Italy has been crowned the world's best destination for a spa retreat, as chosen by industry experts and spa-goers worldwide.
The 12th World Spa Awards announced its 2026 winners this week, recognising outstanding spas, wellness retreats, brands and experiences in the sector.
The prize for the world’s best resort spa went to Italy’s Lefay Spa World at Lefa Resort and Spa Dolomiti. This 5,000-square-metre facility, surrounded by a mountainous landscape, offers guests nine saunas with different temperature and humidity levels, which they can experience through five specific circuits.
The spa also has several indoor and outdoor pools, including a whirlpool rich in magnesium salt water. The spa also incorporates massages, phytotherapy, and simple exercises such as Qi Gong and meditation into its circuits.
Another Italian institution, Palazzo Fiuggi, won the award for the world’s best wellness retreat. This central Italian medical facility fuses holistic traditions with advanced Western medicine to create personalised programmes and tailored treatments for its guests.
The spa supplies a range of services from clinic doctors and professionals, including cryotherapy, IV drips and blood analysis as part of its medical package, while its wellness facilities include saunas, sound healing and light therapy.
The accolade for the best grotto spa on the planet went to Tuscan retreat Grotta Giusti, which provides thermal water within its thousand-year-old cave, the largest of its kind in Europe.
New York also took home top prizes for its spa offerings, with Guerlain Wellness Spa at the Waldorf Astoria crowned the world’s best hotel spa for 2026.
The recently renovated space at the iconic hotel address provides exclusive massages, a sauna, a steam room, an Arctic cave and 22,000 square feet of wellness space.
World Spa in New York completed the headline awards by winning the world’s best day spa, offering an impressive range of amenities including Eastern European banyas, Finnish saunas, Turkish and Moroccan hammams and Japanese onsens, alongside 70 treatment rooms.
Rebecca Cohen, managing director of World Spa Awards, said: “This year’s winners represent the very highest standards of excellence, innovation and guest experience, demonstrating the continued vitality and evolution of our industry.
“Their achievements inspire travellers around the world and reaffirm the important role that spa and wellness play in enhancing wellbeing and quality of life.”
Read more: These are the best restaurants in the UK to visit this year, according to experts
