4 unique spa experiences in Vienna that will wake your body up for spring!

OMG (that’s right, we used it). Our skin still felt super soft and smelt like rose water even a day after leaving this spa. Our feet get tingly again and a lazy, relaxed smirk appears on our face when thinking about the office day break we took to get a facial and foot massage. At Arany Spa, located in the Park Hyatt hotel, the stones are shiny, the bathrobes as soft as cashmere (wait, are they cashmere??), the pool water is as blue as the mediterranean sea, while the masseuses are so friendly and soft-spoken, we just wanted to curl up into a ball and wrap their words around us.
Entering the elegant Park Hyatt lobby, adorned with fancy furniture which occupies the grand old dame of a building, formerly Bank Austria, the scene is already set at opulent and chic. The spa, which opened with the hotel in 2014, hosts a dry sauna, steam bath, solarium and a 15m long pool which is located the safe of the old bank, which is in decorated with gold-covered tiles.

Treatments at the spa include: a wide range of massages – including couples massages followed by a private jacuzzi session in the ‘couple room,’ (our dirty minds wonder what happens in there) facials, body wraps, manicures, pedicures and lifting masks. You can check out the full list of treatments on offer, here.

Good to know… with every treatment you get, you can use all the other spa facilities for 2.5 hours

If you’re ever in need to forget life, the world, yourself for a few hours, Aux Gazelle’s Turkish hammam is an amazing place to do it. The lovely welcome you get upon arrival in the the comfy and calm waiting area with its oriental flavour, and the nice-smelling mint tea you’re served while waiting, will have you shifting down a few gears already in preparation for what’s to come.

After being led into the Hammam area, you’ll find a locker room with amenities and handed a towel to wrap around your body after taking a shower. You’re then led into a humid room that will have your pores opening for the next 20 minutes as you lie like a seal on a warm stone covered in water. Here you’ll lie back, empty your head and enjoy the warm water that the Hammamci (masseuse with special Hammam knowledge) occasionally pours over your body.

As soon as you’re soft and supple enough, you’re washed by the Hammamci with olive soap and a special exfoliating glove that scrubs off dry, old skin. The experience of having somebody washing you was surprisingly invigorating. You can also choose further treatments that involve either soap or Moroccan clay and will have your skin feeling softer than it ever was. For the grand finale, you’re wrapped into soft cloth once again and are led to the relaxation room, where you can lay and just be – at this point you will definitely have forgotten about tomorrow’s meetings or today’s evening plans.

Try some great oriental cuisine in the restaurant after – you will need a bit of time to acclimatise back to the real world again after stepping out of humid heaven of pampering delight.

Good to know: Happy Hammam – enjoy a Hammam treatment and a 3-course-meal at the restaurant after!

Treatments include: There are several different treatments to book that will be part of your normal Hammam visit, from Morrocan clay, to treatments and other beauty treatments, find more info (and pricing) here.

What’s special about this spa experience? The specialty of Aux Gazelle’s beauty and wellness treatment is the oriental background and the thousands of years old practising of public baths. You’ll immediately feel transported into far away countries and centuries.

Wow. Hot stones. Who would have thought that relaxation could be found in a hot stone. Hot stones on your face, back, butt, thighs, feet – ok. We’re turning you on, but then again, one does feel kinda’ turned on when at Shofah Spa.
While the massage hub offers various all massages to anyone coming alone, the place is pretty much made for you to come with your lover. Couple massages are the way to go at Shofah Spa, and so we took a plus one and indulged in the procedure.

This is how it goes when you take a package deal at Shofah
1. You come in and are warmly welcomed by a the smell of all kinds of organic oils and the Shofah Spa people swap your shoes in exchange for white slippers.
2. You are asked to fill out a simple form where you indicate how strong your massage should be.
3. You are told to pick your massage oil from a range of different scents eg. orange-coconut, lavender, olive-oil thyme; all homemade.
4. You are taken through to the romantic spa to your ‘room’ which in our case was the ‘VIP room’ also known as the couples room. We prefer to leave it at VIP though.
5. You change your clothes into an authentic Thai looking bathrobe and are escorted to the ‘foot wash bath.’
6. Your feet are washed and peeled.
7. You are escorted back to your room where you make eyes with your lover who smirks at you.
8. You are massaged for 1.5 hours. In this time you forget the world outside and just enjoy the massage, knowing your lover is doing the same. Its awesome.
9. You are calmly woken up by your masseuse (at this point you feel like a super relaxed, stoned version of yourself)
10. You are escorted to the sauna where you are given 30 minutes to be alone with your lover. No more to be said.
11. You are given freshly cut fruits and tea to wake you up from this dream. Yes. The word ‘you’ is in focus here, because thats what this place is all about – making you feel royal.

Treatments include: The wide range of massages at Shofah range from Swedish, Thai, Ayurveda and (what’s probably the most impressive), a pregnancy massage. Other offers at the spa include peelings, face treatments, jacuzzi hypotherapie, and all kinds of recommended package deals (see the list of prices here).

We also love… the Shofah Spa claims to be the only place in Vienna to have a massage bed made for pregnant ladies (with a hole for the stomach).

Make a reservation: office@medspa.cc, +43 1 236 13 36

Situated in a huge, pretty, Altbauwohnung (grand old building) at Schottentor in the midst of Vienna’s city centre, Moser Milani Med Spa is a high-end wellness and beauty centre that houses 11 doctors, a physical therapist, and a beauty care plus hair stylist under one roof. It distinguishes itself by offering holistic care in wellness, beauty and health in connection with medical cosmetics and the expertise of doctors. It features a long list of bookable treatments ranging from cosmetic to wellness and relaxation.
And while a relaxing head massage sounds pretty good to us and our sore bones, we do want to dive a little deeper into the specialties of this place, so we try an acupuncture treatment. After a talk with the doctor about our physical and mental state, we immediately feel in good hands. Settling down in a quiet room with a comfy lounger, you will get to enjoy a short time-out from life outside these fancy walls. The doctor will find and press just the right spots on your body, checking for pain. And then come the needles. We don’t even feel them poking and prodding our body. Once they’re all in place, we’re left to ourselves and the nothingness for 20 minutes. Add some sound bowl to the treatment if you like and let it work even deeper. You’ll feel reborn afterwards.

Treatments include: Moser Milani MedSpa offers a wide range of treatments that can be booked as required and after a thorough talk with a doctor about your problems and issues and how to solve them in the long term. There’s massages and treatments that will have you relax for a bit, beauty and rejuvenating treatments that will make your body and skin shine, as well as medical and surgical procedures taking it to another level.

What’s special about this spa? It combines wellness and health treatments with the expertise of doctors and implements medical cosmetics and plastic surgery in a holistic way