The Caribbean Best Spa Guide

A trip to the Caribbean in itself oozes relaxation. But if cocktails and cabanas isn’t enough, (and we think there is so much more than that), you could say the Caribbean does spas better than most.

Push the boundaries of bliss with our Caribbean Spa Edit, the best spas to add to your 2020 list.

Go from oceanside to spa pool in resortwear that has ‘relax’ written all over it. Try these suitcase must haves for Caribbean spa-ing by CF fashion editor Lisa Haynes.

Next to and overlooking the sea, French cosmetics brand Sisley takes over the spa at this St Barth’s intimate five star hotel. The motto “where the art of wellbeing meets the ocean” defines this offering precisely, with the most envied location on the island. Walk passed the hotel’s infinity pool, through to the Spa. Treatment rooms face the sea with outdoor changing areas with showers.

Try the Phyto Aromatic Sisley facial (although you have a choice of 11 different treatments for the face alone) and the relaxing harmony body massage. Those are the best. In addition to their famous facials, Spa Sisley also offers various massage, body scrubs, manicures, waxing, hair treatments, and yoga. Leave with perfectly prescribed Sisley products, a must for your St Barth’s holiday. Sisley Spa treatments and never ending sunsets. Merci!

Amongst 100 acres of lush rainforest and framed by the Eastern Caribbean island’s landmark UNESCO World Heritage-listed Pitons, you’ll find classic colonial-style rooms, beachfront bungalows, and one of our favourite Caribbean spas on the white-sands of Saint Lucia’s famed Sugar Beach.

Sugar Beach’s renowned Rainforest Spa blends into its forested setting. The romantic tree-house spa has a long entry hall made entirely from wood, and tree-house treatment rooms, each with a private shower. There is also a manicure and pedicure area, relaxation pavilion, and traditional steam dome. Natural and holistic treatments (many of which use ingredients from volcanic springs and plantations) include bamboo massages, hot rock therapies, facials, body wraps and salt scrubs.

Accessed via a 30 minute boat ride from Providenciales, this 1,000-acre resort on a private island is tranquillity redefined. The COMO Shambhala Retreat offers holistic, Asian-inspired treatments including Ayurveda, aromatherapy, Pilates and other holistic approaches to mental quietude, physical wellbeing and spiritual balance.

Parrot Cay also invites Visiting Masters to lead specialist weeks – including yoga retreats – so keep checking in here. Facilities include a sweeping yoga room aired with natural breezes, nine treatment rooms, an outdoor Jacuzzi garden, a Pilates studio, double massage rooms and Japanese baths—all in low-lying pavilions overlooking the North Caicos Channel and the surrounding wetlands.

It’s the place where you throw your cares away before you step foot on the island.

On an island that blends island glamour with a captivating cosmopolitan scene, La Samanna St Martin is a resort to see and be seen, perched beside one of the most spectacular private beaches in the French West Indies.

Though the resort feels worlds apart from the busy island, it’s a short 10-minute drive to the bustling Simpson Bay on the island’s Dutch side, and about 20 minutes away from the French capital city of Marigot.

The candlelit Caribbean spa resort has treatment rooms that open out onto lush tropical gardens. Recline for an indulgent Roucou pre-tanning treatment; relax with a tropical Lomi Lomi massage; or add a little polish to your vacation with a classic French manicure. A little help to relax into island life.

Classic charm set amidst 12 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens on the calm West Coast of Barbados in historic Holetown, Coral Reef Club is the epitome of West Indian elegance.

Exotic vegetation and waterfalls weave throughout the spa, from the four multipurpose treatment rooms, each with its own private foot ritual patio and garden, to the Outdoor Pavilion for couples. The Spa takes its decorative colour palette from nature. Fine sand sheers, soft creamy linens and woven grasscloths sit with coral stone walls and dark chocolate wood. The facilities include a luxurious ‘open sided’ Relaxation Room, an outdoor Hydro-pool with shaded cabanas for post treatment leisure, a Thermal Suite with a serene Crystal Steam Room and Experience Shower, and a Spa Lounge offering secluded relaxation.

Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind. It’s the first thing you see on their site and what you are told on arrival.

With the Rodney Bay Marina – and its 253 slips for yachts – just five minutes drive away, this award-winning wellness resort has long been on our hot list. Set in a secluded cove on the north west tip of this iconic Caribbean island, the resort has an excellent range of nautically inspired treatments including a floating massage during which warm sea water washes up against your limbs as your therapist works on your muscles. There is also the “ocean memory, marine sensation ritual”, which features exfoliating algae petals and an algae mousse mask. In 2015, it launched its BodyScience option, the first spa in the Caribbean to offer DNA testing to identify potential health issues.

Amongst natural waterfalls and unspoilt rainforests, it creates a perfect island paradise.

You fall in love here. Over and over and over again. Among the tropical palms and frangipani that surround this white-washed, wafty-curtained spa, relieve your parched skin with well-curated Guerlain treatments, with a focus on after-sun care.

Although petite, the Guerlain Spa is dreamy with memorable treatments, custom perfume blends, a sauna and outdoor relaxation pavilion, yoga room, and ice-blue pool.

The spa also offers guests full beauty bars stocked with cosmetics to freshen up after treatments. Lazy afternoons are spent at the Cheval’s own small, private beach with a custom beach Ambassadeur providing cocktail service and food at your sun bed.

Entering The Spa at Sandy Lane is like stepping into an entirely different world from the lush tropical paradise found just outside the doors. A striking marble reception area anchored by duel grand staircases leads you to the treatment suites, changing rooms and wet lounges.

The 47,000 square-foot spa is decadent relaxation, alongside a 2500-square-foot gym offering, in addition to all the usual equipment, a range of fitness assessments and personal training. Menus of massages, facials and body treatments using Sundari and Aromatherapy Associates, make for an all in all blissful spa experience. Add in the highly trained therapists who naturally possess that famous Bajan hospitality, and you’re in for unparalleled bliss.

Overlooking Jamaica’s famed Doctor’s Cave beach, S Hotel Jamaica is the combination of urban sophistication and Caribbean cool.

The Irie Baths and Spa embraces Jamaican heritage and a holistic approach to wellness featuring 3 subterranean plunge pools with varying temperatures reminiscent of ancient baths, offering kinetic energy therapy while aiding circulation. Products used in the therapies feature locally made 100% pure cold-pressed Jamaican coconut oil from Sharon Feanny and essential and massage oils from Starfish, a local Jamaican brand, and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Head up to the hotel’s Sky Pool, with its glass-enclosed pool and rooftop beach vistas, the perfect place to settle into a swing or a plush cabana, order an Appleton rum and savour the sunset.