G Spa & Lounge, Hotel Gansevoort, New York
By day the G Spa & Lounge is a sexy urban spa, all bubbling hydropools, chrome loungers and scarlet fixtures; by night it’s a louche cocktail bar, with Japanese nibbles and suitably intoxicating drinks. Waiters swing between the now-covered pools, clad in white robes and flip-flops, and the smell of chlorine is only barely noticeable through the wafts of Chanel. The door policy is ferocious; your best bet may be to book a treatment by day and hide in the sauna until 9pm, when the transformation occurs.
Details: 001 212 206 6700, www.hotelgansevoort.com.
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Six Senses Spa, Hotel Arts, Barcelona
This sleekly elegant spa is not going to relax anyone who suffers from vertigo. Located 43 floors above the city, the spa has fabulous views. The sauna has a “window-wall” that looks out across the sea and there are two outdoor terraces where treatments can be taken. Six Senses signature treatments are on offer — hot-stone therapies, sensory massages — along with reiki and shiatsu. The hotel is a stroll from the centre of town, but the beachfront promenade — lined with delightfully chilled- out bars and restaurants — lies just outside the door.
Details: 00 34 93 221 1000, www.ritz-carlton.com.
La Sultana, Marrakesh
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The spa at La Sultana, an opulently restored riad in the heart of the medina, is a true oasis. The colonnaded pool may be tiny, but the treatment rooms, hammam and sauna all have an exotically Moorish feel. Treatments are a mix of traditional (body wraps of Moroccan clay, oil-infused baths) and well-established (Thalgo facials and wraps). A bracing rub-down in the hammam is guaranteed to scrub away the stresses of the city. The kasbah, the oldest part of the medina, lies right outside the hotel door — but Sultana’s elegant roof enables you to soak up the scene without having to enter the fray.
Details: 00 212 2 438 8008, www.lasultanamarrakech.com.
One Spa, Sheraton Grand, Edinburgh
Voted the top destination/ hotel spa by the British Beauty Awards for three years running, this is perhaps the UK’s top urban spa. One Spa is linked to the hotel by a walkway and has a 62ft (19m) infinity-edge pool, 11 treatment rooms, a thermal suite and a rooftop hydropool. ESPA treatments are on offer, and there is a full thermal suite, with themed showers and heating and cooling therapies which clean the body and aid relaxation. The hotel is the briefest walk from Princes Street, but to be sure of a getting that restorative treatment when you need it, it’s imperative to book ahead.
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Details: 0131-229 9131, www.one-spa.com.
Danubius Thermal Hotel Margitsziget, Budapest
Hotel Margitsziget on Margaret Island in the River Danube opened in 1873, in the centre of the city between Pest and Buda. The island has three thermal springs, and there are indoor and outdoor pools, balneotherapy and hydrotherapy and thermal baths. As with most East European spas, the focus is on health rather than pampering, and in-house doctors can devise treatment programmes.
Details: 00 36 1 889 4700, www.danubiushotels.com.
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Le Meurice, Paris
It’s all about elegance at the Meurice; the spa treatment rooms look out on to a beautiful courtyard garden, and treatments use products from Les Sources de Caudalie, the world’s first vinotherapy spa. Therapies such as the Merlot Wrap and the Crushed Cabernet scrub are just the things to restore aching limbs, and ensure that you’re fit enough to stroll to the Belle Époque bar for a glass of something similar. Situated on the Rue de Rivoli, the Meurice couldn’t be more central — just across the road from the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens — so you won’t have to push your newly polished pins too far.
Details: 00 33 1 44 58 10 10, www.meuricehotel.com.