Five avid travellers share their dreamiest destination spas

Reminiscing about what we miss is basically a national pastime right now, and for many, dreamy faraway destinations are near the top of that list. We asked five (former) frequent flyers to share the escapist spa experiences they can’t wait to book, once the world is open again. Take note for your future adventures.

Nike Onile, interior designer

Home sweet home: Toronto

Dream escape: El Fenn Spa and Pools in Marrakesh, Morocco

Every year (with the exception of 2020), Nike Onile has taken a multi-country trip, and on her most recent excursion, her last stop was Marrakesh. “It is so alive in colour, tastes and sounds and dripping in rich culture — and its beauty is perfectly captured at El Fenn,” she says of the luxury boutique hotel and spa co-owned by Vanessa Branson, sister of Richard. With 12 brightly coloured riads, a rooftop pool and an intimate spa surrounded by bougainvillea and jasmine, this experience is a memory the Toronto designer keeps returning to over the pandemic.

“I had the Hammam Spa Treatment and the woman who performed the ritual was so intuitive and kind, she literally brought me to tears as she cared for me,” she says of the cathartic spa service. This traditional Middle Eastern steam and scrub treatment is customizable, if guests wish, with an added argan oil massage or clay body mask. The candlelit spa also offers classic facials and massages, drawing upon natural regional ingredients, like amber, verveine and argan oil (one of Morocco’s biggest exports).

Emma Yardley, travel writer

Home sweet home: Salt Spring Island, B.C.

Dream escape: Anantara Spa in Lisbon, Portugal

“What I miss most about travelling is that moment I step onto the plane and all the hundreds of daily tasks from my home life melt away,” says award-winning freelance travel writer Emma Yardley. When asked what destination she wishes she could revisit, the new mom doesn’t skip a beat: the Anantara Spa at the five-star Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Hotel in Lisbon. In 2019, she stayed at this legendary hotel while on assignment, and that’s where she found out she was pregnant, making for “an especially poignant trip.”

Anantara is derived from the Sanskrit word for “endless,” and that’s what the subterranean spa aims to deliver: infinite relaxation, with its array of Eastern and Western restorative treatments, like traditional Thai massage, and cult-favourite facials using French beauty brand Biologique Recherche. When Yardley made the long-haul trip here, she immediately booked the Anantara Signature Massage to erase exhaustion upon arrival. “I got out of the taxi and went straight to the spa for a full-body acupressure massage, complete with a signature blend of oils and a recuperation period in the sauna. Honestly, this is the only way I can handle a red-eye now.”

Aniya Nandy, hair and makeup artist

Home sweet home: Toronto

Dream escape: Spa at Sandy Lane, Barbados

As a professional hair and makeup artist, Aniya Nandy is often primping models and stars for magazine shoots and ad campaigns. As for her own self-care routine, Nandy describes herself as a bit of a spa hound. The destination currently living rent-free in her head is the legendary Spa at Sandy Lane, on the sugary sand beaches of Barbados’s west coast.

Nandy discovered the Bajan sanctuary while visiting her uncle, an island local. “Their hospitality and service are impeccable — plus the therapists have magic hands,” she says. The spa menu is extensive, but the most famous treatment is The Rhassoul, offered in a private steam room with an open sky. Pink kaolin clay is painted on from top to toes, followed by dry heat to extract impurities, then a herbal steam that softens the clay and leaves skin purified and moisturized. “There’s really nothing like it,” says Nandy of the whole retreat.

Julia Doran, creative director

Home sweet home: New York City

Dream escape: Ti Spa in St. Lucia

After 12 months of living and working in a cosy apartment with her husband and toddler, the idyllic respite that creative director Julia Doran would choose is the Ti Spa at Calabash Cove Resort & Spa in St. Lucia, her honeymoon destination back in 2015. With rustic sun-bleached wood, rattan furniture and a calming seaside palette entwined with lush foliage, this unassuming spot evokes a bohemian vibe with a side of Caribbean hospitality.

“It felt secluded thanks to the surrounding mountains, giving the sense that the beaches were nestled into the lush topography,” says Doran. From the tightly edited spa menu, she has fond memories of the Island Fruit Body Scrub, which infuses local fruits, natural oils and sea salts into a signature exfoliating service. After the 50-minute treatment, her skin was left silky soft and naturally glowing.

Marjorie Roux, founder of Matinée Studio

Home sweet home: Montreal

Dream escape: Les Sources de Caudalie, Bordeaux, France

After a decade of working with beauty, wellness and lifestyle clients, Marjorie Roux speaks fluent spa-talk. “I’ve always found getting a spa service upon arrival helps me let go of the emotional and physical stress of long-haul flying,” says the expat founder of Matinée Studio, a communications agency in Montreal. Over the past year, she’s felt particular wanderlust for the country she hails from. “I miss spending time with my family and childhood friends in the south of France,” she says. “And of course, the French cuisine and wines!”

But the sublime retreat she’s stuck on is not a place she’s experienced yet. It’s one she was planning to visit, pre-pandemic: Les Sources de Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa in Bordeaux, not far from her summer surf camp as a kid. Set amid the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, this five-star hotel and spa is a mecca of the French Paradox — the oft-discussed link between the wine-steeped French lifestyle and good health. Roux is keen to try several signature Caudalie Vinothérapie treatments, which use hot spring water (sourced 540 meters below ground) along with grape extracts and sensorial massage techniques. “It warms my heart thinking of the day it’s safe to purchase my ticket home — and my spa package.”

The Star understands the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and we’re publishing this story with future trips in mind.