Every year, we honor leading spas that elevate the practices of wellness, environmental stewardship and sustainability, all the while maintaining high standards of luxury, hospitality and design.
Now, more than ever, it is important to celebrate these spas for their efforts on behalf of nature conservation; energy efficiency; innovative use of local, natural and organic ingredients on their spa and culinary menus; recycling, upcycling, reuse and other initiatives geared toward lessening the footprint that leads to climate change.
We also evaluate spas for integrative and holistic health and wellness programs that foster leadership in the industry and set a new and higher standard. Innovators in wellness, hospitality and design can—and do—create a ripple effect across many other industries!
— The Editors
Thailand
Though the healthy living-committedBanyan Tree brand launched its WellBeing Sanctuaries globally this year, the flagship Banyan Tree Phuket originated the concept of commodious, spa-oriented suites with its initial set of 12 rooms, years ago. Home to Banyan Tree’s Spa Academy, where all its worldwide therapists receive training, the resort offers curative options to guests throughout the resort. The WellBeing Sanctuaries, under the direction ofpersonal Wellness Guides, offer amenities including daily massage, customized meals, yoga and fitness classes, bath and body rituals, and sessions on better sleep and stress reduction.
Mexico
Rancho La Puerta, founded more than80 years ago, was always ahead of the curve—and still is. With a full calendar of fitness classes, wellness initiatives and workshops from live music to cooking, the Ranch is a place where friendships are forged, connections with nature are made, and the balance of health and wellness is finely calibrated and restored. A hike to the organic farm for breakfast, spa treatments with local medicinal herbs, guided meditations, inspiring retreats and the new Private Residences, spread over 4,000acres, continue to inspire guests to become the very best versions of themselves.
Italy
The hilltop town of Fiuggi, an hour outside Rome, has long been famous for its healing mountains and springs. That history—and the therapeutic properties of natural elements like water, earth, air and fire—inspired the Palazzo Fiuggi destination spa, which takes a 360-degree approach to health. Meticulously restored and expanded using sustainable materials, the retreat is staffed by a team of scientists and doctors who consult with each guest to create personal itineraries of medical services, wellness and holistic therapies and mineral water treatments. A Michelin three-star chef oversees the culinary program, which focuses on healthy, natural and locally sourced ingredients.
A private tunnel from the bustling town of Cabo San Lucas brings you to this Pacific Ocean-front resort, the firstWaldorf Astoria in Mexico. Spread over24 idyllic acres on the southernmost tip of the Baja peninsula, the 115-room haven is beloved both for its luxurious touches—posh accommodations, cliffside champagne bars and personal concierges—and its award-winning 10-room spa, where the organic treatments are inspired by the sea, lunar cycles and Mexican folk healing.Along with a la carte services featuring mineral-rich muds, sound healing, crystal massages and hand-harvested herbal remedies, the spa offers transformative wellness weekends and fitness activities.
Maldives
Some might find it healing enough to wriggle their toes on this private, far-flung island’s crescent of bone-white sand, while gazing at the myriad blues of its everlasting waters. But this UNESCOBiosphere marine landscape and luxury retreat spa, AyurMa, an Ayurvedic stronghold, takes vitality yet deeper with its 14- to 21-day panchakarma detox and deep tissue cleansing programs and its three- to five-day, one-on-one yoga therapy opportunities. With a team of Ayurvedic doctors, naturopaths and yoga therapists, the thatched-roofed spa spreads across gardens and water.
Cenotes (natural swimming holes)pepper the Yucatan Peninsula. The Maya believed them to be sacred. Taking that cue, sustainable Grand Velas, an upscale all-inclusive, wedged between the ocean and the jungle, patterns itself after the terrain and preserves and incorporates stones, plants and streams to mirror the region. Likewise, the SE Spa by Grand Velas, poised below ground level, has a40,000-square-foot Water Lounge, which elicits the sensation of swimming in a cenote. Distinguished by local culture, treatments utilize Yucatan traditional products, such as cacao, corn cobs,Mayan jade and aloe vera.
United States
The Francophile owners of Cal-a-Vie have created an authentic slice of Provence in the hills outside San Diego, complete with a 15th-century French meditation chapel facing the Cal-a-Vie vineyards, where the spa grows and produces its own wine. When guests arrive, they are set up for a custom consultation, and a full schedule magically appears later that day. Mornings are spent at a state-of-the art fitness facility with an expert team of instructors and trainers. Afternoons revolve around restoration and relaxation at the standout spa and two gorgeous pools. The new Renew and Refresh Mind &Body program is designed to relieve stress, help with sleep issues, support weight loss and nurture positivity.
