17 most indulgent day spas in Melbourne

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Gone are the days when you had to trek Victoria’s countryside to find high-end primping and pampering: now you don’t need to leave Melbourne’s city limits for premium day spa experiences.

You don’t need to drive out to Peninsula Hot Springs or Daylesford and Hepburn Springs for the total relaxation and profound rejuvenation of a luxury day spa. Melbourne has many excellent day spas in and around the CBD, each with their unique twists on classic treatments and products that’ll leave you feeling brand new every time.

From high-end hotel spas to independent spas in suburbs like Collingwood and Cremorne, there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to relaxing in a way that best recharges you. Skincare, massages, light therapy, saunas – the day spas below offer various treatments with a holistic approach to health and wellness.

1. Chuan Spa at The Langham, CBD

High above Southbank’s flood of tourists, the Chuan Spa  offers a tranquil retreat where pampering meets inner peace. Chinese culture and aesthetics define the Chuan Spa experience, so go with the (Feng Shui) flow and try the Tao of Detox package. Featuring exfoliation, algae wrap, massage and a facial that will leave you with skin plumped and mind and body aligned.

Stay zen after your detox with a dip in the saltwater Jacuzzi and take in the spectacular views across the city skyline.

Where: The Langham, Melbourne, level 9/1 Southgate Ave, Southbank
Prices: View the spa menu

2. Crown Spa at Crown Towers, Southbank

There aren’t too many places that do justice to the word regal, but the Crown Spa  is one of them. Plush lounges and velvet curtains set the scene for indulging in a truly lavish experience with the Pure Gold Radiance Facial.

an indoor pool at Crown Spa at Crown Towers, Southbank
Embrace a truly lavish treatment at Crown Spa.

Products from premium brand La Prairie are combined with specially selected masks and heat treatments to leave you looking refreshed and radiant. It’s no wonder celebrities are frequently spotted here: it’s glitzy, glamorous and you’ll be treated like royalty.

an indoor pool with mini waterfalls at Crown Spa at Crown Towers, Southbank
Spend time in the Aqua Retreat after your treatment.

Where: Level 3, Crown Towers, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
Prices: View the spa menu

3. Park Club Health and Day Spa at Park Hyatt, CBD

The Park Club Health and Day Spa  is a hidden oasis within the hustle and bustle of the CBD. With décor that would be equally at home in a Roman palace, the Park Club is inner-city luxury at its finest.

an indoor pool in Park Club Health and Day Spa at Park Hyatt, CBD
Escape the frenetic pace of the city inside the spa at Park Hyatt.

Opt for the Ginger Renewal treatment and you’ll leave smelling as good as you feel, with lavender exfoliation followed by a ginger oil massage it’s sure to make the stresses of daily life fade away. Perfect for sneaking out of the office for a long lunch break – just don’t let the secret out.

Park Hyatt Spa treatment
Slip away to the spa at Park Hyatt for a treatment to remember.

Where: 1 Parliament Square Off, Parliament Pl, Melbourne
Prices: View the spa menu

4. L.M. Spa at Lancemore, Werribee Park

It’s hard to believe the luxurious L.M. Spa  is just a 30-minute drive southwest of the CBD. The spa is housed within a 19th-century mansion, set upon sprawling manicured gardens that leave you feeling as though you’ve been transported to a scene from Downton Abbey rather than outer Melbourne.

an indoor pool at L.M. Spa at Lancemore, Werribee Park
The luxurious L.M. Spa is housed within a 19th-century mansion.

Get the gals together for a day trip and spoil yourselves with the Girls’ Day in Package, including champagne, cakes, hand and spa treatments and use of all the spa facilities. The Mansion Spa offers the perfect little getaway, and you won’t even have to leave Melbourne.

comfy loungers inside L.M. Spa at Lancemore, Werribee Park
Splurge on a Girls’ Day in Package.

