These Are the Best Spa Resorts in the U.S. for a Relaxing Weekend
Though it seems that Americans are finally getting their act together and using their vacation days, with nearly 60% (up from 44%) stating they took at least a week of vacation in the last year, remote work has led to an inability to be truly "offline." Enter the spa vacation. Seemingly in response to the ever connected world, spa resorts are going cell-free and offering immersive experiences and treatments designed for visitors to slow down, unplug and relax by tapping into the power of nature, and most importantly their own selves. Whether you're looking for a week away with girlfriends or a romantic weekend for two, the best spas in the U.S. have options aplenty. From massages and facials to more unique experiences (think: immersive bathing experiences, manifestation meditation classes, "snow rooms" and more), you really can't go wrong with any of these incredible spa destinations.
Thistle, an Auberge Spa at Wildflower Farms: Hudson Valley, NY
Known for its bountiful multi-season harvests, the Hudson Valley region is the ideal setting for Wildflower Farms, the most recent domestic opening from Auberge Resorts Collection. The expansive luxury property is set among beautiful orchards, woodlands, a farm, heirloom gardens and fields of native wildflowers. Thistle, an Auberge Spa (named for the wild blooms that blanket summer fields in purple and blue) specializes in seasonally rotating treatments that utilize local ingredients captured at their highest potency to create small-batch botanical oils, scrubs and floral remedies. In addition to wildcrafted facials and bodywork, the intimate 9,000-square-foot spa offers a serene indoor saltwater pool, two outdoor meadow hot tubs, a dry sauna and a fitness and movement studio for daily yoga, reiki and sound bath experiences.
Mii Amo: Sedona, Arizona
Tucked into Sedona’s Boynton Canyon among towering buttes, desert greenery and majestic red rock formations is Mii Amo destination spa. In February 2023, Mii Amo reopened its doors after a $40 million expansion, offering 23 onsite casitas, 26 treatment rooms and a signature farm-fresh restaurant, Hummingbird. Mii Amo encourages guests to journey within, offering unconventional services like manifestation meditation classes based on the celestial cycles and inner quest and connection ceremonies that celebrate life transitions and help provide deep inner clarity, alongside more traditional massages and skincare. To help guests embrace their concept of “slow wellbeing,” the spa recently extended all treatments to 75-, 100-, and 125-minute sessions.
Spa Montage, Montage Palmetto Bluff: Bluffton, South Carolina
What’s a more dreamy setting than lush oak trees draped with gauzy Spanish moss gently swaying in the breeze? That’s what you’ll find at Montage Palmetto Bluff along the South Carolina coastal waterways. The luxurious 13,000-square-foot Spa Montage incorporates elements of the Palmetto Bluff environment into treatments to connect guests to their surroundings.
13 treatment rooms feature a wide range of massage therapies including a river stone massage, facials, full body exfoliation and detox mud masks, redwood saunas, eucalyptus steam rooms, hot tubs and cold-plunge pools, yoga and movement studio and more. The resort is also hosting its annual Well Living program, an array of experiences to inspire guests to focus on a life well lived including wellness, culinary and community-building events.
The Spa at Four Seasons Resort at Walt Disney World Resort: Orlando, Florida
It goes without saying that Walt Disney World is not the most relaxing place, but tucked within Mickey's kingdom is the type of haven tired parents dream about. The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort is located in a tranquil, residential setting dotted with palm and cypress trees, gardens and lakes, worlds away from the shrieks of the theme parks.
18 treatment rooms offer services designed to help you restore tired muscles, like the Sticks and Stone massage with basalt stones and birchwood sticks to knead out knots, or IV vitamin therapy when you need an energy boost. And, because adults need nap time too, make a reservation for a 20-minute personalized meditation with color therapy while cocooned in the spa’s new Somadome meditation pod.
Alyeska Nordic Spa at Alyeska Resort: Anchorage, Alaska
Nordic-style spas may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine a spa experience, but the Nordic focus on hydrotherapy and hot and cold therapy provides some of the most rejuvenating and restorative benefits for both mental and physical health.
Escape to the rugged beauty of Alaska to visit Alyeska Nordic Spa at Alyeska Resort, the state’s first Nordic spa experience. The 18-and- up, cell phone-free spa is set among the Chugach mountains, with hot tubs and cold plunge pools dotted along the 50,000-square-foot grounds. There’s also aromatherapy infused steam rooms, a Halotherapy signature sauna, Finnish barrel saunas and an exfoliation cabin featuring Alaskan sea salt. Indoors, 10 treatment rooms offer massage services and wellness classes, and the onsite Two Trees Bistro nourishes guests with cuisine inspired by the wild Alaskan landscape.
The Spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn: Asheville, North Carolina
Since the early 20th century, Asheville has been praised for its wellness capabilities due to its location in the heart of the Blue Ridge mountains. American elites like the Vanderbilts came to take advantage of the region's fresh air, known to help those suffering from tuberculosis and other respiratory related illnesses.
