12 Highly Rated Hotels In America With The Best Spas
Many of the highly-rated hotels in the United States have achieved their ranking, at least in part, due to the presence of a luxurious spa that sets the standards for wellness and rejuvenation. Sometimes, this feature even motivates a guest's hotel choice, as they anticipate spending at least part of their stay stretched out on a massage table, sweating in the sauna and steam room, and soaking in a hot tub. Guests can don their robe in their room and head straight to the spa, knowing that after their relaxing time, they won't have to dress again but can melt right into bed. It's a reason to splurge on a relaxing spa resort or even a downtown hotel with an urban oasis spa.
Travel sites and magazines are constantly sharing "best of" lists, helping guests find the perfect spot for them. Using the guidance of expert travel writers and spa reviewers, we put together the following list of the best of the best: highly-rated hotels with the best spas in America.
Amangiri - Canyon Point, Utah
One of the most beautiful hotels in the world, Canyon Point's Amangiri, a remote getaway hidden on 600 acres in Southern Utah, is the only one that shows up on four of the seven lists we cross-referenced. People often head to the resort as part of their visits to the five nearby national parks, national monuments, and the country's largest Native American reservations. Backed by a lofty rock escarpment, the views are always stunning. Guests can choose between luxurious, modernist suites or tented pavilions with outdoor terraces and plunge pools. The restaurants celebrate Native American flavors, and the team offers to create private dining experiences throughout the resort or at select desert sites.
Aman Spa, the hotel's prized spa, is 25,000 square feet and draws upon local therapies, incorporating healing Navajo traditions into a holistic menu of journeys and treatments. It's a place to partake in their signature rituals or take time out for a massage, facial, body treatment, and yoga. In addition to the treatment rooms, there are water and flotation pavilions, a fitness center, a yoga and Pilates studio, a steam room and sauna, and outdoor treatment terraces.
Acqualina Resort & Residences on the Beach - Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Considered one of the most beautiful beachside hotels in Florida, Acqualina Resort is the second most popular destination on lists of hotels with the best spas. Perhaps because of its Mediterranean villa vibe or its newly renovated, luxurious rooms and suites, it's a property that guests rave about. Adults can indulge in what Acqualina calls a "decadent new adult pool experience," while the whole family can enjoy Avra Miami, a Greek and seafood restaurant, or any of its three other restaurants. The property boasts three oceanfront swimming pools, a marine biology-based children's program, and plenty of beachfront.
In addition to recognition by USA Today as the Best Hotel Spa in the U.S., Forbes Travel Guide has given the spa a rare five-star rating. Acqualina Spa is a 20,000-square-foot facility that combines a European Day Spa philosophy with Ayurvedic-infused, holistic treatments. The mix of ancient and modern modalities appears throughout the treatment menu, including wellness options such as sound healing massages and cold-therapy body treatments. A signature treatment incorporates Florida's orange blossom into a massage. Other amenities include relaxation areas, Finnish saunas, a crystal steam room with color therapy, an experience shower with cool arctic and warm Caribbean mists, an outdoor swimming pool, a sun deck, and a hot tub with a Roman waterfall.
The Lodge at Woodloch - Hawley, Pennsylvania
Being among the most highly rated hotels doesn't have to mean the most expensive. The Lodge at Woodloch is a budget-friendly, all-inclusive resort experience. For over 65 years, it has offered year-round getaways in the Poconos Mountains. Guests can choose between guestrooms or vacation rental homes and take advantage of a wide range of activities and amenities, including rock climbing, ice skating, boat tours, pools, and a petting zoo.
The spa is 40,000 square feet, a sanctuary where a spa concierge will help create a unique day to meet individual needs. The luxury adult-only spa includes the Whisper Lounge, Aqua Garden with Hydromassage WaterWalls, and an activity pool with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on natural scenes. There are showers, saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools, and fireplace lounges in separate men's and women's areas. Co-ed areas host a Himalayan salt sauna, a Tyrolean Bucket Shower, a snow room, yoga and meditation studios, a spinning room, and a CardioWeight Studio. In addition to traditional services, the spa also offers flotation therapy.