Thailand
The Adaman Sea’s craggy karsts establish the mystical mood at Phulay Bay, the first Ritz-Carlton Reserve property of the collection. With temple-like Thai architecture and a deep commitment to conjuring local culture, the resort’s renewing spa oasis furnishes tranquility to offset active days spent hiking mangrove forests, snorkeling transparent waters and cruising on long-tail boats. Nestled into classic Thai pavilions, replete with stepping stones, water features and decked walkways, the spa offers teas made from the haven’s own garden and treatments inspired by the locale—such as an acupressure-style massage, performed with herb-filled packets.
Mexico
In Mexico’s Riviera Maya, between a pristine beach and a lush tropical jungle, this member of Leading Hotels of theWorld has it all: luxurious villas that showcase regional materials—tropical wood, stone, marble—by Mexican artisans.A 17,000-square-foot spa offers a range of treatments that honor Mayan wisdom and traditions, and three restaurants helmed by Jorge Vallejo, the power behind the renowned Quintonil restaurant inMexico City. Partner property to the magical Chablé Yucatan, Chablé Maroma is committed to supporting local businesses and producers—food is grown or caught nearby, textiles are sewn by hand inMexico. Guests can practice meditation and yoga, paddleboard and kayak, take cenote tours and jungle excursions or simply relax on the beach.
Costa Rica
Set high above a valley in Costa Rica’s northern rainforest, this French-owned resort’s six lodges and one three-bedroom villa were designed to blend into the surroundings, with vegetation-topped“living” roofs and the use of raw natural materials worked by local artisans. Under the direction of Michelin-starred chef Jean-Luc L’Hourre, the Asian- and Peruvian-inspired menus—vegan- and vegetarian friendly—use ingredients from area farms and the
on-site organic garden. Standout activities include medicinal plant tours, waterfall hikes, horseback rides, nighttime wildlife tours and chocolate-making sessions at a cacao farm, plus healing spa therapies performed with organic products.
2021 Special Awards
Best Couples Getaways
Jade Mountain Resort
St. Lucia
The romantic Jade Mountain is the only hotel in St. Lucia(along with sister property Anse Chastanet) that grows its own cacao and transforms it into chocolate. It is also St. Lucia’s only resort property with stunning views of both the Piti and Gros Piton mountains in the Caribbean Sea. Visit the drive-in volcano, rainforest, botanical gardens and sulphur springs; go hiking and zip-lining, snorkeling and scuba diving, biking and kayaking. Or simply enjoy the beach and beautiful spa, enjoy a six-course meal or soak in your private infinity pool.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso
Mexico
Tucked between the desert and the water at the tip of the Baja peninsula, Las Ventanas is one of the region’s first luxury resorts, and continues to set the standard. Butler-attended suites sport kiva fireplaces, hand-painted murals and telescopes for whale-spotting. The spa team greets guests at check-in with the offer of complimentary, aromatic, head and shoulder massages to undo the stress from travel. An indigenously influenced sanctum with indoor and outdoor treatment rooms,The Spa at Las Ventanas follows the lead of Baja’s healers to embrace the elements—earth, fire, air and water—as integral parts of the treatments.
El Encanto, A Belmond Hotel
USA
What could be more romantic than trysting like heyday couple Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who called this legendary hotel their love nest? The hidden retreat in SantaBarbara has views as far-reaching as the Channel Islands.Bungalow-style suites coddle guests almost as proficiently asThe Spa at El Encanto, the hotel’s equivalent of a little, black,Oscar-night cocktail dress—simple and elegant. On the menu, coastal elements and local botanicals provide inspiration, as does a touch of Hollywood glam.
Hotel Manapany
St. Barthélemy
Radiating a bit of sexy Biarritz in the Caribbean, Frenchintoned St. Barths gives the gift of the tropics with a French accent. Equally emanating art d’vivre Hotel Manapany, with43 villas and suites, stands out as the island’s only five-star, eco resort. The spa’s cachet stems from bespoke, holistic, inhouse therapies, which combine local heritage and medicinal herbs with the latest modern techniques, and a commitment to wellness programs. Fitness-minded couples can enjoy dailyPilates and yoga classes offered on the spa deck overlooking the sea, as well as surfing lessons, and take a “clean” hotel vessel to snorkel and picnic on Colombier Beach.
