The Best City Spa Breaks around Australia
Need a spa break? Want to spend more time on a massage table than on the road? Check into one of these hotels and chill out in the CBD.
The Langham
Only a hill stands between the chaos of The Rocks Markets and the calm of The Langham but it’s enough to lend this hotel – located at the leafy, quiet end of Kent Street – a far-from-the-madding-crowd feel. After a $30-million makeover, The Langham reopened late last year, unveiling a grand lobby lit by the sun and beautifully appointed rooms. Check in first and then take the lift down to the hotel’s underground Day Spa by Chuan. For total relaxation, try the 90-minute Urban Release Package – it comprises a full-body exfoliation using a handmade red mandarin, lime and cranberry mix, and an invigorating massage. The spa also offers a Gentleman’s Menu with treatments ranging from a 60-minute facial to the seriously indulgent Rescue Package, which includes a facial, massage and scalp treatment – the perfect way to switch off and revive.
89-113 Kent Street, Sydney |  Book Now
Hotel Realm, Canberra
When it comes to cutting-edge wellness treatments, it’s hard to beat Hotel Realm’s Mudd the Spa. The centrepiece here is the Vichy shower – a slatted wooden massage bed with seven overhead jets (below). The process begins with a full-body exfoliation using lemongrass salt glow or crushed lime-sugar sea salt crystals, which is followed by a gentle shower and a mineral-balm application. The hydrotherapeutic treatment is believed to cleanse, relax and rejuvenate your body in one go. The spa also offers the Body Cocoon experience, which starts off with a pistachio-scrub exfoliation, after which your body is covered in a cleansing mask before you take a seat in a Body Cocoon “capsule” and allow it to steam and gently water-massage you. Of course, there’s plenty to choose from if all you’re after is a traditional massage and there’s a good selection of male-specific treatments. Check into one of the rooms on the hotel’s Executive (fourth) floor for uninterrupted views of Parliament House. It’s a gentle reminder that, while you may feel a world away, you’re still only a Hansard’s throw from home.
18 National Circuit, Barton | Book Now
Crown Towers, Melbourne
There are 17 treatment rooms at the Crown Towers’s Crown Spa, including two exclusively for couples. Spend some time in the hammam-style steam room then follow it with a full-body mud wrap to open pores and purge toxins. When it comes to the spa menu, our pick is the White Caviar Illuminating Treatment – a rejuvenating 90-minute facial. Oh, and the spa also has a hair and beauty studio. If you really want to turn the luxe factor up a notch, check into one of the villas on the hotel’s 30th or 31st floors – 130 square metres of real estate with a high-ceilinged living room, a spacious bedroom and an all-marble bathroom with Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries. Yes, the view out the windows is of the CBD but there’s something calming about city views minus the sound.
8 Whiteman Street, Southbank | Book Now
Sofitel Brisbane Hotel
The Opal Rasul Steam Temple might be located directly above Brisbane’s Central station but the cavernous room lined with turquoise tiles could be straight out of The Arabian Nights. Part of Stephanie’s Spa Retreat at the Sofitel hotel, it offers a Moroccan-inspired DIY body-brushing treatment. Three different muds are provided – for legs, upper body and face – and the idea is to get seriously messy before steam pumps into the room (like smoke from Aladdin’s lamp) until nothing is visible but the star-like lights in the ceiling. The body-cleansing treatment lasts an hour and you can follow it with a massage to round off the experience. The best bit? When it’s time for bed, your room is just metres away. The Sofitel offers a great range of accommodation but ask for a suite ending with “01”– on any floor – if you want a corner spot with city and Anzac Square views. 
249 Turbot Street, Brisbane | Book Now
