What better way to ring in the new year than with a fabulous luxury spa treatment? From full body massages to melt away muscle tension and mental stresses from the past year, to nourishing facials to get your glow on, plus romantic spa days for couples, here are six luxury spas to check out for some of the best massages in Singapore!
Best Luxury Spas in Singapore
# St. Gregory Spa at Pan Pacific Singapore
Spoil yourself with a day of pampering at the tranquil St. Gregory spa in Pan Pacific Singapore. Whether it’s a luxurious facial before a special event, or one of Singapore’s best full body massages to calm the senses, you will find them all at this award- winning respite. It uses top-notch products from Thalion, the French skincare brand specialising in algotherapy, and Elemis, known for its phytotherapy and aromatherapeutic formulations, in its myriad of treatments.
Of course, a luxury spa day isn’t just reserved for one! Grab your spa-loving partner and go for the Couple’s Retreat for Two ($480), which includes the signature Elemis Intensive Cleansing Salt Scrub with Exotic Lime and Ginger followed by your pick between the popular Relaxing Aromatic Body Bliss and the Indonesian Balinese massage. Alternatively, invite some girlfriends along for the Joyous Celebrations for Three ($780) or gift a muscle recovery treatment complete with a steam room session ($180). Enjoy these special prices until 31 March.
What makes a spa day at St. Gregory extra special is that it sits right next to the hotel’s expansive outdoor swimming pool. Arrive early or linger a long while after your treatment so you can enjoy some panoramic views and leisurely laps under the sun. Ah, bliss.
Level 4, 7 Raffles Boulevard
6826 8140 | panpacific.com | stgregory.ppsin@panpacific.com
# AWAY Spa at W Singapore
An extension of the flora and fauna that surrounds it, AWAY Spa at W Singapore – Sentosa Cove is a lush tropical escape beautifully dressed in rainforest-inspired interiors. Thinking of a couples spa day? This luxury spa spans two couples spa treatment rooms and three single treatment rooms, each with its own semi-outdoor bathtub or shower. There’s also a decompression area, infrared therapy, steam room, vitality pool and invigorating experiential showers, all making for a holistic spa experience to remember.
Take your pick from an array of some of Singapore’s best massages, facials, body and beauty treatments, manicures and pedicures, waxing and more. Treatments are performed using products from skincare brand Comfort Zone as well as Valmont for its luxurious facial treatments.Those seeking to reenergise will especially love the signature Detox Massage with a rich blend of oils designed to stimulate metabolism and eliminate toxins. Meanwhile, the signature Cove massage uses soft rocking and long stroke techniques to help restore a sense of balance, equilibrium and relaxation. And don’t we all desire a bit more of that
21 Ocean Way, Sentosa Cove
6808 7290 | awayspa.singapore@whotels.com | awayspasingapore.com
# COMO Shambhala at Orchard Singapore
Stepping into COMO Shambhala’s newly opened flagship wellness space at COMO Orchard, you’ll find yourself immediately enveloped by a sense of serenity, thanks to its blue themed interiors by designer Paula Navone of the award-winning OTTO Studio, which echoes the tranquil nature of healing water.
The perfect place to start your new year health resolutions, this 9,000-square-foot oasis offers a range of holistic wellness experiences, including a boutique gym, Pilates, Gyrotonic, yoga, sound healing and meditation. Experience innovative wellness technology such as Red Light Therapy and Contrast Therapy featuring ice baths and infrared saunas, both aiding in muscle recovery and building immunity. And then there’s Singapore’s first Hyperbaric Airpod, a device providing oxygen and molecular hydrogen therapy to support the body’s healing processes and help improve sleep and increase energy and stamina, while assisting in recovery from fatigue and burnout.
Elevate your wellbeing with a body or facial treatment that combines modern science with ancient Asian practices, including the COMO Shambhala Signature Massage, one of Singapore’s best massages that uses COMO Shambhala aromatherapy massage oils to lull the body into complete rest followed by a gentle rhythmic massage targeting specific areas to help rebalance the body. Or, opt for a COMO Shambhala Microbiome Facial, featuring a deep cleanse and dead skin cell exfoliation followed by an infusion of microbiome-friendly essence with both pre- and postbiotics that nourishes skin to optimal health.
Level 4, 30 Bideford Road, COMO Orchard
6304 3552 | comoshambhala.com
# Four Seasons Spa near Orchard
Escape from the city bustle to the Orchard Boulevard enclave for some lovely me-time in the calm oasis that is the Four Seasons Spa, where you’ll find some of the best massages and spa treatments in Singapore. The spa offers a full range of aromatherapy, premium facials and body care treatments to rejuvenate the mind, skin and spirit. Using Subtle Energies’ rare ayurveda aromatherapy active essential oils, its carefully designed massages feature everything from deep tissue work to Ayurveda strokes, lymphatic drainage and Marma point work.
In particular, the ever-popular Peranakan Signature Therapy is inspired by Peranakan healing philosophy and traditional Chinese medicine, featuring rhythmic pressure applied using a handsewn compress of aromatic nutmeg, ginger and rice to help relieve pain and uplift mood. For a truly unforgettable luxury spa experience, top it off with the signature 24-Karat Gold Age-Defying Facial. This anti-ageing facial incorporates all the potent goodness of collagen, elastin, mogra jasmines and 24K gold to renew and regenerate skin cells. You can even combine your favourite body and facial treatments by opting for one of its custom programmes.
Four Seasons Spa is now offering a New Year Restart promotion until 29 February. You can enjoy a 90-minute Botanical Relaxation, Deep Tissue Restore or the Peranakan Signature Therapy Massage at 15 percent off, or a complimentary 30-minute Head and Scalp Massage or Leg Refresher when you book a 60-minute 24K Gold Age-Defying Facial.
