The 12 most luxurious spa treatments in the world for 2023

From holistic healing in the Himalayas to sound, light and color therapy in Bali, these resorts and wellness destinations offer the most luxurious spa treatments in the world for 2023.

(And when you’re done checking out this year’s winners, see how they compare to our picks for last year’s best spas in the world.)

Bali: Guiding lights

Turn up the good vibrations.

The Illume Room at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay in Indonesia offers total immersion into sound, light and color frequencies.

Sealed from outside rays to enhance chromatherapy, the suite features a heated massage bed made of crushed quartz crystals, along with seven Alchemy Crystal Singing Bowls and a surround-sound system.

Guests experiencing the Celestial Light Ritual enjoy therapies that stimulate healing responses, set to a peaceful soundtrack of the resort’s waves and wildlife. 

Morocco: Double play 

When guests aren’t golfing the Fairmont Taghazout Bay’s breathtaking oceanfront course, surfing Atlantic waves or admiring the resort’s spectacular views, they can rejuvenate in the swanky spa with outdoor wet circuit and yoga studio.

Imagine a soothing couple’s massage with warm orange-blossom oil, followed by heated herbal poultices filled with handpicked lavender, rosemary and verbena, and cooling rose-quartz face massages.

For peak bliss, add on a bathing ceremony with beldi olive oil soap in a private Berber hammam. 

Mexico: Body beautiful 

Build your own best-in-class bodywork ritual at The Well at Chileno Bay in Cabo San Lucas.

Tailor the treatment by picking one to three modalities: lymph drainage, cupping, hot obsidian stones, fresh aloe application, massage and traditional Mexican rebozo shawl stretching.

Relax further at Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, an Auberge Resorts Collection property, with immersive experiences; mindfulness, yoga and meditation classes; a stroll in the reflexology pool; a nap in the healing garden and a visit to the magnificent Bath House. 

Dominican Republic: Sweet spot

Four of the DR’s most famous exports serve as hero ingredients in Casa de Campo’s scrumptious signature treatments: Taino Coffee Exfoliation, Sugar Cane Scrub, Tropical Fruit Body Wrap and Chocolate Therapy cocoa body mask.

When a second ultra-exclusive spa opens this May as an extension of the property’s Premier Club, it will offer high-tech services like Binaural Acoustic and Dynamic Stimulation on a Welnamis table and a “spa within a spa” for VIPs and private events.

Istanbul: Turkish delight 

At the crossroads of Europe and Asia sits the Peninsula Istanbul, the captivating city’s newest five-star hotel.

The property boasts both an outdoor pool overlooking the Bosphorus as well as an 82-foot indoor pool with submerged speakers for underwater tunes. The vast marble-lined spa is fit for a sultan, with an extensive treatment menu, two hammams, saunas, steam rooms and a fitness center.

Unwind Ottoman-style with a traditional hammam service, which includes a body exfoliation using a kese mitt and a soap-bubble massage. 

India: Profound practices 

Journey to the mystical foothills of the Himalayas for the ultimate rebalancing and healing getaway.

Each full-board stay at Six Senses Vana, the 21-acre forest sanctuary in Dehradun, India, includes a wellness screening, personalized nutrition, retreat attire and a customized daily program that might involve ayurveda, yoga, Tibetan medicine, meditation and natural healing therapies.

Guests can also choose intention-based resets like the five-night Detox, Sleep and Yoga programs, or the transformative 21-night.

St. Barts: Botanical elixirs 

Nestled amid lush tropical gardens on a private peninsula, the Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth Sense Spa melds ancestral traditions with French beauty expertise.

One of its “lost remedy” treatments is Return to Balance, inspired by the Creole medical tenet of alternating warm and cold compresses to restore the body’s equilibrium.

The treatment flows from a salt foot soak infused with the island’s corossol leaves and a sugar cane foot scrub to a vivifying essential-oil massage, cooling wrap and hot compresses of ginger, lemongrass and mint. 

Cayman Islands: Caribbean classic 

Stretching along the fabled sugar sands of Seven Mile Beach, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman recently underwent a dazzling renovation.

Now the spa has unveiled a new wellness concept in partnership with Espa and 111Skin. On the menu: the Celestial Black Diamond Non-Surgical Face Lift, said to firm and brighten the complexion with a 111Skin peeling solution, rose-quartz liquid mask and firming massage.

Guys can try the Gentlemen’s Pedicure and the Men’s Massage.

Paris: Suite life

Master craftsmen from the palaces of the king of Morocco spent thousands of hours creating the enchanting spa in Paris’ new literary boutique hotel, Maison Proust.

The magnificent marble-floored pool room, with its decorative tiled columns and hanging lanterns, is an exotic oasis in the heart of the Marais neighborhood. Try the foot reflexology: a targeted, pressurepoint treatment said to stimulate blood and lymphatic circulation and eliminate toxins.

And then start your walking tour of the world’s most romantic city. 

London: Mayfair marvel 

After more than 160 years as London’s most iconic hotel, Claridge’s has unveiled its first spa.

With an East-meets-West philosophy that embraces holistic and high-tech treatments, the serene space has it all: a heated swimming pool, steam rooms, sauna and seven treatment rooms.

For a unique indulgence, nothing tops the Bamboo & Silk Ritual: A skilled therapist performs a body massage using warmed bamboo sticks and an herbal poultice, then dons silk thimbles to lightly exfoliate the complexion during a nurturing facial.

NYC: Discreet extravagance 

A personal spa within New York’s most exclusive spa within the city’s priciest hotel is the pinnacle of luxury.

Aman New York offers unrivaled splendor in its two private Spa Houses, each offering a garden terrace with hot bath and cold plunge pools, a living area with fireplace, a double treatment room and a hammam or banya sauna.

A half-day session for a couple might include an exfoliating banya treatment with oak or birch leaves, body scrubs, cold plunges, custom massages, refreshments and lunch. 

Nice, France: Mediterranean allure 

From its glamorous location in a restored belle-epoque landmark building near the Promenade des Anglais to its gleaming new spa, the Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel is pure Côte d’Azur chic.

Signature treatments with Thalion products include Mineral Treasure: a hydrating facial plus revitalizing massage with marine magnesium.

In advance of your night out in nearby St-Tropez or the hotel’s stylish rooftop dining terrace, book a Bastien Gonzalez mani-pedi at the famous pedicure-podiatrist’s first nail salon on the French Riviera.