Where: Escarpment Rd, Werribee VIC 3030
Prices: View the spa menu

5. The Ritz-Carlton Spa, CBD

The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne only opened in 2023, so the hotel’s signature spa has been getting plenty of attention in the wellness community. If you’re looking for a five-star hotel spa experience in Melbourne, it’s hard to overlook the thoughtful, tailored packages that make up the Ritz-Carlton Spa  menu.

an indoor pool with floor-to-ceiling windows at The Ritz-Carlton Spa, CBD
Enjoy an indulgent swim at The Ritz-Carlton Spa.

For a great date idea, the $240 couples bath ritual only takes 30 minutes and takes place high above Melbourne’s skyline in an aromatic bath with rose petals and rose otto treatment oil, plus Champagne and chocolates. Standalone massages start from $230, although most are $300 and offer a comprehensive treatment along with high-end products.

a luxury pool at The Ritz-Carlton Spa, CBD
Sign up for a five-star hotel spa experience at The Ritz-Carlton.

Where: 650 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Prices: View the spa menu

6. Holism Retreat, Chadstone

This day spa in the fashionable M Gallery Hotel Chadstone takes a more – hence the name – holistic approach to wellness in Melbourne. Based on the principle of interconnectedness, Holism Retreat’s  treatments are designed so guests can explore themselves across skincare, yoga, meditation, massage, education and light therapy.

a look inside Holism Retreat, Chadstone
Holism Retreat takes a holistic approach to wellness. (Image: Sophie Miller)

Stick around after your morning yoga class for a clean breakfast, a swim in the hotel’s intimate rooftop pool, and a high-end spa treatment that’ll leave you feeling confident and content.

a woman undergoing light therapy at Holism Retreat, Chadstone
Indulge in a feel-good light therapy at Holism Retreat. (Image: Sophie Miller)

Where: Inside M Gallery Hotel Chadstone; 1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone
Prices: View the spa menu

7. The Feel Good Hood, Hawthorn

The Feel Good Hood  is a not-for-profit wellness centre that also offers gym access and personal training. The team behind it are so inextricably linked to the community that the centre’s swimming program, Feel Good Dips, is easily one of the best things to do in Hawthorn for both locals and visitors.

ice baths at The Feel Good Hood, Melbourne
Take an ice bath or infrared sauna at The Feel Good Hood.

If you’re wondering where you can take an ice bath in Melbourne, head straight to this hidden gem. There’s also an infrared sauna for when you want to sweat those chills away.

yoga mats at The Feel Good Hood, Melbourne
The wellness centre also offers gym access and personal training.

Where: 14 Church St, Hawthorn
Prices: View the spa menu

8. Willow Urban Retreat, Armadale

A fixture of the local health and beauty circuit, Willow Urban Retreat  in Armadale is another Melbourne day spa that takes a more holistic approach to wellness. Except now it’s been reflagged as Endota Melbourne, joining a larger community of days spas in Australia popular for in-house products and star treatments.

With a Whole Foods cafe attached, Endota products and an infrared spa, there are plenty of reasons to stick around after your treatment.

Where: 1205 High St, Armadale
Prices: View the spa menu

9. Sense of Self, Collingwood

Designed as both a bathhouse and a day spa, Sense of Self  is Collingwood’s most comprehensive and modern wellness offering. In addition to the usual day spa treatments, this large venue also offers a mix of bathing, sauna and cold plunge experiences, in addition to traditional massages.

an indoor pool and oasis inside Sense of Self, Collingwood
Sense of Self is a bathhouse and day spa in one.

The menu is quite broad, so you could pop in for something as quick as the 30-minute Gua Sha facial with a four-step Mukti Organics cleanse, or a 90-minute remedial massage designed to address deeper muscular issues.

looking through a hole that shows the inside of the Sense of Self day spa in Collingwood
Opt for a Gua Sha facial for the ultimate treat.

Where: 30-32 Easey St, Collingwood
Prices: View the spa menu

10. Relinque Urban Retreat, Ivanhoe

Relinque Urban Retreat  is a luxury day spa in Ivanhoe, regularly luring guests with premium treatment suites and a modern yoga and Pilates studio. Like most of the other entries on this guide to Melbourne’s best day spas, the offering goes far beyond your traditional spa, with water therapy, facial therapy, body therapy and several wellness packages.

the treatment room at Relinque Urban Retreat, Ivanhoe
Relax in premium treatment suites at Relinque Urban Retreat.

