Honolulu Spa and Massage

It’s not just the soft glow of candlelight, the array of floral sprays, or even the pampering spa treatments that keep clients coming back to Laka Skin Care & Spa. They come for the salon’s holistic treatments, backed by the science of Nobel Prize–winning research. The salon’s staff is trained in everything from facial reflexology to the salon’s three signature facials—all of which use 24-karat gold to brighten and cleanse skin.

What really sets the spa’s treatments apart are the optional add-ons. The house brand of aromatherapy, 21 Drops, infuses facials and massages with healing essential oils to entertain noses. Heated amethyst mats detoxify both body and mind while clients relax on them.

Situated inside the Outrigger Luana Waikiki Hotel, the sleek contemporary interior of Ville De Coco envelops visitors in a tranquil environment while staff members administer customized pampering services. You can get a traditional Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage in a private room, or climb into a pillow-lined pedicure chair to soak your feet in warm tubs filled with aromatic salts.

Steamy saunas and cool pools share space with an in-house salon, massage parlor, and nail studio at Herbal Spa Sauna & Salon, which has separate facilites for men and women. The journey through saunas and baths is ordered strategically for optimal effect, beginning with a hot-tub dip to calm muscles and relax minds. After a sojourn in the steam sauna opens pores and releases tension, the dry sauna heats cores with controlled 210-degree coals to ease muscles and a bath cools down bodies before limber limbs meditate in a jade room. A Himalayan salt sauna uses heat to release the minerals found in salt to benefit respiratory systems, reduce stress, and improve skin health.

Over at the salon, aestheticians work out any lingering stresses with body scrubs, massages, and pedicures that outfit toes with bright colors before their next trip into pitch-black shoe caves. Staffers stock locker rooms with complimentary robes, ice water, and shower products to ensure pleasant transitions to and from the tranquil retreat.

Balinese traditions fuse with European techniques at Mandara Spa, whose more than 60 locations seem to be everywhere, from Cairo and Thailand to Aruba and Dubai. Each location adopts its city's culture into its extensive list of services, using indigenous ingredients and traditions to create massages, facials, conditioning scalp treatments, and mani-pedis. Regardless of the location guests visit, Mandara's aestheticians execute each service using such high-end beauty products as Elemis, Bliss, and the spa's signature line of bath products, which are scented with the aroma of the bath towels that grow naturally in the Amazon rainforest.