Fairmont Orchid - Waimea, Hawaii
Hotels in Hawai'i often appear on lists of the best hotels and spas, and no more often than the Fairmont Orchid, a property on 32 oceanfront acres on the Kohala Coast. With a 10,000-square-foot pool and a private bay, it's a destination for those who want to enjoy the beach or engage in water explorations such as snorkeling, canoeing, or paddleboarding. Resort activities invite people to golf on what Golf Digest calls one of the best golf resorts in Hawai'i, make a lei, learn to hula, or attend a luau. There are six restaurants and in-room dining.
The Spa Without Walls is the hotel's award-winning spa, with eight thatched huts, six oceanfront cabanas, and three indoor treatment rooms. There is a waterfall hale built above water features that provide a soundtrack to one's massage while ocean breezes waft in floral scents. It's a place that weaves indigenous products and ancient healing arts into each experience, seeking to connect its guests to the spirit of Hawai'i and all that makes it unique. Some of its offerings include an Ocean or Waterfall Hiwa Hiwa treatment incorporating Hawai'ian lomi lomi massage and a volcanic mud wrap. Another combines Polynesian treatments of 'Awa Earth and Fire and Kahinu.
Four Seasons Sensei Lanai - Lanai City, Hawaii
Another Hawai'ian resort, the Four Seasons Sensei Lanai is one of the more popular Four Seasons properties — a brand that was among the most frequent on travel publication lists. An adults-only wellness retreat, the resort is on the island of Lanai, a secluded property surrounded by pine-filled mountains. Light-filled rooms are decorated in white decor with doors opening onto lush gardens. The property focuses on wellness and offers fitness and well-being classes and the opportunity to engage in island adventures. It will curate "sensei journeys" for couples, solo travelers, wellness seekers, mother-daughter trips, and babymoons.
The Japanese-inspired Sensei Spa was co-founded by Dr. David Agus, who works with Four Seasons to create classes, treatments, and adventures centered around the three paths of the Sensei Way philosophy: move, nourish, and rest. There are 10 spa hales with a tub, infrared sauna, steam room, indoor and outdoor showers, oversized massage tables, private plunge pools, and lounging areas. Treatments are customized through the use of a Sensei-developed thermal body mapping technology. In addition to bodywork, massage, and facials, Sensei offers experiences that are either self-guided or led by one of its experts. One massage even takes place while you are floating in a pool, and the therapist guides you through stretches and administers shiatsu massage.
Carillon Miami Wellness Resort - Miami, Florida
Wellness isn't just a spa treatment at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort. It's part of everything it does, starting in the luxury apartments built on one of the city's longest beachfront stretches. Floor-to-ceiling windows open up on either the beach or the Miami skyline in rooms with separate living and sleeping areas, a kitchen, and a spa-like bathroom. It offers indoor and outdoor dining experiences and menus filled with local ingredients. Or the staff will bring a freshly prepared meal to your suite.
This beachfront resort makes wellness its top priority. It encourages guests first to identify their health concerns—such as trauma, weight loss, mental fog, pain relief, or sleep disorders—and then it provides custom wellness recommendations for which spa services will be most effective. It invites you to "come as you are, leave as you've never been." The spa combines Western, Eastern, alternative, and aesthetic medicine in a menu focused on treating specific needs, whether a facial that fights the effects of pollution or a hydrotherapy circuit to reduce pain. It offers the type of spa experiences you expect and a range of unique services, including many signature therapies inspired by the sea they sit on. One example is a body treatment in an "aemotio spa," a multifunction treatment room that includes a water bed, a heated water mattress, chromotherapy, steam bath with aromatherapy, a vichy shower, and water-enhanced vibromassage.