For their peak offering, go for the $465 Release package, conceived as the ultimate wellness experience with body exfoliation, jet steam shower, Gua Sha stone ritual, a signature full body massage and more. You also have the option of shorter, more affordable treatments like the standard deep tissue massage.

the treatment room at Relinque Urban Retreat, Ivanhoe
Relinque Urban Retreat caters to every wellness need.

Where: 19 Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe
Prices: View the spa menu

11. Blanc Spa, Prahran

Blanc Spa  is part of Hawksburn Village on Malvern Road. This day spa in Prahran is relatively simple but the service, attention to detail and reasonable prices help elevate the experience. The spa menu offers a lot of variety across facials, skin corrections and massage treatments, and there’s also a shop with high-quality skincare and wellness gifts.

a woman undergoing facial treatment at Blanc Spa, Prahran
Enjoy a relaxing facial at Blanc Spa. (Image: Blanc Spa Photography)

If you want basic, opt for the $170 60-minute Relaxation Massage and add on some premium beauty services for a full reset. This is also a spa that offers couples treatments, as well as a 4.5-hour Mont Blanc ritual that includes an APEX facial, Crystal Body Exfoliation, a signature De-Stress Ritual and a Deluxe Spa Pedicure with a hefty price tag of $1,000 per person.

a woman in robe walking into Blanc Spa, Prahran
Pop into Blanc Spa for a relaxation massage. (Image: Blanc Spa Photography)

Where: 572 Malvern Rd, Prahran
Prices: View the spa menu

12. Little Company

With a presence in Byron Bay as well, Little Company  is one of Melbourne’s best luxury day spas and a calming oasis of wellness offerings curated with pure pampering in mind. Facials are the signature treatments, like the $189 60-minute LTCO Ritual Facial, but the extensive spa and massage menu has plenty of options.

a calming oasis at Little Company, Melbourne
Settle into the calming oasis at Little Company.

Non-invasive skin treatments like NanoFusion are also on offer, as well as an LED Red Light Room so you can pop in for a quick 20 minutes of rejuvenating light therapy. Skincare is front and centre, offering something a bit different to your usual Melbourne day spa.

the Little Company slogan with potted plants on the side
Little Company is one of Melbourne’s best luxury day spas.

Where: Montalto Pl, Collingwood
Prices: View the spa menu

13. Natskin Skin & Body Therapy, Ringwood North

Natskin Skin & Body Therapy  stocks great products, offers affordable massage treatments and specialises in couples and groups. Grab a Warm Stone Massage for $150 and pick up some Aspect skincare after a $190 advanced hydration facial. The team here obviously know the ins and outs of wellness when it comes to taking care of the skin and body so take advantage of the expert knowledge and leave knowing exactly what your body needs and when.

There’s even an option to buy a $1,345 All Year Indulgence package which includes credit for either 12 one-hour treatments or six two-hour treatments in 12 months, with each consisting of a classic facial, signature massage and stone massage, spa pedicure and manicure, and body salt exfoliation.

Where: 176 Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood North
Prices: View the spa menu

14. Botanica Day Spa at The InterContinental Melbourne, CBD

As the resident spa at the long-standing InterContinental Melbourne, Botanica Day Spa  is your classic five-star hub of tranquillity. Being part of one of Melbourne’s most highly regarded hotels comes with that kind of standard, matched with indulgent day spa treatments including facials, therapeutic massages and several different body treatments.

The signature Botanical Escape treatment is the best representation of what’s on offer. Using top-quality products, guests begin with a foot soak before a hot-stone back massage and a custom anti-ageing Elemis facial based on individual skin concerns.

Where: 495 Collins St, Melbourne
Prices: View the spa menu

15. Sunlighten

There aren’t too many day spas in South Melbourne but Sunlighten  does just fine. The wellness hub is mostly focused on sauna and Infrared therapy while placing great importance on a supportive environment.