Level 4 (access via Level 3), 190 Orchard Boulevard
6831 7400 | fourseasons.com/singapore/spa
# St. Gregory spa at Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Singapore
Bask in your moment of zen right in the heart of Chinatown at this gorgeous luxury spa, tucked away amidst the eco-friendly hotel’s iconic cascading greenery. Parkroyal Collection Pickering’s St. Gregory offers curated treatment programmes that don’t just take care of the skin but your holistic wellness too. Think lush body massages, hydrating facials and even individual and group wellness classes – yoga, Zumba, meditation, HIIT, personal training, movement flow, you name it!
Encompassing three single treatment rooms (Lily, Lotus and Jasmine) and one romantic couples spa room (Orchid), you can take your pick from the spa’s signature facial and body treatments such as the 60-minute Indonesian Balinese Massage, 60-minute Aromatic Body Bliss Massage, 75-minute Elemis Superfood Facial and 75-minute Elemis Pro Collagen Facial. Want to have your tired muscles kneaded and stretched? Then try the 75-minute Revitalising Bamboo Massage, which enhances blood circulation and lymphatic drainage.
Cap off your couples or solo spa session by exploring the dedicated wellness floor’s outdoor infinity pool, fitness centre, steam room and a 300-metre garden walk flanked by a variety of lush greenery – you’re sure to leave this oasis feeling utterly rejuvenated.
Level 5, 3 Upper Pickering Street
6809 8870 | stgregory.prsps@parkroyalcollection.com | panpacific.com/prsps-spa
# Oasia Spa on Sentosa
Pamper yourself with specialised facial and grooming treatments and full-body massages at Oasia Spa by Far East Hospitality in Sentosa. Oasia Signature Massage is designed for anyone finding it difficult to wind down from city living. Blending traditional Asian techniques – Thai, Shiatsu and Indian – it gives you the best of the classics. Before the massage, you can also customise your treatment based on your preferred pressure and areas of focus. Your therapist will also assist you in selecting the right massage oil for your needs, crafted with essential oils to help calm mind and body; Then, it’s just a matter of lying back and feeling the release of tension and the easing of all those muscle aches!
Beyond treatments, Oasia Spa also conducts workshops hosted by the spa therapists during Wellness Hour”, including how to make a balm and body scrub and guiding you through a health and wellness sharing session. This approach can work wonders for your holistic well-being!
#01-03 Palawan Ridge, 23 Beach View Road, Sentosa
6818 3388 | Oasia Spa
More about massages and luxury spa treatments
Are you looking for the best massages and couples spa treatments in Singapore? Not only is a massage an amazing tool for physical and mental relaxation, easing muscle tension and relieving pain, the therapeutic benefits of human touch extend to healing injuries and supporting wellness in general. Massage is also the perfect opportunity to practise gratitude. Tons of research has shown that the emotion of gratitude brings multiple benefits of its own: mental, psychological and physical.
Perhaps surprisingly, feeling grateful improves self-esteem. It also works to improve psychological health by reducing toxic emotions such as frustration, envy, resentment and regret. What’s more, grateful people have more mental resilience, experiencing lower rates of PTSD following similarly traumatic events.
One study even showed that grateful people experience fewer aches and pains – and, unlike NSAIDs, gratitude won’t raise your risk of internal bleeding or a heart attack.
Tellingly, gratitude increases levels of societal harmony because it reduces aggression and enhances empathy. That’s something the world could do with more of right now. May I suggest a massage prescription for warmongering politicians? Or a hot-stone rub-down for those antisocial New Year sale shoppers in a frenzy of FOMO; or some gentle facial lymphatic drainage for those nasty trolls sowing misery on social media?
How to find the best massages and spas for couples in Singapore?
I’m a grateful recipient of some of the best massages and spa treatments here in Singapore, be it Chinese, Hawaiian, Thai, Swedish, Indonesian or other – and baby-naked and oil-based, or performed through a full set of cotton pyjamas.
I could be in the luxurious surroundings of a five-star resort luxury spa, in the cramped cubicle of a Bedok neighbourhood massage joint, or on sandy, salt-stained bedding on a Phuket beach. (As for therapists, their gender matters to me as little as their pronouns of choice!)
Then there’s the question of soft, medium or hard? Like your breakfast order for boiled eggs, it’s important that they get this right. Disconcertingly, one individual’s definition of medium can be another’s “Ouch! Stop! Stop now!”
As for me, I like a gentle facial, and a firm body massage. But not so firm that I’m left with visible bruises. In fact, over the past 20 years I’ve toned down my request from “hard, please”, to “medium-to-strong – and gentle on my sensitive feet”.
Therapist recommendations
In my opinion, the best therapists don’t necessarily have the strongest hands, the jazziest techniques or the longest list of certificates. (Though there’s nothing wrong with any of those.) What truly lights my gratitude is an intuitive therapist with an instinctive touch – whether it’s for a full-body Swedish or a rejuvenating facial.
I don’t think this is an entirely trainable talent: I think you have to be born with the potential for it. And, as the recipient of one of these instinctual healers’ touch, you’ll know at once how lucky you are to be at the receiving end.
No matter how upmarket the spa is, or how sensuous its surroundings, there’s no guaranteeing a superb massage, facial or other treatment. That’s where it pays to follow trusted recommendations – like the ones above. So, as we close one door on a testing 2023 and open another to the promise of another brand new year, what better time to practise hope and gratitude while indulging in an uplifting spa treat?
Here’s wishing you good health, happiness and the luxury spa treatment of your dreams!
– Verne Maree
This article first appeared in the January 2024 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe, so you never miss a copy!
Want more? See our Style & Beauty section!
Hair salons that will help with the frizz… and more
Looking for an anti-ageing treatment?