Today, we all can enjoy Asheville’s healing nature, and one of the best places to experience it is at the Spa at Omni Grove Park Inn. The 43,000-square-foot subterranean spa offers a variety of relaxation pools, saunas, a eucalyptus-infused steam room, a relaxation room overlooking the mountains and outdoor fire pits. Treatments range from heated stone massages to honey body wraps, and you can opt to have your treatment in one of the outdoor pagodas overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains.
Kohler Waters Spa, The American Club Resort Hotel: Kohler, Wisconsin
Kohler, the brand synonymous with high-design bathroom fixtures, offers a spa experience unlike any other. Built in 1918 as a dormitory for immigrant employees of Kohler, The American Club at Destination Kohler was transformed into the only Forbes Five-Star resort hotel in Wisconsin in 1981. Kohler Waters Spa unsurprisingly focuses its attention on the healing power of mineral-rich water, offering hydrotherapy treatments where guests enjoy body scrubs followed by a relaxing rinse under a custom Vichy shower.
Also on offer are aromatic ice massages, vibrational sound treatments and immersive bathing experiences in marble tubs designed to unwind tight muscles and improve sleep. The spa also offers four new wellness retreats.
The Spa at Cliff House Maine: Cape Neddick, Maine
Being near the ocean is a guaranteed way to make any trip more relaxing, so the Spa at Cliff House Maine could not have picked a better place to set up shop. Perched atop the cliffs of Maine’s southern coast, the spa is an oceanfront sanctuary overlooking the Atlantic ocean and infinite horizon.
Await your treatment over a cup of tea in front of floor-to-ceiling windows in the plush spa lounge before enjoying a menu of services that include the signature Wild + Free journey: a seacoast rugosa rose hydrating wrap followed by a full body massage, a salt of the earth exfoliation body scrub or a deep sea firming facial utilizing white algae, white wine, white tea and copper peptides. The spa also offers daily spa scrub and oil blending bars so you can make your own blends to take home.
Spa at The Peninsula Chicago: Chicago, Illinois
Long hailed as an urban oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle that is The Windy City, the Spa at The Peninsula Chicago is a 15,000-square-foot cozy and peaceful refuge on the 20th floor of the Peninsula Chicago hotel.
It’s easy to imagine escaping harsh Chicago winters here curled up on a soft bed near the fireplace in the relaxation room, or while swimming laps in the half-Olympic-sized pool that offers floor to ceiling views of the Chicago skyline. The team specializes in treatments inspired by Ayurvedic and Asian philosophies, like the pearl-infused mineral body mask crafted with active ingredients of pearl and conch shell extracts, or the reflex zone foot massage which helps regulate the movement of Qi throughout the body. On warm days, take advantage of the spa’s outdoor sundeck that overlooks the skyline, a rarity in downtown Chicago.
Spa Ojai at Ojai Valley Inn: Ojai, California
The tiny enclave of Ojai, California celebrates a culture centered on health, fitness and spirituality—and all three of these core tenets blend together perfectly at Ojai Valley Inn. Opened in 1923 and renowned for its wellness and rich local cultural offerings, the inn debuted a refreshed Spa Ojai in 2021 with updates to the 24 treatment rooms, public spaces and penthouse guest suites.
Set apart from the inn, the 31,000-square-foot Spa Ojai is housed in a Moorish-inspired structure featuring two spa pools, complimentary mind and body classes and a wealth of body and facial therapies utilizing local ingredients like orange blossom, hemp seed and sea algae. The spa’s spiritual wellness menu also offers crystal, reiki healing and chakra clearing treatments, spiritual counseling services and meditative sound baths.
The Lodge at Woodloch Spa: Hawley, Pennsylvania
The Lodge at Woodloch in the Poconos Mountains offers guests that rare opportunity to press pause and focus your attention inward on your own goals and desires. The resort features 35 classes to help you identify or pursue your passions, like kayaking, gardening, stamp carving and birding alongside a huge range of fitness classes.
In addition to massages, facials and body treatments, the luxurious spa offers the rare chance to literally change the climate you’re in thanks to their new Snow Room, a glass-enclosed room filled with compact dry snow and crisp cold air designed to be a more gentle form of cooling after you visit the Himalayan salt sauna. Nearby, the aqua garden offers co-ed soaking pools with heated hydromassage waterwalls, outdoor whirlpools and an indoor pool for aqua fitness classes.
The Wellhouse at Blackberry Farm: Walland, Tennessee
Deep in the Great Smoky Mountains is Blackberry Farm, one of the most celebrated resorts in the American south. The intimate Relais & Châteaux property is known around the world for its refined culinary and wine program at The Barn at Blackberry Farm, and its range of sporting activities like fly fishing and clay shooting, but you’d truly miss out if you didn’t make time to enjoy the serenity that is the Wellhouse.
The spa menu is inspired by the region’s mountains, gardens and forests, with signature treatments like the Appalachian body purification where finely ground coffee beans are blended with sarsaparilla, honey, tobacco and black silt clay to make a detoxifying scrub and mask. Or, let tension melt away with the lavender and vanilla bourbon drench, a full body massage with lavender oil and vanilla bourbon body butter.
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