Unlike most of the other top spa experiences in Melbourne, you won’t get a massage or facial at Sunlighten. All that’s on offer is research-based Infrared therapy, as mentioned above, as well as oxygen therapy designed to confer various health benefits such as increased alertness and improved sleep.

Where: 359 Clarendon St, South Melbourne VIC 3205
Prices: View the spa menu

16. Norbu Urban Retreat, Cremorne

From cellulite-busting Endermologie and light therapy to massages and facials, Norbu Urban Retreat  is Cremorne’s best spa experience and has one of the longest spa menus in Melbourne.

the spa treatment bed at Norbu Urban Retreat, Cremorne
Treat yourself to a relaxing 40-minute massage at Norbu Urban Retreat.

The approach here is to book a treatment and then add on various other wellness experiences such as infra-red therapy for $25 or a foot soak and circulation booster for $40.

Massages are, however, the speciality here and they are very affordable. A standard 40-minute massage with oil would set you back $115.

Where: 30 Swan St, Cremorne
Prices: View the spa menu

17. V Hotel Spa, CBD

Considering it’s one of the highest-rated day spas in Melbourne CBD, you’ll need to book far in advance if you want a treatment at the stylish V Hotel Spa  on Little Collins Street.

Comprehensive spa packages nail the affordable luxury trend with high-quality products and fantastic service. You’ll find that many groups tend to gravitate towards this particular spa, which is why the spot specialises in couple’s massages and also offers a three-hour Hen’s Spa Package for $235 per person.

You can also choose standalone massages such as a deep tissue massage, a hot rock massage, or remedial massage therapy, and then relax across the wellness hub’s hydro-steam room and series of spa baths.

Where: 630 Little Collins St, Melbourne
Prices: View the spa menu

For more tips, first-hand advice and inspiration, read our travel guide to Melbourne.
Chris Singh
Chris Singh is an arts, travel and food journalist with 17 years of experience in digital media and 4 years of experience in SEO writing. He is the former travel editor of premium men's lifestyle title Boss Hunting and currently balances his role as Deputy Editor-At-Large of the AU review with freelance travel writing gigs at Australian Traveller, Luxury Escapes, Cruise & Travel and Sydney Travel Guide. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts & Sciences (Sociology and Psychology) from the University of Sydney and once worked as a line dancer for steakhouse chain Lone Star (no, seriously). He's always got his finger on the pulse for good live music and delicious new restaurants, has a particular love of historic hotels and is starting to see the restorative value of the ever-present wellness industry. Although he is a born-and-bred Sydneysider, his favourite Australian cities are Hobart and Adelaide. Internationally, he can never get enough of big cities like Tokyo, New York and Chicago. If you're looking for him, he's either at a concert, on a plane or behind a laptop.
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This scenic Victorian region is the perfect antidote to city life

Video credit: Visit Victoria/Tourism Australia

The Grampians just might be the ultimate antidote for the metropolis, writes one returning Aussie ready to disconnect from the modern world and reconnect to the Great outdoors.

There are no kangaroos back in Chicago: they’re all here in the Grampians/Gariwerd . In the heart of the Grampians National Park’s main gateway town, Halls Gap, pods of eastern greys are eating grass beside my parked rental car beneath the stars. Next morning, when I see the backyard of my rented villa on the edge of town for the first time, there are kangaroos feeding beside a slow-moving creek, lined with river red gums.

Five hundred metres up the road, 50 or so of them are eating by the side of the road in a paddock. I pull over to watch and spot three emus. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos fly overhead towards the tall green mountains just beyond town.

‘Kee-ow, keee-oww’… their calls fuse with the maniacal cackle of a kookaburra (or 10). Gawd, how I’ve missed the sound of them. Far above, a wedge-tailed eagle watches, and there you go: the ‘great birds of Australia’ trifecta, all half a kay from the town limits.

