Treat Yourself

Houston’s Most Luxurious Spas for a Self-Care Day

It’s never a bad time to rejuvenate your mind and body.

By Houstonia Staff April 22, 2024

Trellis Spa's pedicure vista room at The Houstonian is the perfect place to unwind.

We tend to get so wrapped up in work, relationships, routines, and the issues facing the world at large that we often forget to reward ourselves with time to rest and recharge. Going on a walk in the park, practicing mindfulness, and journaling are all free ways to treat yourself. But if you’re looking for something more extravagant when unwinding, a trip to the spa may be in order. Consider visiting any of these day spas in Houston for prime pampering and much-needed time to unwind.

Bare Necessities

Tanglewood (Upper Kirby location coming soon)

Bare Necessities is like a one-stop-shop for all your skin care needs. It offers a wide range of facials, with options for additional lip, eye, and lash and brow treatments, as well as spray tanning. Waxing services are also available for your bikini, eyebrows, back, toes, and everything in between. Bonus: Bare Necessities uses Eminence, one of the most popular organic beauty brands out there.

Fiori Spa

Uptown

This Tuscan-style boutique oasis offers every luxury treatment you can imagine. Struggling with back acne? Try the Backne Rescue Facial + Microderm service to treat those stubborn, hard-to-reach blemishes. One massage therapist not enough? Book the spa’s Massaggio a Quattro Mani to double up on the number of hands taking care of you at once. Grab a cocktail at the onsite bistro, Ivy, and wade in the pool after your appointment.

The Spa, an in-house spa at Four Seasons Hotel Houston, creates a serene space to unwind and recover.

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Houston

Downtown

Indulge in the spa’s signature Southern Scrub and Sip, a full-body treatment that begins with a bourbon and brown sugar scrub and ends with a glass of limited-batch Garrison Brothers single-barrel, cask-strength bourbon. Want something a little less flashy? Try reflexology, where a massage therapist focuses on pressure points within your hands and feet to promote stress relief and smooth out energy flow.

Gangnam Spa

Addicks / Park Ten

This traditional Korean spa is all about having a holistic experience, offering both co-ed and gender-specific facilities. Sure, there are signature massages, facials, and body scrubs, but the most unique thing about this spa is its breadth of amenities. There are Bul-Ga-Ma hot rooms, 20 individual topaz caves, an O2 lounge, a dedicated foot spa that gently massages your feet (like a hot tub just for your feet), and an igloo ice room. The gender-separated location offers dry and steam saunas, showers, and hot and cold baths to melt your stress away. Plan to spend the whole day here.

Hiatus Spa and Retreat

Tanglewood

Go beyond skin-deep at the Hiatus Spa + Retreat. Its services include the usual suspects—body massages, skin care, and waxing—but Hiatus is also a certified med-spa, offering Botox, fillers, lip-plumping, microneedling, and other dermatologist-grade treatments. Looking for a deeper level of relaxation? You can enhance any massage with the Knot Today upgrade, which swaps out regular oil for 100 milligrams of organic PureForm CBD oil. Hiatus has locations in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Plano, and San Antonio, so you can become a member and visit them across Texas along with getting discounted service perks.

The Luxurious Massage and Spa

Spring

It’s right in the name: services here are all aimed at helping you unwind and destress. Choose the Tension Blowout massage to eliminate knots and chronic pain, or the Ritual Rebirth massage to reduce anxiety, soreness, and muscle tension. Pro tip: Book the Glamour body treatment to give yourself a glow from head to toe as they exfoliate all your dead skin away with a honey-lemon scrub.

Milk + Honey

River Oaks

Milk + Honey, a chain with locations across the country, is the true definition of a day spa, meaning you could spend all day getting services here. Start in the morning with a wax, followed by a massage and facial. Move into the salon for a haircut, mani-pedi, and cap it off with lash extensions. There are also med-spa services: fillers, injectables, laser, microneedling, and more.

Mokara Spa is located inside the Omni Houston Hotel in Uptown.

Mokara Spa and Salon at Omni Houston Hotel

West Oaks

Come to Mokara Spa to refresh your mind, body, and spirit. It offers signature body treatments and a rotating selection of specials.

