The Best Destination Spas to Escape To
Five of the best destination spas you need to know about
Elounda Peninsula Luxury Resort
Crete, Greece
Nestled on a powdery sand beach jutting into the sea, this luxurious yet family-friendly all-suite hotel makes the most of its stunning location. Even the junior suites here have sea views and split-level living (plus a private balcony), while the Peninsula collection suites have a private furnished terrace with a seawater swimming pool and sleep up to seven adults and one child.
The Six Senses Spa takes a high-tech approach to wellness, without losing the personal touch. Awash with the natural green and blue hues of the Aegean, it’s a haven of healing tucked away at the heart of the resort. The team here take a layered approach to treatments, mixing the scientific with the human to craft bespoke treatments – from a 24k gold age-defying facial to a detoxifying algae treatment which uses marine active ingredients to remineralise and purify the body.
The thalasso pool circuit is a highlight here. Taking around two hours, it includes an indoor/outdoor thalassotherapy pool, a hydrotherapy pool with jets, cascades and bubble beds, a Roman steam bath, caldarium, saunarium and a Finnish sauna, with the whole experience designed to ease muscle aches and boost overall wellbeing.
The resort offers various wellness programs (including those aimed at detoxing, fitness, sleep and immunity) and offers wellness screening, skin analysis and biohacking too.
Don’t Miss: Elounda Peninsula is home to the largest seafront pool in Crete, at 420 metres long. This tranquil oasis boasts gentle curves, hydro-massage areas, submerged loungers, and a silky-smooth heated pebbledeck.
Top Treatment: The junior spa menu here is a really unique offering – a series of treatments designed especially for kids, helping them to understand more about themselves and the world around them. Choose a 45-minute foot mapping treatment during which kids learn about the various reflex areas on your feet that correspond with different parts of your body (€90), or book a 175-minute parent and child massage and nail painting experience (€135).
Prices start from around €375 per night. Go to eloundapeninsula.com for more.
Fly from Newcastle to Crete with Ryanair or Jet2.
Rockliffe Hall
Darlington, County Durham
A five-star resort is nothing without a spa to match – and Rockliffe’s really delivers. Covering 50,000 square feet, there’s no shortage of facilities to keep you busy (and relaxed) here.
The 20-metre swimming pool is perfect for those who like to get a few lengths in – or for a quick dip between heat experiences. Through a set of glass doors you’ll find the 15-metre circular hydropool, which is ringed with a huge array of timed water jets and massage features. Foot spas line the walls in here too (stimulating the feet with alternate hot and cold massaging bubbles).
The Thermal Suite includes a tepidarium (complete with heated, curved tile beds and aromatic oils in the air), or you can detoxify in the wood-lined Roman sauna, which gives a dry heat (add water to the hot coals to add a little moisture to the air). If this pure dry heat is too much for you, try the tropicarium, which combines the best bits of a sauna and a steam room (the added humidity really softens the experience). A more modern approach can be found in the infrared room, in which infrared lamps warm the body directly (meaning it’s a lot more comfortable than a traditional sauna, where the air around you is heated instead).
The surge in popularity of wild swimming means many of us now understand the benefits of a cold dip, and hot and cold therapy is believed to promote the circulation of fluid around the body. If a dip in the North Sea is a little too hardcore, Rockliffe’s igloo room might be the answer. Head here between heat experiences and the cold air and ice flakes will awaken the senses while lowering your body temperature.
Outside, there’s a bubbling hot tub set into the decking and an outdoor drench shower, handily situated so you can hop from the hot tub up to the cold drench for a full body contrasting thermal experience (and then get straight back into the hot tub, of course).
It’s absolutely worth booking a package which includes access to Rockliffe’s exclusive Spa Garden (or you can pay extra to add a 90-minute session). This is where you’ll find a tranquil glass-fronted sauna, contoured tepidarium beds, loungers and an outdoor infinity-edge experience pool, so you can float in the warm waters, glass of fizz in hand, as you enjoy views over the 375-acre Rockliffe estate.