Exchanging city chaos for country calm

kangaroos near Halls Gap, Grampians National Park
The park is renowned for its significant diversity of native fauna species. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)

I’ve come to the Grampians to disconnect, but the bush offers a connection of its own. This isn’t just any bush, mind you. The Grampians National Park is iconic for many reasons, mostly for its striking sandstone mountains – five ridges run north to south, with abrupt, orange slopes which tumble right into Halls Gap – and for the fact there’s 20,000 years of traditional rock art. Across these mountains there are more than 200 recorded sites to see, created by the Djab Wurrung, Jardwadjali and Gunditjmara peoples. It’s just like our outback… but three hours from Melbourne.

I’ve come here for a chance at renewal after the chaos of my life in America’s third-largest city, Chicago, where I live for now, at the whim of a relative’s cancer journey. Flying into Melbourne’s airport, it only takes an hour’s drive to feel far away from any concept of suburbia. When I arrive in Halls Gap two hours later, the restaurant I’m eating at clears out entirely by 7:45pm; Chicago already feels a lifetime ago.

The trails and treasures of the Grampians

sunrise at Grampians National Park /Gariwerd
Grampians National Park /Gariwerd covers almost 2000 square kilometres. (Image: Ben Savage)

Though the national park covers almost 2000 square kilometres, its best-known landmarks are remarkably easy to access. From my carpark here, among the cockatoos and kangaroos on the fringe of Halls Gap, it only takes 60 seconds’ driving time before I’m winding my way up a steep road through rainforest, deep into the mountains.

Then it’s five minutes more to a carpark that serves as a trailhead for a hike to one of the park’s best vantage points, The Pinnacles . I walk for an hour or so, reacquainting myself with the smells and the sounds of the Aussie bush, before I reach it: a sheer cliff’s edge lookout 500 metres up above Halls Gap.

walking through a cave, Hollow Mountain
Overlooking the vast Grampians landscape from Hollow Mountain. (Image: Robert Blackburn)

There are hikes and there are lookouts and waterfalls all across this part of the park near town. Some are a short stroll from a carpark; others involve long, arduous hikes through forest. The longest is the Grampians Peaks Trail , Victoria’s newest and longest iconic walk, which runs 160 kilometres – the entire length of Grampians National Park.

Local activities operator Absolute Outdoors shows me glimpses of the trail. The company’s owner, Adrian Manikas, says it’s the best walk he’s done in Australia. He says he’s worked in national parks across the world, but this was the one he wanted to bring his children up in.

“There’s something about the Grampians,” he says, as he leads me up a path to where there’s wooden platforms for tents, beside a hut looking straight out across western Victoria from a kilometre up in the sky (these are part of the guided hiking options for the trail). “There are things out here that you won’t see anywhere else in Australia.” Last summer, 80 per cent of the park was damaged by bushfire, but Manikas shows me its regrowth, and tells me of the manic effort put in by volunteers from town – with firefighters from all over Australia – to help save Halls Gap.

wildflowers in Grampians National Park
Spot wildflowers. (Image: Visit Victoria)

We drive back down to Halls Gap at dusk to abseil down a mountain under the stars, a few minutes’ walk off the main road into town. We have headlamps, but a full moon is enough to light my way down. It takes blind faith to walk backwards down a mountain into a black void, though the upside is I can’t see the extent of my descent.

Grampians National Park at sunset
Grampians National Park at sunset. (Image: Wine Australian)

The stargazing is ruined by the moon, of course, but you should see how its glow lights up the orange of the sandstone, like in a theme park. When I’m done, I stand on a rocky plateau drinking hot chocolate and listening to the Aussie animals who prefer nighttime. I can see the streets of Halls Gap off in the distance on this Friday night. The restaurants may stay open until 8pm tonight.

What else is on offer in The Grampians?

a boat travelling along the Wimmera River inDimboola
Travelling along the Wimmera River in Dimboola. (Image: Chris McConville)

You’ll find all sorts of adventures out here – from rock climbing to canoeing to hiking – but there’s more to the Grampians than a couple of thousand square kilometres of trees and mountains. Halls Gap may be known to most people, but what of Pomonal, and Dimboola, and Horsham? Here in the shadow of those big sandstone mountains there are towns and communities most of us don’t know to visit.