Mii Amo - Sedona, Arizona
An all-inclusive Arizona resort, Mii Amo creates personalized wellness journeys for its guests, ranging from three to ten nights. It's not just a "stay". It's a curated experience, fully customized before the guest arrives. It has only 23 suites, allowing it to provide highly personalized service to each guest. Each suite features fireplaces, private outdoor spaces, and heated bathroom floors. Founded in 2001, Mii Amo is a destination spa, a property where wellness and the amenities they receive are the focus of each guest. Nestled in Boynton Canyon in Sedona, Arizona, it encourages guests to connect with nature. Guests have access to a Crystal Grotto, a circular room with an earthen floor and a domed ceiling where people meditate to the sounds of a fountain in a space lit by quartz crystal lamps.
The spa contains 26 treatment rooms and a separate relaxation lounge where mindfulness work is often performed. Many spa services are built around rituals and ceremonies, such as a connection ceremony, to help people going through transitions in their lives. Guides will lead you on an inner quest, practitioners will balance your chakras, and a massage therapist will conduct an energy reading. While hot stone massages are standard at many spas, Mii Amo uses basalt stones that are applied both hot and cold. You can even get sessions involving hypnosis, past life regression, astrology, Reiki, and aura photography.
Miraval Resort and Spa - Tucson, Arizona
Another Arizona hotel, Miraval, sits in the Santa Catalina Mountains, surrounded by the desert. An all-inclusive resort, it encourages you to leave your cash and credit cards locked in your room as all your expenses are included, and gratuities are not allowed. Upon arrival, guests are given a Miraval tote and water bottle and have access to a wide range of activities, including beekeeping, horseback riding, spiritual drumming, a labyrinth, and guest speakers.
Access to spa amenities — such as the hot tub, steam room, sauna, serenity pool, and hydration station — is included in every guest's stay, and a daily credit can be applied to spa services. Miraval encourages guests to reserve appointments at Life in Balance Spa four to six weeks in advance because reservations get snapped up quickly. The desert takes center stage at the spa, with light fixtures imitating desert light and such botanicals as purple sage, prickly pear, and Arizona clay showing up on the treatment menu.
In a commitment to marrying innovative modern treatment with ancient traditions, the spa offers modalities from Europe, China, India, Tibet, and other global cultures. These appear in skin care, nail care, Ayurveda, energy and Eastern treatments, body renewal rituals, and massage. One of its newer offerings takes inspiration from desert monsoons — an anti-inflammatory body treatment that includes a detoxifying mud mask and hydration with mountain arnica.
Montage Resort - Laguna Beach, California
All of the Montage resorts were popular amongst travel experts, especially Laguna Beach, Kapalua, and Palmetto Bluff. However, the guests who rated hotels on Tripadvisor had a clear winner: the Montage Laguna Beach. Perhaps it is the proximity to a Southern California artist colony, the view of the Pacific Ocean from high on the bluff, or its elegant afternoon tea. Whatever the reasons, guests rate this hotel highly, and travel experts identify its spa as one of the best. The guestrooms incorporate coastal influences in the design, mixing standard rooms, bungalows, villas, and specialty suites. A centerpiece of the resort is its mosaic pool with nearby cabanas and a children's area.
Spa Montage requires all its therapists to undergo specialized training in providing customized experiences for guests, preparing them to diagnose needs and select among their global experiences that promote well-being. "Spa Symphony" is a term that appears in much of its literature, describing how carefully it orchestrates multiple notes to satisfy, delight, and promote harmony. Its 20th-anniversary treatment includes mindful touch virtual reality, singing bowls, and handcrafted chocolate incorporated into a foot bath, massage, and facial. Among its combination of high-tech and high-touch treatments are cryo therapies and couple treatments.
Nemacolin - Farmington, Pennsylvania
Nemacolin is a luxury getaway nestled in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains. Guests can choose from among five different hotels that each provide unique experiences for all sizes of groups. It offers an interactive tool where you can input the amenities you want, and the staff will help match you up with the ideal spot. Regardless of where you choose, you get access to the butler service and all of the resort's activities and experiences. This includes dogsledding and snow tubing in the winter, while in the summer, the golf course and horse stables beckon. Or perhaps you'd prefer art classes, trap shooting, or archery. You can even have up-close experiences with tigers, lions, or Nemacolin's celebrity skunk.
