The best spas in the world
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These are the Condé Nast Traveller Spa Guide winners for 2025: the top-level retreats and medi-clinics, the most-results-driven health centres and the slickest spas. Wellbeing has never been more at the forefront of our minds than now, and there have never been more excuses to practice wellness on a daily basis. From sound baths in the Maldives to recovery lounges in Napa Valley, 2025 is set to see boundary-pushing wellness trends in the travel world. Closer to home, mental health retreats in the UK are becoming an increasingly common holiday break, and newfangled trends from longevity and silent travel to retreats dedicated to healing broken hearts are popping up all over the country. For now, explore some of the world's most incredible spas, as awarded by Condé Nast Traveller in this year's Spa Awards.
The 2025 winners
Ayurveda Resort MandiraAyurveda Resort Mandira
Winner: Amazing and Affordable
It’s day three of my Ayurvedic-style detox, and I’m relishing a glutinous, beige rice soup, sitting on the sunny wooden deck of my garden room. Wearing my Indian cotton dress in the intense late-summer heat, with mountains craggy on the horizon, I could easily be in the foothills of the Himalayas. Actually, I’m at Ayurveda Resort Mandira in the thermal-spa hamlet of Bad Waltersdorf amid Austria’s southern farmlands. The ghee shots slipped through me yesterday – I made a swift exit from the massage table just in time to purge in the privacy of my (spacious, spotless) bathroom. Now, after a good night’s sleep, my pounding head is clear and I’m feeling cleansed, lighter and ravenous, delighting in the bland, fast-breaking lunch. Used to heading further afield for longer stints of panchakarma, I’m impressed at the supercharged effect of this week-long digestive reset (full panchakarma requires a longer stay).
It helps that a couple of the doctors and therapists are from India, but the whole team seems to live the yogic lifestyle: owners Christina and Andreas Drexler are ardent champions of the therapies, which have benefitted them in their own lives. No two days are alike, unfolding in a shifting routine of morning yoga, moving Vedic chants, system-boosting IV drips and mind-softening massage punctuated with visits to the labyrinthine steam and sauna area. Post-fast, I feast on inventive vegan meals: spelt porridge dotted with dates and rose petals; soothing kitchari with artichoke crisps; a nostalgically sweet coconut milk pudding. East meets west may be a cliché, but I feel supported in every moment by a caring team who bring ancient wisdom to the now in this finely curated wellness setting. Something shifts during a last-day nutrition consultation with psychotherapist and Ayurvedic doctor Malini Haüsimaier. Her talk of how we fit into the cosmos stirs a sense that we literally are what we eat. Our food is made of the same elements as we are. The result? A new depth of conscious eating back home, as well as lifted mood and energy levels that last me through winter and beyond. For a well-priced introduction to panchakarma without going long haul to India or Sri Lanka, this is ideal. Catherine Turner
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a four-night Holistic Ayurveda Short Detox programme from £1,299
per person sharing, including transfers, full board and treatments
Stavros HabakisEuphoria Retreat
Winner: Feeling Good
As I lie with my head cradled in the hands of an acupressure therapist, it’s as if my body releases a sigh of relief that it had been holding on to for years. As someone who places self-care on the back burner, I feel uneasy when receiving this level of nurturing. Set in an off-the-radar part of the Peloponnese, overlooking pine trees and Byzantine churches and with architecture that would impress the ancient Greeks, Euphoria is a world of its own, a place that treads gently and draws in those in search of emotional rescue and inner transformation along with those in need of straightforward rest and recuperation. It was founded by Marina Efraimoglou, who has developed an east-meets-west holistic approach – Chinese medicine in tandem with ancient Hellenic healing, with treatments ranging from chakra balancing and reiki to one-to-one mentoring. I’m here for general stress, suffering from insomnia as a result; my insightful therapist, Ktena, identifies that my earth element is out of balance, and uses gentle bodywork and essential oils to help restore equilibrium. Meditative practices such as sound baths and private emotional transformation sessions provide newfound mental clarity – I learn how my empathetic traits as an Earth personality can contribute to overthinking, which is likely driving my insomnia and anxiety, and the session ends with a guided meditation in which I recognise the struggles I have with racing thoughts. But Euphoria is also ramping up its medispa credentials; a cellular repair device and cold atmospheric plasma technology work to strengthen my immune system, while a biohormonal stimulator helps improve sleep. It’s a fully immersive experience, and I leave feeling genuinely refreshed and a lot less sceptical about any future healing journey. Since my visit, a new programme has launched. Euphoria is working with medical partners Dr George Leon and Dr Ioannis Charizanis to focus on bioenergetics – in other words, boosting the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the human cell, through personalised treatments using IV therapies and a human regenerator jet. Anna Gladwin
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a five-night Wellbeing Detox programme from £3,499 per person sharing, including transfers, full board and treatments
Palace MeranoPalace Merano
Winner: Master M.O.T.
