5 new European spas to visit

Playing homage to St Tropez’s glamorous past and picture-postcard setting, Arev straddles the ideal of being a five-minute walk from downtown yet surrounded by ancient olive groves and greenery. All 45 rooms and suites have a playful nautical aesthetic, with a bold palette of pillar box reds, starch whites, deep blues and candy cane stripes. As well as a spa, the hotel has an outdoor pool, a Champagne lounge, a second bar and a Mediterranean restaurant. You’ll find rituals and products from Maison ST - a local brand using Mediterranean salt and St Tropezian herbs – in the Arev Spa, as well as a Hamman, a padel court, a gym with Peloton bikes and Place des Oliviers for alfresco yoga and Pilates.

Four historic buildings have been lovingly intertwined to create Hotel Maria, a 118-room hotel in one of Helsinki’s most prestigious postcodes, near the Presidential Palace. All white walls, pale wood floors, classic chandeliers and creamy fabrics, the hotel exudes charm. Lilja is the hotel’s French-inspired restaurant; for all-day dining, venture to the Garden Terrace or, for Champagne and Caviar, there’s Maria Bar. When it comes to Nordic Wellness, the Maria Spa delivers with its traditional Finnish sauna, steam room, and network of Jacuzzi’s and plunge pools. The spa’s central fountain and warming fireplace are surrounded by a circle of day beds on which to relax. Treatments include signature facials, massages, and technology-based rituals. Watch this space for The Maria Wellness Club, coming soon.

With its trio of outdoor pools and exclusive beach club ensuring guests stay oh-so-stylishly cool during the summer swell, the team behind One&Only has done it again. Just a short drive from the Grecian capital, One&Only Aethesis is a coastal hideaway set in 21 hectacres of protected forest. Mediterranean cuisine is celebrated with gusto through vibrant tapas, sunset cocktails and mellow drinks by the pool; don’t miss dinner at Manko, a Peruvian restaurant set on the water’s edge with DJ’s keeping you dancing on the sand until the twilight hours. The Guerlain Spa – the first from the brand in Greece - fuses French style with Grecian wellness via anti-ageing rituals, sensory massages and treatments for children harnessing the renewing properties of sweet honey.

You’ll find Casa Cipriana in the heart of fashionable Milan, near the city’s oldest gardens. The sprawling, caramel-brick building screams old world charm, with all 15 rooms and suites decked out in polished wood floors, velvety navy furnishings and modern artwork. All three of the hotel’s dining options showcase Cipriani cuisine – don’t miss a nightcap in The Living Room on the top floor – while the 1,000sq metre spa occupies two levels. The ground floor is given over to treatment rooms (of which there are seven) for massages, targeted facials and manis/pedis, and a fitness area; the basement offers spaces to relax, a flotation pool designed on the canals of Venice, and separate (and different) thermal journeys for men and women.

Hotel Valldemossa is as chic as it is boutique with just 12 adult-only rooms, each with French doors opening out onto private terraces overlooking the property’s own olive groves and orchards. The best spot to appreciate the gentle green hills of this UNESCO protected area is from the sleek outdoor pool – simply look up from the comfort of your lounger, glass of something fizzy in hand. Japanese and Peruvian fusion restaurant De Tokio a Lima takes care of nourishment, while the hotel spa - The Sanctuary – promotes Valldemossa Longevity through TCM and lymphatic drainage. With other rituals wielding names such as Nature Healing, Sport Detox, Green Beauty, No Stress, and For You, you can count us in.