When it comes to living a restorative experience, it is essential to choose among the best proposal within our reach. If it is extensive and of high quality, the decision becomes an even more complex task. The offer around therapeutic hedonism, wellness, and its treatment keeps growing in an increasingly attractive combination of luxury, innovation, and holistic perspective - one that takes into account the body, mind, and spirit.
Another year - and ten in a row - the World Spa Awards have been announced, recognizing excellence in spa and wellness tourism. The goal is to serve as a source of inspiration for those who opt for rejuvenating trips and seek out the best hotels and retreats around the globe. Here are the top winners of 2024.
Best spa hotel in the world
Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa (Switzerland)
The facilities at Switzerland's Alpine Spa are spectacular
Located in the Central Switzerland region, in an excellent location with unbeatable views over Lake Lucerne and the peaks of Bürgenberg, it can boast of being the hotel with the best spa in the world. The Alpine Spa stands out among the most beautiful and modern spas, featuring a breathtaking heated infinity pool year-round at 35°C, from which to gaze upon the most spectacular panoramic views in the area.
Inaugurated in 2017, in the over 10,000 m2 of indoor and outdoor space of this alpine spa, there are numerous areas for the enjoyment of the most discerning guests: relaxation rooms, saunas, private spa suites, hot and cold baths, an ice room, hammam, massage and beauty treatment area, as well as an indoor pool with views and another one with saltwater.
Best resort spa in the world
Mandarin Oriental Marrakech
Hammam of the Mandarin Oriental Marrakech
This magnificent integrated resort spa, set within a 20-hectare property of gardens and olive trees just minutes from the center of the Red City, is a true holistic oasis. Its facilities, inspired by the chain's Oriental heritage and Moroccan tradition, offer exceptional wellness experiences to balance body, mind, and spirit.
The spa covers an area of 1,800 m2 with high vaulted ceilings, long corridors, and offers an extensive range of spaces and treatments. It features six spa suites (one of them for couples) with a terrace and private garden for outdoor treatments. Turkish baths, indoor heated pool, gym, yoga studio, two hammams, and rooms dedicated to facial treatments with rose, argan, and prickly pear oils, with oxygen and high-end anti-aging treatments.
Best day spa in the world
World Spa (New York)
World Spa in New York, a surprise in the heart of Brooklyn
The World Spa is a luxurious urban spa of over 4,600 m2 nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, transformed into a unique space for disconnection and personal well-being in the city. Its hydrothermal offerings draw inspiration from around the world, including Europe, Russia, Turkey, Finland, and Japan, offering a remarkable range of thermotherapy experiences.
The center, which opened its doors at the end of 2022, features, among other spaces, a Moroccan and Turkish hammam, pools, saunas—including one with clay and hay, an infrared sauna, and an aroma sauna—a snow room, and a Himalayan salt room. Users can also enjoy a selection of treatments that include body massages, facials, and rituals for couples. Additionally, the facility has a special treatment room, known as the Theater Room. Here, guests experience a multisensory journey through treatments on a zero-gravity lounger while consuming relaxing audiovisual content.
Best wellness retreat in the world
Palazzo Fiuggi (Italy)
The Palazzo Fiuggi offers personalized therapies
“For a longer and better life”. The maxim that accompanies the presentation of Palazzo Fiuggi, a splendid eight-hectare establishment nestled atop a hill 50 minutes from the Italian capital, offers some clues to its philosophy. This medical wellness retreat is a center that blends the deepest holistic traditions with advanced traditional Western medicine to rejuvenate the body, mind, and soul. The therapies, completely personalized, range from Ayurveda to laser therapy and thalassotherapy, while taking advantage of the surroundings, especially the benefits of its spring water.
Since opening its doors in 2021, the hotel has not stopped surprising with original proposals. On the nutritional side, in addition to offering balanced personalized menus, it invites guests to the Heinz Beck Cooking School, the first chef with three Michelin stars in Rome, to learn how to prepare his dishes. Pools, Roman baths, saunas, and Turkish baths, gardens, parks, and lakes where outdoor activities (tennis, paddle tennis, hiking, cycling, golf...) can be enjoyed, shape a successful retreat model.
Best new wellness retreat in the world
Sha Mexico (Mayan Riviera)
Sha México opened its doors in January
Sha Mexico, inaugurated last January, follows in the footsteps of Sha Spain, the prestigious health center in Alicante owned by the Bataller family that, with 16 years of history, has become one of the best wellness retreats in the world. The brand-new establishment, located in a newly constructed building surrounded by gardens on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, in the heart of the Riviera Maya, exudes harmony from every angle. It features a hundred rooms and 37 residences with neutral colors and sustainable materials, complete with a whirlpool tub and spectacular views.
The high-tech health clinic has a hundred treatment rooms, a gym, a hydrotherapy circuit with a dry sauna, steam sauna, Roman bath, and ice bath, a pool, and spaces for activities such as sound baths. Cutting-edge treatments like intravenous ozone therapy or advanced cellular regeneration therapy are just some of the offerings in the extensive center's catalog. Nutrition is one of the key pillars of the integrative approach that characterizes Sha, following the recommendations of the prestigious Harvard Medical School.
Best new spa hotel in the world
Raffles London at The OWO (England)
Spa space at the Raffles London
Hosted in the Old War Office, the building that housed the British War Office during the two great conflicts of the 20th century, the hotel opened to the public last autumn surrounded by great expectation. And the truth is that it has not disappointed. Transformed into an urban sanctuary for holistic well-being, the Guerlain spa stands out, earning it recognition at the 2024 World Spa Awards.
The French beauty brand has designed a series of exclusive treatments and rituals for the face, body, and mind using traditional products and natural ingredients for this establishment. The space, which exudes tranquility in the bustling city of London, covers 2,500m2 across four floors, featuring a spectacular pool and a wide range of facilities and services including saunas, steam baths, and experiential showers that cater to the most demanding guests.
Best new 'resort spa' in the world
Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino (Greece)
Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino
It is another award-winning Mandarin Oriental establishment at the World Spa Awards. The chain, with a strong commitment to wellness, has chosen a blend of holistic traditions from ancient Greece with contemporary therapies at this facility, opened in 2023. Its hillside villas with pools, surrounded by gardens and overlooking the sea, blend into a dreamy landscape on the Greek island of Pylos.
Your spa and wellness center features a large pool facing the bay, indoor and outdoor gym, mineral and floral steam rooms, Turkish bath, hydrotherapy, and a wide range of therapeutic treatments that involve ancient rituals stemming from Hellenic and ancient Chinese medicine and are based on energy. Facial treatments, massages, and couple experiences complement an offering that in just over a year has gained international prestige and recognition.
