Best hotels with spas for a relaxing retreat in New York City

Find serenity amid the nonstop bustle of the city—be pampered, preened and pummeled at these indulgent hotels with spas.

By Time Out editors Fri Mar 1 2013

Best New York hotels: Choose your perfect place to stay

Best hotels with spas in NYC: Shibui Spa at Greenwich Hotel
Best hotels with spas in NYC: The Spa at Mandarin Oriental New York
Best hotels with spas in NYC: Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa at The Plaza
Best hotels with spas in NYC: Cowshed Spa at Soho House
Photograph: Cheryl Zibisky

Best hotels with spas in NYC: Cornelia Spa at The Surrey

Best hotels with spas in NYC: Shibui Spa at Greenwich Hotel

A visit to New York can be exhausting: You need to cram in all the best attractions, cover the highlights of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA and maybe join a walking tour. To counteract all the activity and ease your stiff muscles and aching feet, check into one of these hotels with spas and spend some time basking in the steam room and indulging in a massage or pedicure. They’re open to locals, too!

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to New York hotels

Greenwich Hotel

Rated as: 4/5
Price band: 4/4
Critics choice

"Deluxe guest house" might be a more apt description of Robert De Niro’s latest property, which has the vibe of a large villa somewhere between Marrakech and Milan. Rooms are spare and comfortable, appointed with down-filled leather settees, kilims and oriental rugs, and furnished with small libraries of art books. Exquisite Moroccan tile or Carrara marble envelops the bathrooms with walk-in showers. The centerpiece of the subterranean, Eastern-inspired Shibui Spa is the low-lit pool, set within the frame of a 250-year-old Kyoto farmhouse.

377 Greenwich St, (between Franklin and North Moore Sts), 10013

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Mandarin Oriental New York

Price band: 4/4

Mandarin Oriental's five-star New York property perches 280 feet above street level in the Time Warner Center—the luxurious rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows to make the most of the spectacular views. Among the many features of the two-floor, 14,500-square-foot spa are a body-pummeling Vitality Pool, an aromatherapy steam room and a lap pool with Hudson River vistas.

80 Columbus Circle, (at 60th St), 10023

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The Plaza

Rated as: 4/5
Price band: 4/4

The closest thing to a palace in New York, this 1907 French Renaissance-style landmark reopened in spring 2008 after a two-year, $400 million renovation. Although 152 rooms were converted into private condo units, guests can still check into one of 282 elegantly appointed quarters with Louis XV-inspired furnishings and white-glove butler service. The opulent vibe extends to the bathrooms, which feature mosaic baths, 24-carat gold-plated sink fittings and even chandeliers—perhaps to make the foreign royals feel at home. The 8,000-square-foot Caudalie Vinothrapie Spa is the French skincare line's first U.S. outpost. Harnessing the antioxidant power of grapes and vine leaves, it offers oenophile-friendly treatments such as a Red Vine bath in one of its cherrywood "barrel" tubs. In the wine lounge, relax with artisanal tipples from Caudalie's French vineyard, cheeses and foie gras.

768 Fifth Ave, (at Central Park South), 10019

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Soho House

Rated as: 4/5
Price band: 3/4

From its origins as a private members’ club in London, Soho House has expanded its empire beyond NYC to L.A., Miami, Berlin and Toronto. Designed as a place for creative types to relax, socialize and work, the converted warehouse space is split into six levels, housing a spa, a library, a screening room, a restaurant and bar—complete with a wood-burning fireplace—and a rooftop pool. The rooms offer the kind of understated luxury you’d actually like to live with: plush rugs on wooden floors, antique chandeliers hanging from wooden-beamed ceilings and, in some cases, elaborately carved beds. Showers are stocked with the house spa's divine-smelling Cowshed toiletries, but to really appreciate the products—originally created for the group's Somerset retreat, Babington House—book into one of the four elegant treatment rooms.

29–35 Ninth Ave, (at 13th St), 10014

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The Surrey

Rated as: 5/5
Price band: 4/4
Critics choice

Occupying an elegant 1920s building given a $60 million overhaul, the Surrey pitches at both traditionalists and the trend-driven. The coolly glamorous limestone and marble lobby showcases contemporary art by Chuck Close, Jenny Holzer and William Kentridge. Rooms are dressed in a refined palette of cream, gray and beige, with luxurious marble bathrooms featuring products by Italian perfumer Laura Tonatto. Those seeking a pampering escape will appreciate the new Cornelia Spa, where you can splurge on indulgent treatments such as the Reparative Caviar and Oxygen Quench facial, and sample savory and sweet treats to complement your service.