LOCATION: The northern tip of the Spanish island of Ibiza, overlooking Xarraca Bay. The spa is part of the Six Senses Ibiza resort, which boasts 116 guest rooms and suites, 17 townhouses, three restaurants, shopping, and an ever-changing lineup of entertainment and adventure outings.
VIBE: A healthy yet indulgent respite with breathtaking views.
THE CONCEPT: In addition to traditional services like manicures and massages, the spa provides innovative, age-defying programming in its wellness-oriented Rose Bar—as well as an entire floor devoted to water and heat therapy, complete with a double hammam, infrared sauna, steam room, and Caldarium (hot plunge pool).
UNIQUE FEATURE: The Rose Bar combines modern science with ancient rituals to create treatments that make you look and feel more youthful. Guests undergo diagnostic testing to assess their current health, then receive a doctor-devised plan that may include IV infusions, cryotherapy, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF), altitude training, dietary counseling, and an array of spa treatments.
TREATMENT TO TRY: Mind Your Brain, a one-day program, helps improve brain functioning and clarity via yoga, meditation, exercise, nutritional advice, brain games, massage, and more.
WINTER HIGHLIGHTS: During what’s deemed the “cool season” (November to April), the spa hosts a series of immersive multi-day specials run by industry experts, such as the Sleep Retreat for those who struggle to get regular, restorative rest.
A mountain view at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection.
Courtesy of Auberge Resorts Collection
LOCATION: Southern Costa Rica, at the base of the Talamanca Mountains. The Well spa is located in the Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, a property that includes 50 one- or two-bedroom casitas and 180 acres of rainforest, coffee farms, vegetable gardens, and horse stables.
VIBE: East meets West—in the jungle.
THE CONCEPT: The Well at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection is The Well’s third location and its first international site (the others are in Manhattan and Connecticut). The Costa Rican outpost offers restorative spa treatments and expert-led experiences—and celebrates its verdant setting with an emphasis on Pachamama (Mother Earth), incorporating local botanical ingredients into its therapies.
UNIQUE FEATURE: Every spa service begins in the Casa de Agua (House of Water), where guests can take part in a purifying ritual that includes an herbal exfoliation and a clay treatment made with coffee butter from local Costa Rican beans.
TREATMENT TO TRY: Sign up for a massage—in the Calientillo River. During the Well River Bath, guests get a rubdown on a massage bed that’s been built into the water.
WINTER HIGHLIGHTS: The cooler season ushers in multi-day retreats led by thought leaders and healers, including February’s six-day “Find Your Energy Flow With John Amaral,” featuring daily exercises with the Los Angeles–based energy practitioner, who appeared in Netflix’s The Goop Lab With Gwyneth Paltrow.
Dior Spa Cheval Blanc’s Sauvage Suite, designed using natural materials.
Matthieu Salvaing/Parfums Christian Dior
LOCATION: Along the Seine in Paris, steps from the Louvre and the Marais. The Dior spa is inside the new Cheval Blanc, an Art Deco–inspired boutique hotel with 72 rooms and suites.
VIBE: A serene, luxurious oasis amid the urban bustle.
THE CONCEPT: The spa, designed by Peter Marino, immerses guests in the world of Dior with specialized services and beauty products, including a skin care line (Professional Solutions) as well as a boutique offering an exclusive Dior x Cheval Blanc fragrance and color collection. Marino’s intent was to create a space that felt like a cozy Parisian apartment.
UNIQUE FEATURE: Each of the six treatment suites pays homage to an aspect of Christian Dior’s life—such as the feather-themed decor in the Mitzah Suite (a nod to Mitzah Bricard, Dior’s long- time muse) and the English garden–inspired environment in the Granville Suite (designed to evoke Dior’s childhood home in the Villa Les Rhumbs in Granville, France).
TREATMENT TO TRY: Slough away dead skin cells and boost radiance with the Dior Sapphire Crystal Micro-Abrasion, which utilizes exfoliating beads coated in fine sapphire particles. The treatment’s intensity is customizable, so it’s safe for all skin types, including sensitive.
WINTER HIGHLIGHTS: The Precious Energy Face and Body Treatment is a 90- to 120-minute service that includes body massage, an energizing ritual with semiprecious hot stones (such as yellow quartz and agate), and a skin-reviving face mask.
Surya Spa’s wall of herbs and botanicals.
Courtesy of Surya Spa
LOCATION: The coast of Southern California. The spa is part of designer Kelly Wearstler’s laid-back-luxe Santa Monica Proper Hotel, which offers 271 rooms and outdoor dining.
VIBE: Indian Ayurvedic medicine married to California cool.
THE CONCEPT: The 3,000-square-foot spa, also designed by Wearstler, is a collaboration between the Proper Hotel and Martha Soffer, one of Hollywood’s most sought-after Ayurvedic healers. The opulent space includes six treatment rooms, a meditation area, and a kitchen. Surya is designed to exude warmth and make guests feel like they’re in someone’s home, complete with nutritious snacks offered in between treatments.
UNIQUE FEATURE: Guests can have a personalized, therapeutic body oil created at the spa’s blending bar.
TREATMENT TO TRY: Indulge in an Ayurvedic massage called the Udvartana, in which two therapists knead sore muscles using warm, custom-blended oils. The rubdown is followed by a full body scrub with herbs, green organic coffee, sugar, and oils.
WINTER HIGHLIGHTS: The Elevated Vitality/Nasya is a 90-minute massage treatment that uses herbal oils, aromatic steam, and Ayurvedic wood and bone tools to help clear congestion and relieve tension in the head, neck, and shoulders.
This article appears in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of ELLE.
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