Zemi Beach House
Anguilla
On an island celebrated for its 33 idyllic beaches, rejuvenation can be found wherever guests unfold their beach loungers. Boutique-y Zemi Beach House, on Shoal Bay East, ups the peaceful ante at Zemi Thai House Spa, where wellbeing experiences rule the days. Sheltered in the bones of a300-year-old house, brought from Thailand, the indoor/outdoor sanctuary furthers the Asian motif with hanging lanterns and carved mahogany walls. A deck provides space for mud and salt treatments. The Taino Bathing Ritual, a five-step mud, salt and fruit-driven detox, pays homage to Anguilla’s indigenous traditions and people.
Best Solo
Set in the rural Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania is the award-winning destination spa and resort, The Lodge at Woodloch. The Lodge keeps innovating and connecting guests to the healing power of the outdoors, with a vast range of classes from Open-Air Painting to an Edible Plant Walk with The Lodge’s resident herbalist. With an entire OutdoorExperiences Department, more than half the Lodge’s offerings focus on outdoor mindfulness and forging a relationship with nature. The Spa at The Lodge is the place to go to relax and restore, with a Tension Tamer and Deep Relief Massage that are deeply relaxing, as well as a range of excellent facials and body treatments.
BodyHoliday
St. Lucia
This renowned destination spa in the Caribbean addresses your physical and mental well-being and ensures you have a dream vacation—in whatever balance you choose. With a customized itinerary, a vast array of fitness offerings (both group and private), a gorgeous spa with a treatment menu withEast and West influences, and the chance to learn everything from sailing to scuba, solo guests will find plenty to do, and many ways to enhance their well-being. The September SoloTheme Month is geared toward the solo traveler.
Le Monastère des Augustines
Canada
Le Monastère des Augustines is a restored monastery in old Quebec with a rich history of holistic healing and wellness that dates back to 1639. Guests can choose a modern room or monastic cell, learn about raw food, experience an in-house massage or reflexology in this haven of deep tranquility where guests unwind and take a journey inward. With mind-body modalities such as Qi Gong, Tai Chi, yoga, meditative walk, silent breakfasts designed for mindful eating, and a museum that takes you back in time for nearly four centuries of history, Le Monastère des Augustines is a modern retreat rooted in theAugustinian Sisters’ cultural heritage.
Vana
India
At Vana, a luxury wellness retreat in Dehradun, India, close to the Nepal border, the air is tinged with mango leaf, incense and eucalyptus. It is so pure that you may find yourself keenly aware of your breath, as you exhale and relax in an area that many say is a spiritual vortex, and the birthplace of Ayurveda and yoga. A stay at the 21-acre estate begins with a consultation by an Ayurvedic doctor, to assess your health and wellness goals, and determine your dosha (body type). Treatments include dietary recommendations and elements of Chinese or Tibetan medicine. The commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability is high, and the founder’s goal is“to transcend spa and move to wellness, transcend wellness to well-being.”
The Retreat Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Created by celebrity chef and health and wellness coachDiana Stobo, this sustainable sanctuary is spread out on a quartz mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Once settled into one of the 13 phone- and television-free rooms (each equipped with essential oil diffusers, organic bath products and a selenite crystal to help activate chakras), explore the on-site organic gardens and coffee plantation, saltwater pools and jungle and river paths. The Vida Mia Healing Center and Spa offers organic treatments designed to heal and nurture, while the cuisine is based on anti-inflammatory principles. Multiday wellness, Ayurvedic and spiritual programs allow you to bond with other guests during activities like yoga, hikes and community and sustainability initiatives.
Best Detox
With 50 piney acres outside Houston, Deer Lake will take care of all your wellness needs—from relaxation at the spa to amore intensive detox and reset experience. Many of the services are created to cleanse, detox and rebalance the body, from colon hydrotherapy and ionic foot baths to Conscious Cleansing sessions aimed at “detoxing the mind.” From a Fasting Lounge to Breath Work and Meditation, Nutrition and Raw FoodClasses, as well as nutritional counseling and intermittent fasting, Deer Lake’s fasting, juicing, cleansing and colonics programs are geared to energize and cleanse.