Don’t Miss: The salt steam room. Halotherapy has been believed to help the respiratory system since the 19th century (halo is Greek for salt), and the combination of steam and salt is just the thing to clear the airways.
Top Treatment: The team at Rockliffe offer NEOM wellbeing treatments, which include a combination of six different therapies (meditation, shiatsu, crania, Thai massage, trigger point and reflexology) and are specially crafted to provide the best results for you. From £105 for 60 minutes.
Rockliffe Hall’s Signature Spa Day includes use of all facilities, breakfast or lunch, a treatment and a 90-minute Spa Garden experience. From £200 per person. Discover more options at rockliffehall.com
Grantley Hall
Ripon, North Yorkshire
Stepping into The Three Graces Spa at Grantley Hall is like stepping into another world. Beneath a vaulted ceiling held up by columns, the 18-metre swimming pool is ringed by comfortable loungers and cabanas. Lie back and relax, sitting up only to reach one of the discreet buttons marked ‘press for service’, at which point a helpful spa assistant will appear to bring you a coffee, a smoothie or perhaps a cocktail.
Down one side of the pool you’ll find an experience shower with various settings, a eucalyptus-scented steam room and a large glass-fronted sauna with tiered wooden benches. There’s also a snow room, where you’ll find a dusting of snow and a shock to your system – head here after the sauna to make the most of the contrasting temperatures.
The hydrotherapy pool here is both indoor and outdoor (the outdoor section is accessed through a sliding glass door which sits just above the waterline, keeping the indoor area toasty) and is lined with jets and underwater recliners with massaging bubbles. Once you’re outside, don’t miss the chance to take a dip in the hot tub, or (if the weather plays nice) relax on one of the day beds and loungers which dot the garden.
You’ll also find the Nordic Spa Garden out here, which has a gorgeous wooden sauna pod adjacent to two Brass Monkey ice baths (we dare you to at least dip one foot in before you high-tail it back to the pool).
Don’t Miss: The Three Graces Spa Lounge is a tranquil space dotted with comfortable chairs and small tables – head here for lunch, coffees or simply to chill.
Top Treatment: For two hours of pure indulgence, book a Citrus Radiance Ritual. This face and body treatment includes a full-body exfoliation, nutrient-rich wrap and nourishing body cream application, followed by a Vitamin C Radiance Facial which targets premature aging, uneven skin tone and pigmentation, leaving skin firmer and brighter. £240 for 120 minutes.
Grantley Hall’s Three Graces Spa Day starts from £245 per person and includes a welcome ritual, a 60-minute treatment, a light lunch in the Spa Lounge and access to the spa and thermal facilities including the Nordic Spa Garden. Go to grantleyhall.com for more options.
Forestis Dolomites
South Tyrol, Italy
A chic, chalet-style retreat 1,800 metres above sea level in Italy’s South Tyrolean Alps, Forestis’s location is the first thing that will have a positive effect on you – breathe the bracing mountain air and feel instantly at peace. The hotel is crafted from natural materials of stone and wood to sit in harmony with nature, and everything is cleverly designed to give plenty of privacy while making the most of the incredible views (even the circular booths in the restaurant are laid out in tiers so nobody misses out).
The indoor-outdoor stone pool here is filled with pure water from the Plose mountain, while the various saunas are lined with natural wood which releases healing and calming essential oils – end your trip through the various spaces with a dip in the plunge pool. There are several low-lit silence rooms where you can experience a deep state of relaxation, and a special ‘Wyda’ room is where to practice the millennia-old yoga practises of the Celts.
The signature treatments here are based on the principle of ‘the four trees’. Each of the four trees (mountain pine, spruce, larch and Swiss stone pine) is said to possess various active ingredients, frequencies and material substances that help the body to regenerate, and every treatment is bespoke, based on a consultation in which your therapist will determine your individual needs, and craft a treatment to match.
