How we choose
The same rules run in every city. They decide the picks; the writing explains them.
What counts as a spa
A pick must have at least one facility with heat or water that a visitor can use: a bath such as a hammam, onsen or banya, a pool, or a sauna or steam room. A bathtub inside a treatment room does not count, and neither does a pool or bath kept for hotel guests or members, unless visitors can buy a published package to use it. Places that only offer massage or skin care are not picked.
We leave out erotic massage parlours, home-visit therapists, gyms, members-only clubs and foot-massage shops, and anything Google lists as closed. A hotel spa needs its own Google listing; the hotel's general listing does not stand in for it.
The threshold
A spa needs a Google rating of at least 4.5. Very busy bathhouses are judged on volume: 4.3 is enough with 5,000 reviews or more, and 4.2 with 20,000 or more; these earn 1 point for guest rating. It also needs at least 150 reviews, or 30 for a hotel spa. In a district with few visitors, a city can set a lower review count, and the city page says why.
The score
Spas that pass the threshold are scored out of 16. Every point needs evidence: the spa's own website, its Google listing or a guest review. No evidence, no point.
| