All-Inclusive Resorts With the Best Spas
If you’re considering an all-inclusive getaway, then your main goal is probably just all-out relaxation. After all, all-inclusives typically deliver super-simplified versions of the vacation experience — ones where you’re not constantly breaking out your wallet, guide book, or Google Maps app. And if you really want to embrace the whole unwinding thing, make sure to work in some serious spa time. Most all-inclusive resorts have a perfunctory spa tucked away somewhere, but the hotels below feature temples of tranquility that are truly exceptional.
Grand Velas Riviera Maya
Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico
The 89,000-square-foot spa at Grand Velas is one of the world’s top wellness centers (little wonder, since the hotel is among the Riviera Maya's most sophisticated properties). The Grand Velas Riviera Maya Spa features 40 treatment rooms -- some are for couples, some feature private whirlpools, and all have natural light -- as well as relaxation areas, a meditation room, and a beauty salon with services for brides. The spa's hydrotherapy circuit exceeds the typical sauna/steam room/whirlpool lineup. There are also sensation showers, ice and clay rooms, a cold plunge, and a warm pool with massage jets, waterfalls, and a pebble foot path. Service is as top-notch as the facilities, with a dedicated spa concierge, welcome drinks, and tea service after each treatment. Traditional Mexican, Maya, and Indian treatments are available, as well as fish manicures and pedicures.
The Brando
Tetiaroa, Tahiti
A good amount of spa time is baked into the Brando experience -- one daily treatment is included in the rate -- so it's a good thing that the high-end, holistic Varua Spa is incredibly pampering and unforgettably beautiful. Tucked away in a cluster of coconut palms, the spa is a collection of architecturally unique huts surrounding a tranquil lagoon. Traditional taurumi massage treatments incorporate local monoï oil, while facials use Algotherm products. In addition to the cocoon-like spa suites, there's Fare Manu, a tree-house-style suite perched in the tree canopy, where guests can opt for couples treatments. The spa also has quiet spaces for relaxation, a steam bath, and a tea lounge.
Moon Palace Jamaica
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
After undergoing a full renovation, Moon Palace reopened in 2015 as a high-end luxury resort that gives Vegas joints a run for their money in terms of scale, features, and extravagance. Its vast, 23-treatment-room Awe Spa actually warrants the name: It includes a ritzy, chandeliered pool room with submerged thermal beds and a circular ice room covered in mother-of-pearl mosaics that feels like an opulent, iridescent igloo. These luxurious spa features are in addition to the prerequisite steam, sauna, and relaxation areas.
Beloved Playa Mujeres
Playa Mujeres Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Located in the Playa Mujeres region just north of Cancun, the Beloved Playa Mujeres is a rare breed -- it's a true boutique hotel, with just 109 rooms and personalized service (from the cocktail and cool towel at check-in to the pillow menus in the rooms), but it's also a Cancun-area all-inclusive resort. One of its many highlights is its 35,000-square-foot spa with an ultra-impressive hydrotherapy circuit. The hour-long Aqua Viva circuit is included with treatments or can be purchased separately, and a staff member will guide you through the stations, which include steam rooms, hot and cold plunge pools, an ice glacier room, sensation showers, heated lounge beds, and more.
Round Hill Hotel and Villas
Hopewell, Montego Bay, Jamaica
Ever wondered how A-listers do spa days? Splurging for a treatment at Round Hill's beachfront spa complex is a good place to find out. Round Hill's spa isn't as extravagant or amenities-packed as some stunners on this list (see: picks one, three, and four), but, like the Brando, it wins big for its nature-immersed setting, devoted service, and serene atmosphere. The spa inhabits a colonial mansion with a large, grassy lawn -- dotted with padded lounge chairs, cabanas, hammocks, and a whirlpool -- spreading out to the turquoise water. Behind the house, a stone staircase winds through thicket, leading to a secluded outdoor hydrotherapy space surrounded by breadfruit trees, palms, and chenille plants. Even though the treatment rooms are inside, they don't completely separate guests from the beautiful outdoors, as each one has a balcony overlooking the pool, lawn, and sea. The resort’s fitness pavilion is located here, offering daily classes such as yoga and body sculpting.
