Don’t have enough time to fly out of the Singapore? Did you just miss the long weekend? Here are the best spas that really do feel like an escape from the city. A good hour of pampering won’t come cheap (nothing in Singapore comes cheap) but they’re just so worth it.
#1 Banyan Tree Spa
What is a Banyan Tree Spa not a reflection of nature? The space is designed to celebrate the ‘tree of life’ with elements like branches on the wall and smooth parquet floors. The brand’s spa treatments are typically very Asian-inspired but we’re in full favour of the Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage. If there can really be too much of a good thing, alternate with the Royal Banyan, where two therapists work simultaneously on different parts of your body.
Location: Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Ave
#2 Remède Spa
The spa has an aquatic water theme, which explains those baubles you’ll see at the entrance to the treatment lounge. But more impressive than the transfixing baubles is the award-winning Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio inside the spa, created by the great pedicurist, Bastien Gonzales. For a complete top-to-toenail day of luxury, also get the Chi Nei Tsang massage. It’s meant to get the Qi in your body flowing well to restore balance. You’ll get chocolates after your massage too.
Location: The St Regis Singapore, 29 Tanglin Rd
#3 ESPA
Make your way to Sentosa for an afternoon at ESPA where facilities are complemented by fantastic garden and pool views. There are four wellness programmes which are carefully crafted to suit each client, discussed during a prior lifestyle consultation. And we really do mean spa escape at ESPA — they have a Turkish hammam (you know how we feel about those) and Japanese onsen-style pools (you definitely know how we feel about those).
Location: Resorts World Sentosa, 18 Sentosa Gateway
#4 Auriga Spa
If your idea of being kind to yourself is being kind to nature, minimise your carbon footprint as you find your way to Auriga. The spa uses only organic products from The Organic Pharmacy. Every room even has a personal outdoor garden! Feel good about yourself as you sweat out the pollution from your pores in the herbal steam room, splash around in the ice fountain and take a quiet hour and a half with the Senja Sunyi Massage, a Javanese massage that uses a delicious rose and pomegranate body balm.
Location: Capella Singapore, 1 The Knoll, Sentosa Island
#5 The Luxe House
Love the name, love the spa even more. Literally in a house, or perhaps manor is a more fitting description, the spa pulls out all the stops for its aesthetic. Think grand armchairs, lots of black, marble floors and chandeliers. The treatments live up to the same standards. In particular, the intensive rejuvenation foot therapy could become a weekly addiction for you, which uses hot stones for cupping on your feet.
Location: 7A Dempsey Rd
Or you know, you could take a last-minute weekend away.
Photo credits: Main, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
