While Singapore is a buzzing global financial hub, there’s also a softer side to the island: it’s brimming with wildlife, its coastal boardwalks and trails are a haven for cyclists and walkers, and it’s quickly becoming a hotspot for wellness.
‘Traditionally, fitness and gym culture has taken top spot in the health sphere in Singapore, but there’s been a noticeable shift towards embracing healing and recovery practices’ says Grant Wee, Founder of The Trapeze Group, home to one of Singapore’s best new wellness clubs, Trapeze Rec. Club, and the bathhouse-inspired spa, Hideaway. ‘There’s a growing demand for wellness destinations, with spas and hotels becoming sanctuaries for locals and travellers alike.’ So, if you’re planning a visit to this tiny city-state, bookmark these spots to get your R&R fix.
Raffles Spa at Raffles Singapore
This flagship Raffles hotel offers more than picture-perfect alfresco dining and a rich history of famous visitors. Its relatively recently refurbished spa, all blush and beige and beautiful, has an extensive menu of treatments that make it almost impossible to decide what to book. Jetlagged? There’s a massage for that. Need a mani-pedi? Chiropodist, Bastiez Gonzalez, has just opened a residency so you can refresh your hands and feet. Skin acting up? Facials from ISUN and Biologique Recherche can help. There’s no doubt you’ll leave feeling, just, ahhh…
1 Beach Rd, Singapore
The treatment to try: the Raffles Signature Gemstone Massage. Whether you believe in the spirituality and healing benefits of crystals or not, you won’t regret trying this gemstone massage. You’re first offered a glass of gemstone-infused water (of course), then you’re given a short lesson on each crystal and how it’s used in the treatment: amethyst eases stress, crimson garnet helps to balance your energy, rose quartz provides emotional support, and carnelian helps with focus and energy. Each stone is heated in purified water before being used in tandem with magical hands for a melt-in-the-bed massage.
rafflesspa.com
Auriga Spa at Capella Singapore
If you’re planning a trip to Sentosa Island for its theme parks and beach clubs, you’ll want to bookmark this spot for a night (or two, or three…). Surrounded by 30 acres of tropical rainforest is Capella, a hotel with old-world colonial charm and soft furnishings of warm browns, creams, and rattan. Stepping into its Auriga Spa feels like you’ve entered a cocoon amongst lush greenery. Inside you’ll find a vitality pool, herbal steam room, ice foundation, and experiential showers, along with nine treatment suites that you’ll never want to leave.
1 The Knolls, Sentosa Island, Singapore
The treatment to try: Balot Ng Aruga Healing Experience. Inspired by Javanese beauty rituals, this two-hour treatment uses indigenous ingredients to the region. First, your body is polished with a tropical lulur scrub to slough off dead skin cells and leave you feeling soft and supple. Then, you’re slathered in a rich and velvety tanaka powder body mask, before being wrapped up in banana leaves. While that sinks in, your hair and scalp is treated to an invigorating massage to the therapeutic sounds of tropical rains. Once showered, you’ll get an hour-long massage that will iron out knots and pains.
capellahotels.com
The Spa at The Singapore EDITION
The latest addition to the, er, EDITION hotels in Asia is the Singaporean location. In the city’s shopping district, it brings a welcome break to weary legs. Sleek, minimal, calming – all the things you’d expect from each EDITION hotel are present, including the signature Le Labo scents that waft throughout the hotel (this one uses the Black Tea range). Down in the spa, the walls are lined with draped cream curtains, the excellent facials use Cellcosmet, and the body treatments and massages are not to be missed.
38 Cuscaden Rd, Singapore
The treatment to try: Shila Abhyanga. Inspired by Ayurveda, this massage takes notes from the Abhyanga massage style, which often uses herbal-infused warm oils all over the body. Expect satisfying stretching and smoothing movements to help with lymphatic circulation, while sweet orange and fennel oils are rubbed in to help with further detoxification. Zingy ginger and black pepper add a clarity-boosting benefit to the warm stone massage that follows.
editionhotels.com
Fullerton Spa at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore
The Fullerton Hotel, a grand dame of Singapore's skyline, and its younger waterfront sibling, The Fullerton Bay Hotel, while very different properties – the former, a historical monument, has more classical elegance, while the latter has a more contemporary feel (and incredible views of the Marina Bay Sands) – both have The Fullerton Spa in common. It’s located at The Fullerton Hotel, but there’s a private underground passage from The Fullerton Bay that leads directly there. In partnership with ESPA, you can expect world-class treatments that will treat your mind, body, and soul.
