Best Vegas Spas (and Secret Romance Spots)

One of the misnomers about resort spas in Vegas (and beyond) is that you have to spend a lot of money to get a blissful experience. It simply isn't true. And in fact, when it comes to nail services, I feel that the priciest Vegas spas give you no better service that the Korean mani-pedi place in the strip mall down the street. I recently got a much, much worse $110 pedicure a few weeks ago at Mandalay Bay's Bathhouse Spa than I got for $40 at CV Nails down the street from my house. (For ripping me off, Bathhouse gets omitted from my "best" list. It's a nice spa, but I'm still sore after getting a crap service. It's their punishment!)

Instead of throwing down $100 or more for a sub-par massage or facial, you could just come in, grab a locker for your valuables and change of undies, slip ito a plush robe, down a couple of cucumber-infused waters or hot teas with fresh lemon and gobs of honey (all complimentary), and soak the day away in the hottub, sauna and/or steam room. Doesn't that sound nice? And, in some of these great spas, you can meet up with your boy toy in the co-ed areas for some romantic time. All of this is usually around $25-$60 per day and gives you all-day access to come and go as you please. I like to go in the morning, then come back after dinner for a pre-bedtime soak. Most of them stay open until about 8 p.m. or so.

I've compiled a list of my favorite Vegas spas here, along with current pricing for the "facility use" fee, which typically includes everything I've described above.

1. Aria Spa: Unarguably the best Spa in Las Vegas. Somehow it didn't make any of the Conde Nast Traveler lists of the top spas in the US (and the Wynn Spa, #3 on my list, comes in at a paltry 34th on theirs). Lucky for you, that means it's almost never super-crowded. The indoor areas are more than ample, with two cold and two hot soaking pools, a cedar sauna, and a eucalyptis steam room (hope you like it hot, because it is not f*cking around with the heat in there). Once you've had some nice alone time and a beverage, you can join your sweetie for some of the great co-ed amenities: the Ganbanyoku Heated Stone Beds, Shio Salt Room, and the Infinity Edge, Co-Ed Outdoor Therapy Pool. The Infinity pool is like a giant, rectangular hottub and it overlooks Aria's swanky LIQUID dayclub pool and the mountains in the distance. So there's plenty to see, if you can tear your eyes from your lover's gaze. ;-)
Facility fee: $30/person or $80 for a 3-day pass, $40/day for non-hotel guests

2. QUA Baths & Spa, Caesar's Palace: Much like Aria's Spa, the draw of Caesar's Spa is the multitude of co-ed spaces. Where they lack in Japanese stone beds and salt rooms, they make up for in lots and lots of water to soak in together. The spas are all elevated, which is unique and really have that look and feel of an old Roman Bath (minus the ancient naked Italian men wandering around in all their glory, thankfully the co-ed areas require clothing). In addition, they have an interesting, if completely unnecesarry, "tea sommelier." (I guess that's a thing.) If that weren't enough, they have an arctic ice room that you can go into just in case you ever get homesick for Cincinnati winters.
Facility fee: A little pricey at $55 (non-guests), $50 for guests, but they give you a significant discount if you are Diamond Level Total Rewards Member, so make sure to show your card if you are at or above that level.

3. Wynn Spa: Just like Steve Wynn's masterpiece of a hotel, the spa resonates that same feeling of luxury, except with bubbly warm water. I think I love this spa so much because in 2011, I fully and completely recovered from the worst head cold of my life just by spending a half hour in the eucalyptis steam room. Saved my whole trip. But more than a healing oasis, the Wynn Spa has amenities galore. Bask in the glow of the natural Las Vegas light peeping through the atrium area, which boasts a huge hot soaking tub. A big Buddha statue that watches over bathers completes the totally Zen feeling.
Facility Fee: $40 for guests, if you are not a hotel guest you have to book a treatment.

Honorable Mentions

Canyon Ranch Spa Club at Venetian/Palazzo just missed out on the top 3 and deserved a blurb. The big drawback is that it's notoriety and the fact that it offers so much stuff--rock climing wall, full gym, sports therapy--means it gets a little crowded. I don't know about you, but I don't love to share a hottub with 5-10 other stinky, sweaty bodies if I can help it. But, all that considered, it is still a super-nice facility. They have all the spa prerequisites - the steamroom, the sauna, and a funky yet relaxing Aquavana soaking tub where you can actually lay down and let the bubbles massage your whole body (it's a little bizarre, but very nice once you get used to it). They also have these weird things called "Experimental Showers" where you can get pelted with a tropical hurricane while listening to the squaking of angry parrots. It's probably not going to be your thing, but try it just to say you did. It'll be a funny story for when you get back.
Facility fee: $40/day (guest or not)

Rio Spa & Salon is very nice too. It's a little rougher around the edges then the top 3 above, but the bend-over-backwards to make you feel at home staff gets them the mention. Plus at $25, their facility fee is lower, and if you are a Diamond or Seven Stars Total Rewards member, it is free. On that note, though, steer clear of Total Rewards other free-for-Diamond member property, the Mandara Spa at Planet Hollywood. It is, in a word, gross. It isn't clean, and at least on the day I was there recently, they were hoarding towels at the front desk and, when I asked, was given ONE. One towel. At a spa. You are duly warned.

I have a lot more spas yet to try out here, so I'll be writing another article once I've fully enjoyed, er, researched them!