BodyHoliday Saint Lucia
Cap Estate, Gros Islet Quarter, St. Lucia
It simply wouldn't do for one of the most luxurious resorts in St. Lucia to have run-of-the-mill spa facilities. No, at this secluded wellness retreat, the spa is a hilltop palace overlooking the Caribbean, with a daily list of special treatments such as acupuncture and Buqi healing (to remove negative chi). The enormous temple-like wellness center features a salon and more than 30 treatment rooms tucked away among artful reflecting pools, lush gardens, and enticing terraced spaces. Many of the spa treatments are covered by BodyHoliday's all-inclusive rates (as are seemingly endless activities, from archery to yoga).
Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort
Soufriere, Soufriere Quarter, St. Lucia
Like BodyHoliday, Sugar Beach is one of St. Lucia's top luxury resorts. But whereas BodyHoliday's spa is a seafront shrine, the spa here is a noise-free zone that blends into the trees. A long walkway made from stone and wood leads to the renowned Rainforest Spa, where seven treatment rooms are thatch-roofed treehouse huts (with private showers) immersed in the woods. Befitting of the natural environment, signature treatments are free of chemicals and incorporate ingredients like coconut, aloe vera, cocoa butter, and ingredients from nearby volcanic springs and plantations. Treatments include bamboo massages, hot rock therapies, facials, body wraps, salt scrubs, polishes, and holistic treatments. There are also a manicure and pedicure area, relaxation pavilion, and traditional steam dome. BodyHoliday and Sugar Beach's spas may be on opposite sides of the style spectrum, but they're equally incredible. Ultimately, the daily spa treatments that are part of BodyHoliday's all-inclusive rates give that spa the lead.
Miraval Arizona
Tucson, Arizona, United States
Miraval’s large spa has a modern, earth-toned Southwestern style that merges beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Treatments run the gamut from traditional massages, body scrubs, craniosacral work to shamanic and crystal-energy healing and Ayurvedic therapies, and treatment cabins with private outdoor enclosed showers are available. Throughout the resort are three pools, including a large lap pool with mountain views, hot tubs, and a pond with an acupressure stone walk.
Canyon Ranch in Tucson
Tucson, Arizona, United States
This 70-acre all-inclusive is one of the country's top wellness resorts. Few spa resorts offer the range of services and experienced professionals found here, like fitness classes with yoga professionals and sessions with psychotherapists. Beyond Canyon Ranch's 80,000-square-foot spa complex (where dozens of spa treatments are available), there are plenty of spots to relax throughout the manicured property, included heated saline pools, hot tubs, and saunas. A few of the features incur an extra cost beyond the all-inclusive package, including the ropes course and climbing wall.
Lake Austin Spa Resort
Austin, Texas, United States
Lake Austin Spa Resort's spa, the LakeHouse, is one of the best-known and highest-regarded destination spas in the U.S. More than 100 salon/spa treatments -- including river-rock massages, oxygen facials, and Japanese energy work -- can take place in Zen-like indoor treatment rooms or outdoor treatment cabanas. Some options, like floating meditation, are performed in the spa's indoor Pool Barn. Separate men's and women's wet areas include hot tubs and saunas with views into a private rock garden. The spa embraces its lakeside location, with dockside lounge chairs, hammocks, and pergolas.
Le Blanc Spa Resort Cancun
Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Surprised to see a heart-of-the-Cancun-Hotel-Zone resort on this list? Trust us, we are too. But Le Blanc Spa Resort is the best adult-only luxury resort in town, with service, prices, and a spa to match. Spa treatments aren't cheap, but resort credits can be applied to their cost, and guests get free access to the hydrotherapy area, which has saunas, steam rooms, warm and cool pools, and hot tub. The decadent spa is located near Le Blanc's lagoon-side pool and yoga gazebo, and has 19 treatment rooms, including three suites with hydrotubs, five couples' rooms, and a Vichy Suite.
Zoetry Agua Punta Cana
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Oyster reporters have visited and photographed nearly 250 hotels in the D.R., so we can testify that the gorgeous spa at this 96-room luxury resort is one of the best in the country (the one at Sanctuary Cap Cana, below, also gets this distinction). Zoetry Agua guests have free access to the spa’s sauna, steam room, sensation showers, and large hydromassage pool with cascade showers and and an attached whirlpool, all housed in a serene palapa-roofed structure. A range of massages, from lymphatic to cranio-facial, dominates the treatment menu.