Early to bed and early to rise at The Ranch supports the likelihood of a loss of three to six percent body weight, an enhanced mood, refocused mind and more salubrious habits.Off the grid on 200 remote acres above Malibu, the original bootcamp for celebrities and glitterati offers reset programs of seven or nine days, as well as private coaching at the mother facility. Four-day jumpstart initiatives at Four Seasons Westlake also can be accessed. Guests follow a rigorous daily schedule, which consists of a daily morning hike, weight training, yoga and massage. Menus present creatively healthy and fulfilling meals with this caveat: vegan, no sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free and satisfying.
Ahead of its time, this holistic retreat center set the standard for mind and heart expansion, experimentation, mindfulness and general awakening inside and out. Nestled in the heart of Big Sur, California, views of nature replace telephones and televisions, so digital detox occurs organically.Occupying an energetic landscape where the land meets the sea, with therapeutic mineral baths, the institute also facilitates cleansing in its bathhouse. Touting a mindfulness philosophy, Esalen teaches participants to slow down and let the lessons from its variety of programs, tutorials, sessions and activities take hold to encourage transformation.
Since 1976, the renowned center (also known as H3) has helped countless guests find their paths to wellness with its all-inclusive retreats, which range from long weekends to several weeks and focus on such goals as weight loss, fitness and overall health and well-being. The programs are immersive, the guidance expert and the coastal setting—on South Carolina’sHilton Head Island—idyllic, but most impressive are the impactful results. Programs include classes and workshops, fitness regimes and spa treatments, overseen by a team of coaches, experts and counselors. The chef-led culinary program ensures that meals are delicious and memorable (and made from locally sourced ingredients), while also being healthy and calorie-conscious.
Chiva-Som International Health Resort
Thailand
The brainchild of Boonchu Rojanastien, who historically proffered his beachside getaway to spa-seeking souls, Chiva-Som has been supporting renewed vitality for a quarter of a century. Based on six branches of healing philosophy(fitness, spa, holistic health, nutrition, aesthetic beauty and physiotherapy), Chiva-Som’s programs excel at recalibrating and jumpstarting new beginnings. Its Art of Detox program supports guests with herbal supplements, acupuncture, spa rituals, toxin-ridding treatments (such as colonic hydrotherapy and lymphatic drainage) and macro and micronutrient balancing. A paradisiacal destination, Chiva-Som keeps guests busy with activities from Tai Chi to yoga.
Most Transformative
Rosewood Mayakoba
Mexico
At this magical territory of tranquility on a nature preserve, curative ch’ulel, the Maya word for life force, is palpable. Sense, A Rosewood Spa, situated on its own island, stretches some 17,000 square feet, edged by lagoons, and occupied by an array of birds, animals, gardens and spa healers. Profoundly committed to traditional Mexican healing techniques and treatments inspired by ancient Mayan practices, Sense, A Rosewood Spa, now offers separate accommodations within the resort with its newly launched Wellness Suites. Each commodious guest room, helmed by a wellness butler, has self-care amenities—a reflexology fountain, private saltwater therapy pool, meditation pavilion and in-shower aromatherapy.
Garden of the Gods Resort and Club
USA
Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in Colorado Springs—home to Garden of the Gods Park, a registered national landmark with red rock sandstone formations—offers crisp, mountain air and a painterly terra cotta backdrop. The veritable oasis boasts three swimming pools and STRATA IntegratedWellness and Spa, a new 31,000-square-foot facility housing a medical center, spa and event center. Wellness Spa casitas are appointed with soaking tubs, fireplaces and cozy, modern living rooms. And the program features more than 200 offerings from IV Nutritional Therapy and cardiology to naturopathy atSTRATA, featuring more than 40 board-certified doctors and wellness clinicians, along with meditation classes and visits to the Himalayan salt-inhalation sauna.
COMO Parrot Cay
Turks & Caicos Islands
COMO Parrot Cay is a Caribbean private island resort in the Turks and Caicos, with plenty of hidden coves, pristine beaches and reefs to explore. COMO Shambhala Retreat spa is renowned for top holistic, Eastern-inspired treatments including Ayurveda, Indonesian and Thai massage. Yoga, in an airy room open to natural breezes, an outdoor Jacuzzi garden, Japanese baths and other holistic modalities are geared toward mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Retreats and workshops, expert therapists and trainers, and the signature COMO Shambhala Massage provide a nurturing—yet incredibly luxurious—environment.
