Luxury spa hotels: 7 of the best spa retreats

Experience authentic Fiji culture with a French touch during a spa getaway on Denarau Island. Whether your itinerary is designed around island hopping or pure indulgence, building a wellness retreat into your stay is an excellent way to absorb Fiji's ancestral culture and stunning scenery. The newly renovated 5-star Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa showcases the island’s hospitality and local artwork. Start your pamper experience outdoors with the sun on your face and your feet in a foot spa before moving inside for blissful indulgence with a Tropical Fijian Bobo massage. Expertly applied ancestral techniques will boost circulation and leave you deeply relaxed.

Bring your special someone and savor some top-to-toe together time. Start with a coconut moringa foot ritual (for her) or a Mana’ia foot ritual (for him), and finish with a traditional Fijian scalp massage to relieve tension, restore balance, and give your hair a healthy shine. Move from spa to salon to entrust your hair, nails, and make-up to our world-class practitioners before toasting the sunset with a glass of bubbles.

There’s only one way to take in the uplifting vibe of Sydney Harbour, and that’s on foot. With sightseeing trails and stunning coastal walks galore, your stay in Sydney is likely to be active and outdoors. Along the harbor’s lofty modern skyline lies the serene sanctuary of Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour’s luxury spa to strike the perfect balance. Slip into a fluffy robe and let expert wellness practitioners guide you through a menu of thoughtfully curated wellness treatments. From French-inspired vino therapy rituals to handcrafted Australian Waterlily botanics designed for slow skincare, surrender to next-generation beauty treatments that relax, rejuvenate, and renew.

Book a Ladies’ Ritual for a luxury spa hotel experience in Sydney with friends, catching up over a fruit platter and Champagne in between bespoke facial treatments. Reset your chakras with a sound healing meditation. Or come as a couple for a deliciously relaxing massage followed by some pool time and a wellness lunch.

Slow skincare with French-inspired vino therapy rituals and handcrafted Australian botanics.

Head to Benin to be among the first to discover this brand-new luxury spa hotel in Cotonou, the first 5-star hotel in Benin, with its avant-garde design and scenic surroundings. It’s the perfect base for exploring this off-the-beaten-track destination, with its stilt villages, wildlife safari park, and UNESCO World Heritage site. Benin is also home to shea butter, prized for its nourishing properties and wellness benefits, and crafted here with a deep respect for tradition.

The recently opened Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa lies in the heart of the country's largest city and cultural hub, poised in a lush green garden on the ocean’s edge. Beninese design and hospitality are accentuated throughout with a welcoming blue and gold decor and five cosmopolitan bars and restaurants. The spacious Signature Spa by KOS has five treatment rooms where skilled therapists massage, pamper, and nourish the skin with the French brand’s natural, eco-friendly products sourced from precious plants. Expect innovative techniques and attentive service. Follow a delicious luxury massage ritual with a dip in the turquoise waters of the pool and an herbal tea brimming with goodness in the sunny garden.

Transcend the ordinary with a sustainable luxury spa experience in Dubai. Heralded for its unparalleled opulence, Dubai is an invitation to indulge. Alongside a private beach, 12 bars and restaurants, and six pools, Sofitel Dubai The Palm boasts a world-class Sofitel Spa—the resort’s outstanding practitioners recently received the Best Spa Team award, their unwaveringly thoughtful service weaving a delicious cocoon of wellness around each guest. Here, luxurious treatments are performed using L’Occitane products gorged with the essence of France’s Provence region.

Start with a facial with Immortelle—the brand’s flagship ingredient—for a youthful yet timeless glow. Relish the spa’s Journey to Arabia signature treatment for rose-infused tension relief with an exquisite ensemble of exfoliation, effleurage and acupressure. Or come with the family—men can enjoy a dry floating experience and teenagers will remember special moments spent together with a Pamper Me package.

Step off Mexico City’s busy main boulevard and into the elevator at Sofitel Mexico City Reforma. Step out seconds later into a soothing spa retreat in the heart of the vibrant capital, where Hispanic roots converge with innovative French wellness rituals. The 39th floor-view of the Paseo de la Reforma below works its magic, inspiring deeper, slower breaths and a feeling of surrender. A stunning design of glinting mosaic tiles, soothing subdued hues, and lush greenery forms a tranquil haven with dizzying views infused with a feeling of privilege and freedom.

Sofitel Spa practitioners harness the ancestral knowledge of Mesoamerican civilizations and luxury French skincare to channel their prowess into soothing, healing, and relaxing treatments. Lie back and indulge in a Mexican massage or a signature facial to awaken the senses—or book a spa consultation to curate your very own à la carte spa journey.

On a pristine beach in the other side of South America, lies a 5-star and luxury spa hotel near the tip of Colombia. Lauded as the best beach resort in Cartegena, Sofitel Baru Calablanca is a Caribbean hideaway with front-row seats for palm-dotted sands and mesmerizing waves. From the sauna and hammam to the soothing treatment rooms, the spa’s wood, stone, and marble design oozes VIP wellness that calms the body and mind. Tradition and innovative treatments go hand in hand, using all-natural Colombian Éccora products that are as kind for the planet as they are for the skin. Every detail has been thoughtfully considered to create a soothing cocoon of wellness.

Surprise your loved one with the perfect day during your trip. Start with a luxury hotel spa experience: indulge with an immersive Island for Two couple’s ritual with facial, massage, and tropical aroma soak. Follow with an evening of Caribbean cocktails and a gourmet five-course dinner on the beach.

Thailand’s vibrant fast-paced capital places all the senses on alert. The sizzling aromas of street food, heady buzz of inventively laden motorcycles, and awe-inspiring array of gold-roofed temples and pagodas are an experience like no other. Whether you’re traveling South-East Asia or Bangkok is the place you call home, a soothing parenthesis is deliciously enticing.

Leave the hum of the streets behind and retreat to the tranquil haven and luxury spa of Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, where crisp white linens and fluffy towels offset hushed, dark mahogany walls. Drawing on a tradition of Thai healing arts, expert therapists knead, plump and soothe your skin to restore and nourish your body and mind. As a Green Globe-certified hotel boasting a Sofitel Spa with L’Occitane, sustainability and natural products are de rigueur, promising pure, indulgent well-being. Relax in a whirlpool bath with a view, then head up to the rooftop pool to take in the stunning cityscape panorama. 

Sustainability and natural products are de rigueur, promising pure, indulgent well-being.