Sanctuary Cap Cana
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
If design were the primary factor in determining the best spas at all-inclusive, Sanctuary Cap Cana might just be at the top of this list. It occupies its own fortress-like crenellated structure, which guests enter via a wood-plank bridge crossing a shallow turquoise pool. The hydrotherapy area is stunning, with double-height ceilings, marble floors, modern glass chandeliers, and floor-to-ceiling windows partially covered by contemporary wooden screens. Its sensation showers are covered in shimmering peachy tiles that contrast beautifully with the pale lavender walls and greenish-blue of the two whirlpools. The area also includes a steam room and sauna, as well as a juice bar, beauty salon with bridal room, and a private interior courtyard with a half-moon pool and massage cabins. In all, it covers 2,000 square feet of space and, like Zoetry Agua, above, is one of the best in the country.
Couples Tower Isle
Tower Isle, Jamaica, Jamaica
The award-winning spa at Couple Tower Isle is easily one of the best spas on the island, and has an Art-Deco-meets-Zen style. It is housed in a stark white U-shaped structure supported by oversize columns, and there is a serene plunge pool crowned by a Buddha statue in its center. (We're not sure if anyone ever actually goes into this little pool, but it adds to the relaxing vibe.) There are also few lounge chairs with brightly colored umbrellas, a small juice bar, and a relaxation lounge. The spa includes a salon, which features hair, make-up, and nail services. In 2016, Couples debuted a new spa-inclusive room category at the Tower Isle location: Oasis Spa Villas come with unlimited spa treatments (a spa concierge will help guests arrange and book their spa itineraries) and dedicated on-call spa therapists, as well as private spa access.
Constance Moofushi
Moofushi Island
Fact: massages feel better when the Indian Ocean is flowing right beneath your pillow-cradled face. Constance Moofushi's U Spa by Constance is a modern overwater spa set on a wooden jetty. It doesn't have common features, like a sauna or a dedicated pool (don't worry, the resort's big sea-facing infinity pool is nearby), but its interior design earns it a mention. Individual treatment bungalows have cutout windows and plexiglass floor holes so guests can watch the movement of the water and creatures swimming by. (Tamara Spa at Lily Beach Resort in the South Ari Atoll has a similar setup.)
Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun
Playa Maroma, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Despite being (another) massive Cancun resort, Secrets' has a spa -- with its natural stone walls, river-stone mosaics, and banks of candles -- that is a sure destination for romance and relaxation. Couples' treatment rooms include dual soaking tubs, and there are private outdoor cabanas right on the beach. A comprehensive treatment menu includes massages and hydrotherapy. Before and after treatments, guests can curl up on cushioned loungers underneath soft blankets.
Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort
Southern Ari Atoll
A five-pearl resort located on a beautiful and verdant island in the Maldives is bound to have a superlative spa, and Maafushivaru doesn't disappoint. The boutique luxury resort in the South Ari Atoll has a large, overwater spa and sports pavilion, where guests can find a steam room, sauna, and outdoor deck with bubbling hot tub with panoramic views of the lagoon (free to use without an appointment). There are a few basic rooms for beauty and massage treatments, a small gym with modern equipment and large windows, and an open-air yoga pavilion off the back.
Marylanza Suites & Spa
Playa de las Americas, Arona, Tenerife
Marylanza's namesake feature -- its spa -- costs extra to enter, but it is exceptional. (It is open to the public, so the entrance fee helps keep the area up to the hotel's high standard.) It has a full water circuit, whose centerpiece is a warm hydromassage pool with a cold plunge in the center and underwater loungers in one corner. Circling the main spa pool are a hot tub, hot/cold foot bath, Roman bath, steam bath, sensation showers, and a cold-water bucket. A separate room houses the floatarium, a high-salt-content pool with warm water, mood lighting, and pool noodles (which aren't really necessary, but they make for nice neck supports). Like the spa, the fitness center is easily the best in the area. It has a Pilates center, yoga studio, and underwater cycling room, as well as aerobics, Zumba, and regular (non-hydro) spinning. Spa treatments include facials, mani/pedis, massages, Ayurveda, body wraps, waxing, and hairstyling. Hotel guests can purchase daily or weekly passes for the spa, gym, or both. For an all-inclusive resort with a spa on the beach in Playa de las Americas, check out H10 Conquistador.
Breathless Punta Cana Resort & Spa
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
The spa at the adult-only Breathless is truly, well, breathtaking. It mostly refrains from typical Zen-inspired spa design and instead embraces a bold, bright, industrial look. Unsurprisingly, treatments cost extra, but they come with access to a complete hydrotherapy circuit: hydropool, plunge pool, hot tub, steams, and saunas. Treatment rooms are large, high-tech, and have their own rainfall showers. The adjacent, light-filled fitness center is open to all guests.