My Spa Joy

Heights

If you’re looking for the best place to book a spa party, My Joy Spa is it. Located in a converted home in the Heights, this wellness destination offers treatments customized to your individual needs. The estheticians will blast oxygen directly into your thirsty pores, peel off a layer of your skin with berry enzymes, and calm your busy mind with one of many massage treatment options.

When thinking of luxury, the Spa at Post Oak Hotel sits top of the list.

The Spa at the Post Oak Hotel

Uptown

While staying at the Post Oak Hotel—and even if you’re not—you’ll want to make time to visit the in-house spa. Indulge in lavish treatments like the ancient Balinese massage said to diminish fatigue, or the Indian ritual Ayurvedic treatment, which is perfect for those who have difficulty relaxing. The spa has amenities such as a tranquility pool with powerful jets, a sauna, and a multisensory shower experience where you can choose from choreographed lighting and custom temperatures, like a cool Atlantic rain shower or a warm tropical storm. 

Take a staycation at the Marriott Marquis, and while there, head over to Pure Spa.

Pure Spa at Marriott Marquis Houston

Downtown

Take a staycation at the prestigious Marriott Marquis and head over to Pure Spa. All facials here utilize products from Elemis Biotec, a reputable British skin care brand. Cleanse, resurface, firm, and soothe your skin with any of the signature facials, though we’re most intrigued by the Customized Touch Marine Dream, a pro-collagen facial that promises a more youthful appearance. Note that all spa guests enjoy complimentary access to the hotel’s pool deck, which includes the infinity pool and Texas-shaped lazy river.

Sanctuary Spa

Montrose

There’s a reason this place has been in business for nearly 40 years. Give your body a complete rejuvenation with a mix of spa treatments: facials, massages, waxing, even a vaginal steam. That’s right, Sanctuary Spa invites you to get your Goop on with a Yoni Steam, where you sit over an herbal steam bath that supposedly balances your pH down there. The spa also offers packages to make your decision easier, and you can even take the spa home with you by shopping Sanctuary’s products online.

Crank up the heat, followed by a refreshing cold plunge at Sudor Sauna Studio.

Sudor Sauna Studio

River Oaks

Whether you're seeking stress relief, alleviating muscle soreness, or aiming to detox, Sudor Sauna Studio in River Oaks provides exclusive private infrared sauna sessions. Enjoy complimentary towel service, showers, and access to a cold plunge to enhance your sauna experience. The cold plunge bath is believed to contribute to stress reduction, anxiety relief, and effective pain management. Sudor offers flexible options with both membership plans and convenient drop-in appointments.

Sunset Body Works Day Spa

Downtown

With over 15 years in the business, Sunset Body Works Day Spa has it all, including seasonal treatments that employ specialized products based on the time of year. Show your skin some much-needed love with a facial, and improve your body contours with vacuum RF therapy. Add energy healing to services to meet spiritual needs with the use of crystals, chakra balancing, cupping, and more.

Trellis Spa at the Houstonian

Uptown

This place is the whole package. In addition to spa services, Trellis offers an “outdoor oasis” that features soaking pools, a tranquil garden, and cabanas. While you’re out there waiting for your HydraFacial and CBD massage, you can even order lunch from the spa menu. Trellis is the ideal place to get ready for a night out on the town, offering salon services like manicures, hair blowouts, a professional makeup artist, and more.

Woodhouse Spa

The Galleria, Woodlands, Sugar Land, and Baybrook

This spa—a national chain with three locations in the Houston area alone—offers facials that sculpt, hydrate, and soothe. Enjoy the unique sleep rituals like a Meditative Mood Soak or the Signature Restorative Sleep Massage for a complete body detox.

ZaSpa at Hotel Zaza

Memorial City, Museum District

Unlock your five senses at Houston’s two Hotel Zaza locations. Not only does the ZaSpa have traditional services, but it also features unique offerings like seaweed wrap treatments and the newly added infrared saunas. After a very stressful week, book the Split Signature Bliss, a customized massage curated especially for you.

Geneva Diaz, Danielle Wright, Shelby Stewart, and Jessica Lodge contributed to this guide.

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