Borgo Egnazia
Italy
In an old hill town in Italy’s Puglia, where olive trees stretch to the sea, this unique resort is built from local materials to resemble a traditional village (“borgo”). With a Michelin-starred restaurant, beautiful private beaches, three swimming pools and the fantastic Vair Spa with wellness treatments based on ancient Puglian rituals and traditions, Borgo offers an authentic wellness program (including “psychological detox”)staffed by therapists, naturopaths, psychologists and more, intended to support guests in achieving their wellness goals.
Hermitage Bay
Antigua & Barbuda
Verdant, friendly, frangipani-filled Antigua has a knack for jumpstarting needed paradigm shifts. With the requisite sandy beaches and turquoise seas, intimate Hermitage Bay pampers guests on its secluded part of the island. The Garden Spa takes renewal to a new level with holistic Dorissima SignatureTreatments, each designed to correspond with certain chakras and their attributes, each meant to support specific energetic shifts—such as grounding, opening to confidence or finding joy. Rituals utilize colored lights, aromatherapy, music and bodywork to fulfill goals.
Most Unique
Casa di Langa
Italy
Opened in June 2021, this sustainable luxury hotel is set in Italy’s Piedmont region, the birthplace of the Slow Food movement. Overlooking rolling hills and over 100 acres of working vineyards, the 39-room retreat has a strong culinary focus, offering everything from cooking classes, truffle-hunting excursions and Vespa vineyard tours to farm visits and tastings at area wineries; it’s also one of the only hotels in Italy to offer official Wine & Spirits Education Trust certification classes.There are also on-site gardens, greenhouses and orchards that supply the hotel’s restaurants, and a 4,000-bottle-strong wine cellar. The eco-minded Lelòse Spa offers yoga, Pilates, couple’s treatments and healing rituals.
The Floating Spa at Monkey Island Estate
UK
Monkey Island Estate, set on a verdant island in the Thames 30 minutes north of London, embodies the unexpected. The historic Estate was inhabited by monks in the Middle Ages, whose apothecary elixirs were renowned far and wide. The unexpected three-room floating spa on a restored boat tethered to the island is connected to the Estate’s heritage by a signature treatment, the Monk’s Elixir, which begins with elixirs inspired by the monk’s herbal tonics and includes a range of healing massages that would have made them proud.
Lewis and Clark, who trekked through this very same section of remote Montana, back in the day, would have appreciated a stop at glamorous dude ranch Paws Up’s SpaTown. A collection of luxury glamping tents (Paws Up’s were amongst the first) encircled by mountains and flanked by wildflower-mottled meadows, the spa and wellness center serves the retreat’s enclaves of luxury tented camps, cabins, wilderness treehouses and the new luxury outpost, Green-O.Relying on herbs and flowers from the ranch’s garden, along with CBD products to ease soreness after a day spent out on horseback, treatments work with nature to bring relief and joy.
Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine
Spain
Centuries ago, monks who tended the gardens and vineyards around this noble monastery in Spain’s Castille-Leon region could not have imagined that their stables would become aspa, themed to honor the wine made on the premises. At this cannily restored monastery hotel’s wellness zone, Santuario, a Spa Sommelier takes advantages of the compound’s resources, using a wine ritual to gauge a client’s preferences.Bathrobe-clad, the client tastes three house wines and sniffs corresponding essential oils to help therapists determine a tailor-made series of treatments. Besides unique vinotherapy style treatments, Santuario offers Tibetan medicine and a range of fitness activities.
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi
Maldives
This stunning resort features 119 villas (including overwater options), 11 dining and drinking options and even a water discovery park for kids. This year saw the introduction of the first-in-country Aqua Wellness Center, a 7,735-square-foot haven with a massive custom-built hydrotherapy pool equipped with a variety of massaging zones; there’s also a peaceful garden in which to enjoy a healthy lunch. The expanded experiential wellness menu includes everything from yoga, meditation and holistic medicine to Ayurvedic therapies, martial arts sessions and crystal healing.
Best Mineral Bathing/Hot Springs
This desert retreat outside Phoenix is made for those looking to disconnect in a nature-driven environment, but still enjoy pampering luxuries. At its core are soaks and swims in the beautiful, mineral-rich geothermal pools, fed with waters that have been drawing indigenous wellness-seekers for thousands of years. Also included in the rates are all meals (crafted using ingredients from the on-site organic farm) and a range of activities, from guided hikes and mountain e-biking to yoga, archery, lawn games and history tours. For an added fee, book a personalized mindfulness session (in everything from qi gong to chakra work), a spa treatment or something blood-pumping like a horseback ride or a run on Arizona's first-ever Via Ferrata climbing course.