And who knew that the Grampians is home to Victoria’s most underrated wine region ? My disconnection this morning comes not in a forest, but in the tasting rooms and winery restaurants of the district. Like Pomonal Estate, barely 10 minutes’ drive east of Halls Gap, where UK-born chef Dean Sibthorp prepares a locally caught barramundi with lentil, pumpkin and finger lime in a restaurant beside the vines at the base of the Grampians. Husband-and-wife team Pep and Adam Atchison tell me stories as they pour their prize wines (shiraz is the hero in these parts).

dining at Pomonal Estate
Dine in a restaurant beside vines at Pomonal Estate. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Three minutes’ drive back down the road, long-time mates Hadyn Black and Darcy Naunton run an eclectic cellar door out of a corrugated iron shed, near downtown Pomonal. The Christmas before last, half the houses in Pomonal burnt down in a bushfire, but these locals are a resilient lot.

The fires also didn’t stop the construction of the first art centre in Australia dedicated to environmental art in a nature-based precinct a little further down the road (that’s Wama – the National Centre for Environmental Arts), which opened in July. And some of the world’s oldest and rarest grape vines have survived 160 years at Best’s Wines, outside the heritage town of Great Western. There’s plantings here from the year 1868, and there’s wines stored in century-old barrels within 150-year-old tunnels beneath the tasting room. On the other side of town, Seppelt Wines’ roots go back to 1865. They’re both only a 30-minute drive from Halls Gap.

Salingers of Great Western
Great Western is a charming heritage town. (Image: Griffin Simm)

There’s more to explore yet; I drive through tiny historic towns that barely make the map. Still part of the Grampians, they’re as pretty as the mountains behind them: full of late 19th-century/early 20th-century post offices, government offices and bank buildings, converted now to all manner of bric-a-brac stores and cafes.

The Imaginarium is one, in quirky Dimboola, where I sleep in the manager’s residence of an old National Australia Bank after a gourmet dinner at the local golf club, run by noted chef and teacher, Cat Clarke – a pioneer of modern Indigenous Australian cooking. Just south, I spend an entire afternoon at a winery, Norton Estate Wines, set on rolling calico-coloured hills that make me think of Tuscany, chit-chatting with owners Chris and Sam Spence.

Being here takes me back two decades, when I lived here for a time. It had all seemed as foreign as if I’d driven to another planet back then (from Sydney/Warrane), but there seemed something inherently and immediately good about this place, like I’d lived here before.

And it’s the Australian small-town familiarity of the Grampians that offers me connection back to my own country. Even in the better-known Halls Gap, Liz from Kerrie’s Creations knows I like my lattes with soy milk and one sugar. And while I never do get the name of the lady at the local Ampol station, I sure know a lot about her life.

Kookaburras on a tree
Kookaburras are one of some 230 bird species. (Image: Darren Donlen)

You can be a local here in a day; how good is that? In Chicago, I don’t even know who my neighbour is. Though each day at dusk – when the kangaroos gather outside my villa, and the kookaburras and the black cockatoos shout out loud before settling in to sleep – I prefer the quieter connection I get out there in the bush, beneath these orange mountains.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Sleep beside the wildlife on the edge of Halls Gap at Serenity .

Playing there

abseiling down Hollow Mountain
Hollow Mountain is a popular abseiling site.

Go abseiling under the stars or join a guided hike with Absolute Outdoors . Visit Wama , Australia’s first environmental art centre. Check out Dimboola’s eccentric Imaginarium .

Eating there

steak, naan bread and beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap
Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap serves a great steak on naan bread.

Eat world-class cuisine at Pomonal Estate . Dine and stay at much-revered icon Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. The ‘steak on naan’ at Halls Gap brewhouse Paper Scissors Rock , can’t be beat.

Dunkeld Arboretum in Grampians National Park
The serene Dunkeld Arboretum.

For Halls Gap’s best breakfasts head to Livefast Cafe . Sip local wines at Great Western’s historic wineries, Best’s Wines , Seppelt Wines and Norton Estate Wines .

two glasses of beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap
Sink a cold one at Paper Scissors Rock.