The World's Best Spa Resorts

The World's Best Spa Resorts

Canyon Ranch Lenox — Lenox, MA, United States

More than just a fabulous vacation, Canyon Ranch is an experience. This is the place where it all comes together and, in one amazing moment, you realize how great you can feel when you're living healthy.

Since 1979, Canyon Ranch has set the standard for health resorts all over the world.

Award winning Canyon Ranch set among the wooded hills of Lenox, Massachusetts, offers the ultimate healthy vacation. At the last turn of the century the Berkshires was a haven for aristocrats. Today we'll treat you like one. Among the aesthetic touches and thoughtful amenities Canyon Ranch is dedicated to making your stay a constant pleasure.

The guest rooms are gracious and the amenities are many. Climate-controlled, glass-enclosed walkways connect everything at Canyon Ranch, so you can move from one building to the next in perfect comfort year-round. In good weather, take the outdoor pathways to enjoy the wonderful gardens and fountains.

A century ago the Berkshires was a haven for aristocrats. Today we'll treat you like one. Canyon Ranch in Lenox marries historic New England charm with modern luxuries. In the stylish 126-room Inn, you'll have your private retreat for comfort and relaxation. There you'll find the aesthetic touches and thoughtful amenities that make your stay a constant pleasure, including the most comfortable beds, your choice of down or non-down pillows, fluffy terrycloth robes, a great assortment of Canyon Ranch's exclusive bath products and much more.

Learn the secrets of low-fuss, high-taste cooking. Each day at Lunch & Learn a Canyon Ranch chef will show you how to cook healthy, easy-to-make meals at home. While enjoying the lunch of the day, you'll watch the chef prepare menu items in the Demonstration Kitchen, and you'll learn to convert your own recipes with low-fat substitutes. Try Hands-On Cooking for a fun, unforgettable learning experience.

Surrounded by the beauty of the Berkshire Mountains, you'll have plenty to inspire you in every season. Start with a morning walk, then select from more than 40 fitness classes throughout the day. Choose from favorite seasonal activities such as tennis, hiking or biking, kayaking, snowshoeing, cross-country and downhill skiing.

Enchantment Resort And Mii Amo Spa — Sedona, AZ, United States

Surrounded by the majestic red rock formations of Northern Arizona's Boynton Canyon, Enchantment Resort combines luxury with rugged grandeur inspired by Native American culture. The resort's adobe casita-style accommodations offer world-class comforts amid its pristine 70-acre setting. Enchantment Resort, in Sedona, is 110 miles north of Phoenix. At the heart of Arizona's 'Red Rock Country,' the Coconino National Forest, replete with archaeological rarities and rich Southwestern history, borders the property. An altitude of 4,600 feet ensures that even the hottest Arizona weather is within the comfort zone. In this lush, beautiful canyon, hidden away from the world lies an oasis. Here, there is a confluence of nature and the spirit world that has been recognized by Native Americans for thousands of years. Nestled in the heart of a private red rock canyon, bathed in beauty, one learns to walk in harmony with nature. At Mii amo, we've endeavored to create a space where one can learn to live in harmony. We are creating a magnificent spa in one of the most sacred healing places on Earth.

Parrot Cay Resort and Shambhala Retreat Hotel — Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands

Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos has established itself as the northern Caribbean's pre-eminent private island, wrapped in sweeps of sand and peaceful seas featuring the region’s best spa and haute cuisine. Typical of COMO Hotels & Resorts, its owning company, Parrot Cay combines nature –1000 unspoilt acres, including organic gardens and a mile-long powdered beach – with luxury details which are subtle, contemporary and cosseting to the extreme. It's a place to escape the world, to rediscover the softer rhythms of long days, easy nights, and the salve of peace. Accommodation, in clean whitewash with chic teak finishing, ranges from 42 airy rooms with gardens and verandas, to beach-side villas, some with private pools. The aesthetic is pared down but unerringly sleek, featuring four-posters wrapped in soft cottons that billow with the breeze. On the virgin hinterland beyond Rocky Point, find a newly-opened complex of three villas, rented together or separately. Here, the infinity pool is large enough to compete with that turquoise smudge lying at the heart of the resort, flanked by cabanas with alang-alang roofs.