Grand Resort Bad Ragaz
Switzerland
A tranquil retreat nestled in the Alps, the Grand ResortBad Ragaz is a peaceful haven just an hour from Zurich, where guests will find the space to breathe the clean mountain air.With 233 luxurious rooms and suites and an exclusive health and spa experience, the resort is home to one of the top healthcare and nutrition centers in Europe, where doctors and therapists integrate holistic therapies to support guests on their uniquely transformative journeys. The thermal spa offers a range of pools that rely on body-temperature thermal water. Guests can also enjoy massage, sauna rituals and topMichelin-starred cuisine.
When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hightailed it out of Telluride, Colorado, legend has it that they landed at Dunton Hot Springs, a perfectly preserved 1880s mining town tucked into the piney Colorado mountains. The accommodations—upgraded with luxurious, stylish touches—are the original hand-hewn log cabins. Dunton features a dance hall and saloon, massages, mountain hiking, bath house and, of course, a variety of natural hot springs that bubble up from deep underground.The property is powered by 100 percent renewable energy, among other sustainability initiatives.
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon
Iceland
Set in some of the world’s most jaw-dropping surroundings,The Retreat at the Blue Lagoon lies amid 800-year-old, moss-profuse lava fields. As the VIP portal to the world-famousBlue Lagoon complex, the stunningly composed wellness hotel offers both private thermal water lagoons for guests, suites with personal lagoons, and a separate entrance to the public area. While soaking in the healing waters reigns as key to the experience, The Retreat’s subterranean spa, a tranquil warren of well-being, provides a cozy place for its famous, self-administered, three-part The Ritual—a lava and mineral-infused salt exfoliation, a lagoon-foraged algae layer, all finished with a moisturizing sheath of creamy silica.
Drawing therapeutic H2O from the world’s deepest geothermal hot springs in one of Colorado’s most characteristic mountain hamlets, this 79-room spa resort spills down a slope to hover above a rushing river. Its 24 uniquely shaped soaking pools compose a landscape of watery bliss, each offering a different mood and temperature. Names such as Sunset SocialClub, Lobster Pot and Tranquility say it all. The water, a trove of 13 curative minerals, including potassium, lithium and sulphur, not only soothes weary muscles and boosts immune systems, it helps heat the town’s schools and public buildings.Resort guests get 24/7 access, ideal to avoid the crowds.
Best Girlfriend Getaway
With a tricycle cart on the beach bearing snacks, frozen muscat grapes around the pool, s’mores by the firepit, artisanal picnic baskets and activities such as ice cream churning, this stylish landmark hotel in Maine’s lobster country offers best friends a slew of clique-worthy options. Take refuge in the charming spa, where treatments such as the Honey Buzz Wrap(featuring honey, clay and lavender milk), Raindrop Therapy(based on Native American techniques) and the Kennebunk River Stone Massage invoke true sense of place.
Eden Roc Cap Cana
Dominican Republic
Boasting spacious room accommodations, Eden Roc Cap Cana is the only Relais & Chateaux in the Dominican Republic.The recently renovated Eden Roc Wellness & Spa features 12indoor and outdoor treatment rooms, a dedicated 1,200-square-foot, anti-gravity yoga area, a dazzling Aqua Garden with a freshwater pool, 3,000-square-foot gym with wellness bar, and wellness initiatives that are sure to bring guests back into balance. Plus, Swedish sauna, Hammam, rainfall showers and exterior Jacuzzi for the ultimate relaxation experience. Make sure to leave plenty of time for a zip-line tour, caving, cenote or relaxation on the beautiful beach.
Palo Verde Spa & Apothecary
USA
The vastness and otherworldliness of the desert sparks our imagination. From a healing perspective, this Arizona property provides both the emotional and physical space to heal. Enter The Andaz, a clever coterie of bungalows, which dot 23 acres with mid-century modern flair. Crisscrossing paths on property further the mood. At Palo Verde Spa & Apothecary, treatments like PricklyPear Wrap take inspiration from the surroundings. Groups of girlfriends will enjoy the airy Sonoran Wellness Suites, withTonal smart-gym systems and bicycles, as well as the pools, daily meditation on the lawn, guided desert journeys and complimentary fitness and yoga classes.