1 Fullerton Square, Singapore
The treatment to try: The Fullerton Signature Facial. A great facial includes the following: a deep cleanse, replenishing hydration, a lifting massage, potent products that work beneath the surface-level, and providing that coveted natural glow. This does exactly that – it starts with a triple cleanse to remove every trace of makeup, dirt, and impurities (much needed in Singapore’s humid climate), and it’s totally bespoke, so whether your concern is dehydration, acne, or dullness, your therapist tackles each problem area with a lifting facial massage that is simply heavenly.
fullertonhotels.com
The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore
This hotel always attracts the discerning traveller – one that expects impeccable service from check-in to check-out, luxurious but homely room, brilliant dining options (check out the award-winning Jiang-Nan Chung or Nobu), and a five star spa. The one here, that’s heavily inspired by Eastern healing traditions, offers your usual steam and sauna facilities, as well as an extensive menu for every need. It’s worth visiting the Chi Longevity Clinic for a comprehensive range of integrative therapies that slow ageing – from genetic testing and nutritional counselling to assessing your gut and sleep health.
190 Orchard Blvd, Singapore
The treatment to try: Peranakan Signature Therapy. Feeling stressed? Off-kilter? Like something isn’t quite right, but you can’t put your finger on it? You need a body massage that goes beyond ironing out knots and easing muscle aches. Based on Peranakan healing philosophy, with a heavy influence from traditional Chinese medicine, this transformative body treatment is moulded around your yin and yang energy. Don’t worry – your therapist will decode this with a consultation, before using a compress of nutmeg, ginger, and rice to relieve pain, balance your body’s energy flow, ease sore muscles, and recalibrate emotional equilibrium.
fourseasons.com
The Ritz-Carlton Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
This hotel offers everything you could want: a prime location from the hotspots (like Gardens by the Bay and the ArtScience Museum), panoramic city and sea views, luxury dining options (try one of Singapore’s best buffets at Colony or the Michelin-starred Summer Pavilion), and service that makes you feel like a VIP guest from the moment you check in (you can even have a butler-drawn bath). And, beneath the grand hotel, lies the impressive spa where you’ll find exclusive La Mer facials, ESPA body treatments, a whirlpool, steam room, and sauna.
7 Raffles Ave, Marina Bay, Singapore
The treatment to try: The La Mer Hydrating Facial. The hot and humid weather, sweat, sun damage, chlorine, and sea water can take a toll on your skin by depleting moisture levels, making it feel dehydrated, tight, and lacklustre. Thankfully, this nourishing facial brings back a luminous glow to re-energise and rehydrate the skin, using La Mer’s signature products that are infused with their potent Miracle Broth complex (a blend of giant sea kelp, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients). Combined with an invigorating face massage, you’ll leave with skin that looks brighter, healthier, and, well, hydrated.
ritzcarlton.com
Banyan Tree Spa at Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands has indelibly etched itself onto the global architectural landscape. It’s a one-stop-shop, with over 40 dining options, close to 1,000,000 square feet of retail space, a viewing deck, the world’s most expensive standalone casino, and over 2,500 rooms and suites. The hotel is split between two collections: Sands and Paiza, with the latter being reserved for the more discerning. While the spa has been relocated within the hotel (it’s being revamped into a whole new wellness concept), you can still experience all it has to offer.
10 Bayfront Ave, Singapore
The treatment to try: Sense of Place Harmony Banyan. Facials, massages, body wraps, and scrubs – you name it, they’ll do it. But you’ll want to carve out an afternoon for this epic treatment – 210 minutes of utter bliss. It begins with a refreshing body scrub made infused with Singapore’s national flower, the orchid. Two therapists work in sync to massage your body from head to toe, before you’re whisked off to soak in a fragrant bath. You then get to choose from a menu of facials and a hand or foot massage.
