested complexion. It begins with a thorough consultation to assess your skin and its particular needs before tailoring the 90-minute, non-invasive treatment accordingly. You’ll experience Akram’s healing facial massage techniques with micro-stimulation, microcurrent, oxygenation, cold laser, and Oxylight Ionic LED light therapy, along with cryotherapy.
The Rasayana Detox Body Treatment at Le Spa Royal Mansour Marrakech
The allure of Morocco hasn’t waned one bit—and Marrakech, with its particular blend of glamour, mystery, and old-world romance, has long known how to keep jet-setters coming back. Honestly, the spa at Royal Mansour Marrakech makes a strong case for why. Simply put, it’s insanely gorgeous. Set behind a private citrus grove, the three-story spa is a destination in itself, a must-see with a spectacular white birdcage atrium and intricate moucharabieh screens. The treatment to book: the Rasayana Detox Body Buff by Subtle Energies, a full-body exfoliation using nut shells, followed by tulsi-scented hot packs, wild turmeric, and limbu. It finishes with a personalized, deeply hydrating body treatment. And while we generally believe you get what you pay for, at $215, this treatment feels like it delivers at least three times its value.
The Cha Ilan Facial at Chaum Life Center
There is no shortage of futuristic skincare in Seoul, South Korea. But when we want to know the truth about a product or device, we go to Chaum Life Center for innovation without the gimmicks. This is a serious beauty and wellness institution in Gangnam, where the approach is much more considered. The Cha Ilan Facial is one of the treatments worth knowing, designed to revive tired, lackluster skin and deliver radiance, health, and polish right to your face. In a city obsessed with beauty, Chaum manages to make the whole pursuit feel less frantic and a lot more sophisticated.
The Holistic Touch Treatment at Bvlgari Hotel Spa
They don’t lie when they say Italians do it better. In Rome, this is the massage of all massages: a deeply restorative treatment combining lymphatic drainage, muscle work, depurative techniques, and pure relaxation. You arrive tired and leave completely reset. Yes, the massage is fully personalized, but we say go for deep, strong tissue work or a perfect mix of both gentle and deep. And when it’s over, the breathtaking spa pool is the ultimate finishing touch.
The Flow Treatment at Zeyrek Çinili Hamam
No one does a hammam quite like Istanbul, and the historic Çinili Hamam is one of those places we would make a point of visiting while in Turkey. The Flow treatment feels less like a modern spa treatment and more like being briefly transported into another era. It combines a traditional full-body, detoxifying “kese” scrub with an extended foam massage, moving between the hot and cold rooms before settling onto the heated marble göbek taşı to rest and recover. And then there is the setting itself: the beautifully restored Çinili Hamam, which feels as much like stepping into a living piece of Istanbul’s history as it does going to the spa.
What makes this experience memorable is precisely what so many contemporary versions of the hammam have lost. There is no attempt to dilute the ritual or make it feel overly polished for a modern audience.
The Ricari Signature Treatment at The Peninsula Beverly Hills
Here’s what you book when you have an event coming up and you want your body to feel lighter, less puffy, and just a little more svelte. We first discovered the Ricari Method a few years ago, and we’ve been fans ever since. Now at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Ricari combines advanced technology with hands-on techniques to stimulate circulation, encourage lymphatic drainage, and leave the body feeling beautifully reset. You wear a specialized Ricari bodysuit throughout the treatment, which acts as the interface for the technology while your therapist works hands-on to stimulate, sculpt, and release. The Signature is a 65- or 95-minute treatment combining Ricari’s full range of technologies and techniques to drain, firm, sculpt, and revive. If you have the time, Odyssey takes it considerably further—a 125-minute, head-to-toe experience with dedicated time for both face and body. This is the one to book when you want the full Ricari effect, particularly before an event, after a long flight, or simply when you feel in need of a very thorough reset.
The Dior Spa at Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel
Since The White Lotus landed in Sicily four years ago, the island has seemed to exist in a slightly different universe—one where everyone is impossibly beautiful, mildly unhinged, and drinking wine before noon. At the permanent Dior Spa at Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina, the treatment to know to balance all of those moments is the D-Tissue Massage, a serious deep-tissue workout for undoing whatever damage you’ve done to yourself getting to Taormina. The technique relies on focused muscle work that combines strength with gentle touch to eliminate toxins and relieve aching muscles, with the general idea being to deliver recovery and instant relaxation.