But it's not just privacy which Parrot Cay affords. It attends to guests needs at a deeper level, courtesy of COMO Shambhala Retreat. Newly expanded, COMO Shambhala now hosts an even greater number of internationally-acclaimed teachers, specialising among other things in yoga and nutrition. 2005 sees the first Pilates dedicated retreat led by New York's leading Pilates expert Daniel Loigerot. Instruction takes place in an open-air pavilion overlooking the island's wetlands where tall egrets wade noiselessly through the shallows. Also come for Asian-inspired, complimentary therapies including massage, Ayurveda and sophisticated facials, delivered by professionals.

Executive Chef Anna Rossel serves casual lunche ons and dinners at the Lotus Poolside Restaurant and fine dining in the Terrace restaurant, which features Mediterranean-style cuisine with an Asian flavour. Guests can also relax in the Bar with blissful views over the infinity-edge pool and the unspoilt Caribbean. A COMO Shambhala menu is also available. COMO Shambhala cuisine focuses on energising and organic foodstuffs. This emphasis on raw ingredients (more easily digested as well as richer in living enzymes, vitamins and sea minerals) is combined with pan-Asian influences. Coupled with cuisine which is fresh, organic and remarkably varied, you will begin to understand Parrot Cay's promise: to help guests melt into a simpler state of complete, deep and satisfying relaxation.

Lausanne Palace And Spa — Lausanne, Switzerland

Located In The Heart Of The Olympic Capital, Commanding A Magnificent View Over The Lake Geneva And The Alps, This Charming Property Is Only A Stone's Throw From The Most Elegant Shopping Streets And The Picturesque Old City. The Entire Property Has Been Renovated Over The Past Years, Thus Creating A Unique Atmosphere, Combining Luxury And Refinement, Wellbeing And Savoir-vivre. Its Status As Home Of The International Olympic Committee Makes It One Of Lausanne's Historic Features. The Lausanne Palace And Spa - An Unforgettable Experience.

Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa — Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

The luxurious Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa lies where earth, sea and sky meet, poised above Atlantic rollers and flanked by the majestic Table Mountain and The Twelve Apostles Mountain Range in glorious Cape Town, South Africa. This intimate five star hotel fully lives up to its stunning location, with exceptional standards of service and relaxed Cape hospitality providing the perfect counterpoint to its dramatic backdrop.

Deluxe guest rooms and spacious suites, two breathtaking heated pools magically perched above the ocean, the glorious Azure Restaurant accompanying exquisite cuisine, wonderful friendly service with endlessly seductive sea views, all barely ten minutes from the bustling heart of Cape Town, with nearby attractions including prime diving spots, nature trails, and seals, dolphins, whales and penguins.

The resort was awarded the prestigious honor of being named Southern Africa's only 'Leading Spa 2005' by The Leading Hotels of the World for providing guests with a truly luxurious and exceptional spa experience.

The 55 deluxe guestrooms and 15 luxurious suites at the Twelve Apostles are set in four secluded and individual wings linked to the public areas via airy walkways, all decorated with understated elegance and feature as standard a wide range of amenities, including 24 hour room service, individual air-conditioning, entertainment centres with DVD, and plush bathrobes and slippers. Rooms are either mountain or sea-facing. Additionally, Business Ready Rooms are designed to help you tear yourself away from the view, with a carefully thought out range of extra features that make working a pleasure including generous desk space, internet access and special lighting.

The Setai — Miami Beach, FL, United States

Bearing the unmistakable imprint of legendary hotelier Adrian Zecha, The Setai is an intimate oceanfront resort in the heart of South Beach. Set amid tropical gardens and sparkling pools at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, The Setai introduces the Asian traditions of simplicity and elegance to South Beach. With 75 impeccably detailed guestrooms and 50 suites, an intimate private spa, three pools and remarkable restaurants and bars. It is located on Collins Ave at 20th street near Miami Beach's thriving cultural district, as well as the nightlife, fine dining, shopping and other South Beach attractions.