By Catriona Innes

Spas across the globe have been waiting with bated breath, hoping they’ll be honored with a prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Reader Spa Award. The well travelled readers of the magazine have been voting for everything from their favourite local spas to far flung retreats. Previous winners have included the luxurious Bulgari Spa in Milan and the modern Bliss Spa in Soho, New York. So, where have Condé Nast readers been primping and preening themselves this year? Read on to find out who was crowned queen of spas…

UK – the best of British spa-ing
The awards confirmed that you don’t have to fly half way across the world to be pampered. London came up trumps with Spa Illuminata in Mayfair winning the prize for Best Day Spa in Britain, while Surrey’s Grayshott Spa also walked away with the top prize for Best Spa Retreat. Up in the North, the ladies’ favourite Waterfall Spa in Leeds was awarded fifth place in the Best Day Spa category for its opulent surroundings where you can relax with a gourmet meal in between treatments.

Not only do we do well with our day spas, but we have so many amazing hotel spas that Condé Nast had to create a whole new category for them! The winner of the first Best Hotel Spa in Britain was the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park, London which was awarded for its top accommodation- and with a choice of six pillows and sumptuous Irish linen for guests to slumber in we can see why!

Overseas – Spa, spa away
Iceland’s natural resources were praised when the tranquil Blue Lagoon Spa waltzed away with the top prize for Best Medical Spa. Guests can bathe in geo-thermal sea water and shower beneath a waterfall at the all-natural retreat. Mayr&More in Austria was also awarded for its exquisite food and Adler Thermae in Tuscany for their fitness programmes.

The French and the Spanish are both renowned for achieving their glowing good looks without trying too hard and as a result they have produced some of the best spas in the world. Condé Nast readers especially loved Spa Nuxe in Paris, which won The Best Day Spa Overseas and The Spa at The Marques Riscal Hotel in Spain which won the Best Hotel Spa in Europe.

Scooping four nominations and winning the Best Hotel Spa in Asia and India, The Six Senses Spa chain should feel proud of their achievements.  It was their Earth Spa in Hua Hin, Thailand that won the trophy as readers said their body treatments were impossible to beat!
The most important prize of the night for Condé Nast Traveller’s Number One Spa in the World was awarded to the spa at Hotel Marques Riscal in Rioja, Spain (who also won the Best Hotel Spa in Europe.) It seems incorporating wine into your treatments provides a winning formula…

So, next time you’re feeling a bit low and need a spa pick-me-up trust the readers of Condé Nast Traveller and choose one of their recommended spas. You’re bound to leave feeling relaxed, revived and ready to cast your vote for next year’s awards.