The Woodlands Spa stands ready to accommodate the many ways a guest may want to do a spa day — whether with modern technology, luxury treatments, or traditional, holistic practices. All guests have access to the fireside lounge, indoor spa pool, whirlpool, steam room, and sauna. Complimentary food and drinks are served in the fireside lounge. Signature therapies include a crystal massage, hot stone Shirodhara, and a woodland hammam. Another treatment combines Native American therapies and rituals with Hawai'ian lomi lomi massage. Massages can be customized to include hot and cold stones, aromatherapy, and multiple modalities. Woodlands Spa offers full- and half-day immersions and packages with multiple services.
Alyeska Resort - Girdwood, Alaska
In the land of snow, ice, and 24-hour nights, Alyeska offers visitors to Alaska the state's first Nordic spa experience. While the spa is for adults only, the resort welcomes families to stay in 300-plus rooms with a saltwater pool, a bike park, and a ski mountain. It calls itself the base camp for Alaska adventures. Rooms are designed with Alaskan artwork and offer warming touches like heated towel racks. Guests can take in the Alaska wilderness from a 60-passenger aerial scenic tram or head out on nearby nature paths and walking trails.
The Nordic Spa is a 50,000-square-foot facility surrounded by Chugach mountain rainforests. The hydrotherapy circuit includes outdoor hot and cold pools, saunas, steam rooms, and an exfoliation cabin. Once you enter, re-entry is not allowed, so a daylong visit might include a trip to the Two Trees Bistro. You can arrive as early as 9 a.m. and leave as late as 9 p.m. It also offers a Twilight Soak at a reduced price for those who want to spend just a few evening hours at the Nordic Spa rather than an entire day. For those who want to add a service to the hydrotherapy access, 60-minute massages can be reserved with such options as aromatherapy, deep tissue focus, or a couples arrangement.
Canyon Ranch - Lenox, Massachusetts
Canyon Ranch is the grandmother of wellness spas in the U.S., one of the pioneering resorts that helped define what spa meant in the country. Its original property is in Arizona, but the Massachusetts locale has earned rave reviews from guests. Canyon Ranch Lenox has a lot to offer for those who want their next trip to be a wellness retreat. Built on a historic New England estate in the Berkshires, Canyon Ranch offers cooking classes in a demo kitchen, fitness activities, and spiritual wellness events. Guests stay in the Bellefontaine Mansion and get care in a health and performance center where wellness experts help them meet their goals. Canyon Ranch is filled with lush gardens and surrounded by a forest. Guests can use the property's climbing wall, zip line, or high ropes course. Its restaurants feature wholesome meals made with local ingredients and seasonal specialties.
The 100,000-square-foot spa has an extensive catalog of services – 86 spa and beauty treatments, 40 fitness and movement services, 12 nutrition and food offerings, 37 health and performance services, and 23 mind and spirit experiences. For those seeking a particular type of experience, Canyon Ranch Spa offers pathways of curated stays that include such intentions as relaxing and renewing, longevity plans, personal discovery, lifestyle reset, living a healthy weight, optimal health, executive physical, reconnecting with joy, and finding inner calm.
Why these hotels and spas?
To bring you these 12 U.S. hotels with the best spas, we turned to the expertise of various travel publications and their "best hotel spa" lists. After narrowing down the publications to seven — those that compiled their lists in 2023, those that listed only highly ranked hotels with actual spas, and those that provided a reason for their rankings — we began to assemble our list.
The publications we consulted were Tripadvisor, U.S. News Travel, Spa & Beauty Today, Veranda, USA Today, The Travel, and Reader's Digest. Hotels that appeared on multiple lists and were also highly ranked on Tripadvisor appear in this story. We then rounded out the recommendations with a few properties that appeared on only one list but were at the top of their ranking and had especially favorable guest reviews.