Just a quick two hours from Manhattan, Connecticut’s bucolic Litchfield County awaits. Quintessentially idyllic, it holds the storybook town of Washington and the shingle-styleMayflower Inn & Spa. With 50 acres of rolling hills for fitness hikes and girl-gang special activities, such as Tarot & Tipples, the hotel further attracts groups of friends thanks to its recent partnership with The Well, one of New York’s best known wellness brands. Under The Well’s tutelage, the Mayflower now offers a 20,000-square-foot spa sanctuary with bothEastern and Western practices, medical health coaching, daily fitness classes, body treatments and seasonal retreats.
One & Only Palmilla
Mexico
Like a mirage of luxury Mexico come true this fabled resort fulfills the images of daydreamers. A swirl of white washed adobe walls, terra cotta tiles, murals, bright art and colorful embroidery, it presides over one of Los Cabos’ only swimmable beaches. A coterie of affable butlers keeps best buddies hydrated, fed, on-time for appointments and scheduled with activities—such as sunset cruises and surfing lessons.Inside the One&Only Spa, a collection of garden villas, cultural healing rituals, relaxing treatments and therapeutic podiatry practices by Bastien Gonzalez (read: best pedicure ever) are stellar.
Most Family Friendly
This pastoral working ranch offers energetic activities inBig Sky Country, including fly-fishing, horseback riding, guided nature hikes, ATV tours and cross-country skiing in season.Guests smash balls at the on-site tennis courts, swim laps in heated outdoor swimming pools, cast lines in the fishing pond and sweat bullets at the fitness center. Sign on for fly-casting lessons or horseback rides along Bitterroot National Forest where you may join a boisterous cattle drive or a birding tour to see eagles and hawks, elk, moose, big horn sheep, antelope, or even to track a shy wolf or mountain lion.
The 500-acre Grande Lakes Orlando, including The Ritz-Carlton Orlando and JW Marriott Orlando, is an elegant property featuring a 7,000-square-foot WhisperCreek organic farm with a chicken coop, apiary and focus on organic, locally sourced and sustainable cuisine. The spa atThe Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, with 40 treatment rooms and a stunning saltwater pool, is the largest in TheRitz-Carlton portfolio, with Grande Experiences, like the luxurious Grande Indulgence, and the Zero Gravity Massage, where you swing in a rooftop hammock. The Ritz-Carlton property overlooks the headwaters of the Everglades and offers Eco Experiences, spectacular guided kayak or canoe trips through the moody mangroves.
DumaTau
Botswana
When it was relaunched in early 2021, this Botswana safari lodge—operated by the renowned Wilderness Safaris—not only unveiled a new sustainability- and conservation-minded design, but also a new “restorative safari” philosophy that focuses on wellness, mindfulness and holistic cuisine. Set in the Linyanti Wilderness Reserve, the camp has eight oversized suites (including one family suite), each with living areas, plunge pools and outdoor showers. In addition to watching elephants swim in the adjacent lagoon, families can enjoy day and nighttime game drives, boat trips, walking safaris, birding walks and helicopter rides. The Osprey Retreat wellness center houses a spa, gym and healthy café, while the plant forward, low-footprint culinary program focuses on indigenous ingredients, locally grown superfoods and root-to-stem dishes that minimize food waste.
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
USA
Having just announced a “revitalized optimization program in collaboration with Next/Health,” which will result in first of its kind white-glove wellness offerings (such as bespoke mind, body and spirit itineraries for guests), this oceanfront resort features a peerless location on the Wailea Coast. Families join forces to participate in fitness offerings from pickleball to outrigger canoe paddling to electric biking. Mostly adult orientedSpa & Wellness Center at Four Seasons Resort Maui proposes a comprehensive menu of treatments, includingHawaiian massage modalities to guests, though pamper-loving keiki (children) can enjoy gentle poolside services from an age-appropriate menu beside the pool.
Owned and operated by the Smiley family since 1869, this idyllic destination, a National Historic Landmark, sits on 2,200acres of beautifully maintained land. In 1963, it established a5,000-acre-plus nature preserve, and on its 125th anniversary received an award from the United Nations EnvironmentProgram. Perfect for hiking and forest bathing, with programs like the Junior Naturalist Experience for kids and outdoor survival classes for all ages, the very large and beautiful state of-the-art spa (featuring a geothermal heating and cooling system) and breathtaking scenery keep generations comingOne&Only Palmilla back for more.