The best spas for adventure seekers in 2019
That’ll be mindfulness with monks, naked Tyrolean romps and an amethyst steam grotto, then? Perhaps. These are some of the world's best spas for 2019 for those of you with an adventurous streak.
1. Chablé Resort & Spa, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
The first spa to be built around a cenote – a pool in a natural cave sacred to the Mayans – Chablé combines shamanism and other ancient healing techniques with modern science. Think flotation therapy and lymphatic drainage massages. Doubles from ￡750 per night; chableresort.com
2. Six Senses, Bhutan
Six Senses will take the concept of a Spa Journey to a whole new level in May, with the opening of five intimate lodges in Bhutan – in Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang. Each will offer experiences unique to its location, from soaking in a traditional bath heated by fire-roasted, mineralreleasing river stones to mindfulness lessons with monks. Rooms from ￡1,400 per night; sixsenses.com
3. Gainsborough Bath Spa, Bath
The only hotel in the UK to have direct access to natural thermal waters, life here is centred around the Spa Village and its baths. Its newest offering is a Crystal Sound Bath – inside a meditation cave, pure quartz crystal bowls are bonged at different vibrational frequencies for 45 minutes to bring about a state of total relaxation. Doubles from ￡285; thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk
4. Arctic Bath, Sweden
It’s been proven that hot and cold plunging reduces stress, and this spikily futuristic floating ‘bird’s nest’ spa retreat encourages you to do just that. Opening 30 miles south of the Arctic Circle on Lake Lule? next month, its six cabins are arranged around a circular open-air plunge pool. From ￡500; arcticbath.se
5. Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, Peru
In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba launched its first purpose-built spa last October, the Mayu Spa. You’ll learn about the medicinal and holistic benefits of rare herbs and then clip your own to infuse oil for your massage. Doubles from ￡327; inkaterra.com
6. Grotta Giusti Spa, Tuscany, Italy
Once home to the 19th-century poet Giuseppe Giusti, this Tuscan spa hotel has a thermal cave and an underground hot-spring lake. Try floating therapy and thermal yoga,which when practised in this naturally warm setting intensifies the therapeutic benefits. Two-night thermal spa packages from ￡580; grottagiustispa.com
7. Healing House at Londolozi, South Africa
Long the trailblazer in African conservation tourism, Londolozi is still leading the charge with its progressive new spa, The Healing House. Try yoga on a platform in an ebony tree or join a five-day retreat for silent game drives and tracking animals on foot. Chalets from ￡800 per person; londolozi.com
8. Monkey Island, Surrey
This new hotel opens any day now on a private island in the Thames at Bray – and a jewel in its crown is the threetreatment- room Floating Spa on a barge, with water-influenced treatments, products by ISUN Alive & Ageless Skincare and a bar serving botanical, house-cured elixirs. Doubles from ￡275; monkeyislandestate.co.uk
9. Jagdhof Spa-Hotel, Austria
There is quite a lot of padding around naked at this Tyrolean spa hotel at the foot of a glacier near Innsbruck. But get over that and it’s great. It’s got multiple saunas and baths, an amethyst steam grotto, an ice-crystal shower, a Kneipp circuit and an aqua meditation room. Doubles from ￡380; jagdhof.com
10. Hotel Post Bezau, Austria
This hotel was first opened by the great-great-grandparents of Susanne Kaufmann, founder of the eponymous beauty brand. Products used in her gorgeous spa are made locally using strict ecological principles. Expect traditional yoga retreats, Chinese medicine detoxes and ‘face yoga’. Doubles from ￡300; hotelpostbezau.com