“We can change your habits, but we can’t change your lifestyle,” says Dr Massimiliano Mayrhofer, known throughout the hotel as Dr Max. Within 24 hours of arriving at the Versailles-grand Palace Merano, I’ve had blood tests (for a whopping 86 levels and markers), a full body scan, a posture assessment and even needle-free electro acupuncture (a manifestation of the retreat’s tech-meets-Traditional Chinese Medicine outlook). My M.O.T. results ping back within three hours from the in-house lab; from this, Dr Max and his team are able to determine not only my health but also how much sleep I’m getting and how I handle stress – all to an alarmingly accurate degree. “It’s about returning the body to neutral, and to do that we must consider all elements,” says Irene Ciaccio, nutritional biologist and dietician. At no surprise to me, my issue is largely my lifestyle, with rushed working lunches overloading my digestive system. Internalising stress is also a strong runner-up (burnout is the fastest growing reason for checking in here, as well as for longevity detoxes and the spa’s new non-invasive pain therapy). So my treatment plan is focused on breaking bad habits, with embarrassingly simple advice such as chewing my food for longer, but with some detoxing, debloating and re-energising thrown in. Each day
I have hydro mud-therapy, including a mud wrap in a heated pod, followed by an excruciating massage to awaken the meridians (lines in the leg that relate to specific organs, firmly traced by the masseuse’s knuckles). By the end of my five-night stay, I feel more energetic, far less bloated and generally uplifted – though don’t underestimate the effect of South Tyrolean air. The most noticeable change is that I lost a staggering 5kg. Weight loss isn’t listed as part of Palace Merano’s philosophy, yet removing toxins, cleansing the organs and restoring a balance between body fat and muscle are – and the effects can be largely the same. Charlotte DaveyHealing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a five-night Detox for Longevity programme from £3,999 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the programme
Maximilian KoenigLanserhof Tegernsee
Winner: Gut Healers
As my taxi rolls along the driveway, towards the sleek larch-wood and glass minimalist refuge by architect Christoph Ingenhoven, my foodie mind wonders what this place, known for its calorie restriction, has laid on for lunch. Resetting the digestive system is the main aim at this ultra-glossy medispa, which bases programmes on the Lans Concept: cutting-edge medical tech combined with specialists in naturopathy, psychology, psychoneuroimmunology (how the mind, nervous system and immune system interact) and chronomedicine (which considers the optimal times for medical interventions) to suit your body and mind’s needs. This is turbo-charged Mayr, which takes the time-tested ethos to a different stratosphere. The Lanserhof Cure strives for a regeneration of the intestines, which is not an enjoyable process. I’m on the cusp of burnout (fatigue, insomnia and headaches), so Dr Kira Hanschitz, an internal medicine specialist, devises a plan centred around Lanserhof’s three healing principles: resting, cleansing and “training”, in other words, upping my fluid intake, eating earlier and chewing food 30-40 times. Mornings begin with a glass of warm water and Epsom salts to clear the digestive system, a ritual made better by cinematic views of the sun rising above the rolling Bavarian hills. Morning forest hikes are followed by breakfasts of porridge and maple syrup with my fellow guests, who include retired CEOs and high-flying therapists. They help the days zip by, as do spoiling treatments and gentle yin yoga. During the detox pack and bath, I’m wrapped in thick seaweed clay and laid onto a giant, 40˚C steamer that coaxes toxins from my pores. The first 48 hours are a blur of headaches and listless hunger, but by day three, the caffeine withdrawal has subsided, and by day five, bowls of delicious homemade soup (sweet potato topped with sunflower seeds) quash my obsessive food thoughts. By day six, energy restored, I’m swimming in the outdoor pool, feeling that Lanserhof has given me a much-needed reset, and a sense that I can achieve anything. Sarah Allard
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a seven-night Cure Classic programme from £5,899 per person sharing, including transfers, full board and treatments
Patricia ParinejadSix Senses Vana
Winner: Asia's A-Team
My love affair with Vana first started when it opened in 2014.
Back then, this discreet and ravishingly designed modern hideaway, vibrating with birdsong and the scent of jasmine, marked the dawn of a new era of wellbeing in India. One that transported the ancient wisdoms of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, natural therapies and Tibetan Sowa Rigpa (therapists are trained at the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan medical school) into a sleek, hushed environment so closely guarded by owner Veer Singh that when Deepak Chopra asked if he could visit with 40 followers, Singh said no. To stay here was to be part of a quiet, insider set intent on potent, 360-degree, mind-body healing with epic breadth. Phones were, and still are, banned in public spaces. It was obligatory to stay for seven nights and children were not allowed. I’ve visited a few times since that initiation, magnetised by the profundity of the therapies, each a journey in their own right, and by the kindness and insights of the doctors and specialists. The best are still in residence, including head acupuncturist Dr Dimple (“I am a great detective, plumber and electrician,” she says). Post Covid, Singh has now taken a back seat, Six Senses is at the helm, five-night stays are possible and children welcomed. The Vana bubble has popped. Initially, this caused a little unrest but, hand on heart, Vana remains a destination of pure and noble intent. The spiritual vibration and reverence to nature remain, so too does the most exquisite food I’ve come across in an Indian wellbeing destination. Guests come for transformation, to allow themselves to fall apart and then, after yoga, Watsu, intestinal cleansing, next-level massages and deep rest, to relight their inner fire and float home, as I did recently, feeling elevated and open-hearted. Just like Vana itself. Daisy FinerHealing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a seven-night Personalised programme from £2,399 per person sharing, including transfers, full board and treatments