Mexico’s Spas & Wellness Retreats Spas

Mexico’s booming spa sector reflects a wider global trend, but its special offerings are all homegrown, from the Aztec sweat lodge to cactus-derived skin treatments.

In Los Cabos, Baja California, the desert is no longer seen as solely an arid and lifeless landscape. Its bushes, herbs, cacti and plants — the basis for therapeutic and medicinal cures — have become an integral part of the services offered by the region’s spas. Among the area’s curative plants is the nopal cactus, a great source of vitamin C and amino acids that helps extract fluids from body tissue and send them into the bloodstream.

Given Mexico’s natural wealth — including varied microclimates and thermal springs — it’s not surprising that “health tourism” (as it is known today) has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the country’s tourism industry, especially in the states of Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Puebla and Morelos.

One of the primary functions of a vacation is to help relieve the stress of modern life. In this respect, Mexico offers a unique combination of ancestral knowledge, geographical diversity and warm hospitality. The growth in spa tourism, far from weakening indigenous cultures, has contributed to their revival and preservation.

Several leading resorts now feature traditional temazcal (sweat lodge) ceremonies led by local healers. This steam bath, similar to a sauna, is an ancient ritual that combines aromatic herbs, medicinal plants, chants and meditation, all linked to pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican cultures. The purpose of the bath is to detoxify and purify the body; its name comes from Nahuatl and means “steam house” (temaz/steam, calli/house). In the State of Mexico’s lakeside town of Valle de Bravo, guests at the El Santuario resort can take part in a complete temazcal ritual.

Even Mexico City offers holistic alternatives to help visitors (and natives) escape the overwhelming pace of modern life.
At the W Mexico City Hotel, you can close your eyes and enjoy massages that feature clays, oils, myrrh, copal and incense. Also available are treatments that combine rice, organic milk, cinnamon, ground oatmeal, salts, aromatic oils and banana leaf, all to the natural rhythms of water and rainfall. Plus, the hotel boasts one of the few urban temazcals in existence at its Away Spa.

Mexican spas offer endless options, ranging from small, independently owned establishments to large, multinational hotels. Some, such as Grand Velas in Nuevo Vallarta, include exotic treatments such as chocolate wraps. Others, like Hacienda Los Laureles in Oaxaca, combine spa treatments with ecotourism, archaeological exploration and adventure travel. Some even offer special services for children.

Several Mexican spas are considered among the best in the world, with their unique combination of first-rate service and characteristically warm Latin hospitality and attentive service.