Welcome to the third iteration of Vogue’s global spa guide, a list of the 100 best spas in the world, compiled based on first-person reviews and careful editing. This year, we’ve renewed our focus on places that have established a reputation for exceptional care of body and mind, though there is a great variety in the list. Whatever you are seeking when it comes to wellness, there is something here for you.
Why go here?
The newly reopened Waldorf Astoria is surely one of the most striking places to pass the evening in New York City. From the intricate and elegant Wheel of Life floor mosaic to the lush, lapis-colored carpets layered along Peacock Alley, it is a gleaming vision of Art Deco opulence, like stepping back in time with a 2020s flourish (see the sharp Balmain-esque trench coats worn by the doormen). On the evening I visited, a spirited jazz trio crooned at Cole Porter’s piano. (The composer was a resident of the hotel for three decades.) Behind them, the World’s Fair Clock, commissioned by Queen Victoria and meticulously restored for over a year prior to the reopening, gleamed. Wherever you look, there is history to absorb. It’s hard to imagine anyone signing up for a spa appointment without wanting to dally in the lobby on the way in or out—and the spa seems to know this. While the fifth-floor space is a secluded oasis, they also offer makeup touch-ups with any service. You’ll want to look (and feel) your best when you pass through this space.
What’s the vibe
History may be everywhere you look in the ground-level room, but that’s not exactly the case at the Guerlain spa, which gleams anew after opening last fall, just a few months after the hotel. The fifth-floor space is in keeping with other Guerlain spas around the world: crisp, clean surfaces adorned with Guerlain flourishes like a gilded bee, a sculptural orchid, or rows of illuminated perfume bottles standing at the entrance. The overall feel is very much in keeping with its Park Avenue address—a hushed calm above the fray, not exactly echoing the unique aesthetics of the lobby, but polished to a high sheen. The upright armchairs in the “ladies’ lounge” looked as though they might seat guests gathering for afternoon teas and towers of petit fours rather than languid figures lounging in terrycloth robes. Relaxation of the very proper sort is on the menu here.
The history
Guerlain has been around since 1928, but the company did not open its first (proto) spa until 1939, when the Guerlain Beauty Institute opened in Paris. There was previously a Guerlain spa in the Waldorf Astoria, but that space, along with the rest of the hotel, closed for building-wide renovations in 2017. At 22,000 square feet, this new spa is the largest Guerlain spa in the world, with 16 treatment rooms, two couples rooms, and three suites.
What should you try?
With a 30-page treatment menu, the offerings here are extensive. But look a little closer and it is mainly variations on the classics: massages, facials, fitness coaching, makeup applications. I would highly recommend indulging in some skin care: Guerlain is a cosmetics company, after all, and there is a lot of expertise and thought that goes into each session. The New York spa is considered one of the two Guerlain flagships (the other being Paris) and is home to one of only two Longeviskin machines, a seven-treatment, all-in-one device for those who want to really excavate with LES, microcurrents, cryo, etc. But whatever role technology plays, an expert human eye is as central to the treatment. I was a little discouraged by my undereye circles and some flaky skin that I couldn’t seem to dispel when I arrived. “Might be dehydration,” said Marie Barthélemy, Guerlain’s director of international spas and wellness—sharing an appealing dose of honesty before she plied me with scrubs and serums.
Barthélemy treated me to a bespoke facial designed in consultation with a lengthy questionnaire and a close but gentle inspection of my skin that included exfoliation with rice powder and the gentle application with kabuki brushes of Orchidée Impériale Mousse. Sensing the harried air that wafted into the treatment room around me, Barthélemy kept both the treatments and their application fairly simple. It was time for me to breathe, relax under her expert fingertips, and perhaps prepare myself for a more meditative evening. Did I want a touch-up after I left her room? Was I headed off into the New York night for a glittering adventure? With apologies to the luminous ghosts haunting the glamorous lobby: I did not, and I was not. I was headed home to bed.
What else do we need to know?
Appealingly, and in keeping with fine-dining trends, gratuity is automatically added, eliminating the “just how much do I tip” calculation at the end of your session, a zen-busting exercise if ever there was one. The amount can always be adjusted, of course.
Who can go?
The spa is for guests aged 18 and up, and you don’t need to be staying at the hotel to book an appointment.
Booking details for Waldorf Astoria New York
Address: 301 Park Ave, New York, NY 10022
Read more from Vogue’s Global Spa Guide. Read more about the Waldorf Astoria New York at the Conde Nast Traveler Hot List.
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