Physical exercise is also a key pillar of a Forestis retreat – in winter the hotel is ski-in/ski-out (with direct access to the small Plose ski area), or you can book a snowshoe tour with the hotel’s hiking guide, while in summer the hotel is surrounded by green hillsides and woodland paths for hiking and biking, and the scents of grass, mountain herbs and tree resin fill the air.
Don’t Miss: The 200-square-metre penthouse suite has a large bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe, a spacious living area with seating, a TV, its own bar and dining table and an open fireplace. The spa-like bathroom has a tub and a rainfall shower – but never mind all that. Head to the upper floor to discover your own private rooftop pool with views over the dramatic skyline of the Dolomites.
Top Treatment: The Forest Salt Bath. This full-body treatment begins with a steam sauna and a gentle scrub, followed by a warm forest salt bath. The salts stimulate fluid drainage and encourage the circulation of the blood, while the scrub removes dead cells. The detoxifying substances ensure that the skin is regenerated and thus appears fresh and radiant. From €85 for 50 minutes.
Rooms from around €700 a night. Go to forestis.it for more.
Fly from Newcastle to Innsbruck via Amsterdam with KLM.
Domaine des Etangs
Massignac, France
This multi-award-winning luxury hotel and spa is set in a 13th century French chateau in picture-perfect grounds on the edge of a lake – things don’t get more idyllic than this.
The chateau itself is home to seven room and suites, a vast games room in the attic and the hotel’s Gallo-Roman inspired thermal baths. You’ll also find four chic rustic suites in the nearby Longère, all lined with unique artworks, or you can choose to stay in one of six Metairie cottages. These generously-sized cottages offer extra privacy and plenty of space – you can hop on a bike from the chateau, or take a ride in one of the electric house cars. Elements of the chateau’s history have been preserved throughout all the buildings, from traditional beams to gorgeous stone fireplaces.
Wellness is stitched through the experience at Domaines des Etangs. In the grounds, cross a stone bridge – once traversed by knights – to arrive at Le Moulin, the thoughtfully-preserved former mill at the water’s edge which houses the wellness centre. Each of the five treatment rooms here is named after a natural element (water, fire, earth, air and ether) and the treatment menu is adapted to meet the seasonal needs of each person’s body.
Beneath the chateau, discover a healing journey at Les Thermes. The hydrothermal circuit here includes a hot steam sauna, a tepidarium with mild heat, and a cooling alcove where you can massage ice onto the body to strengthen the immune system and close pores. There’s also a vitality pool (heated to 35C) with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the grounds.
Between the chateau and the pond, a heated outdoor pool is lined with daybeds, umbrellas and deckchairs, perfect for summer lounging. In the greenhouse, Le Salle De Sport is a fitness centre like no other – with modern fitness equipment dotted among the greenery, and lush lawns shaded by mature trees for outdoor workouts.
The estate’s main restaurant, Dyades, offers an authentic and memorable farm-to-table menu using fresh seasonal produce, much of it handpicked in the estates organic garden (you can even book a guided tour of the farm on the edge of the estate if you want to know more about where your food is coming from, and meet the Limousin cattle the area is famous for).
Don’t Miss: The 2,500-acre estate around the chateau offers plenty of opportunities for riding, rowing, cycling and hiking among the woods, ponds and meadows. There’s a giant outdoor chess board in the grounds, while a unique floating tennis court sits on a pond near the swimming pool.
Top Treatment: The Signature Botanist treatment aims to rebalance body and mind, providing a feeling of well-being and deep relaxation. The treatment begins with body exfoliation using infused lime and fir salts blended with extra-fine pumice and lemon powder, which stimulate circulation. Exfoliation is followed by a purifying white clay body mask and a massage with linden-tree oil. €320 for 150 minutes.
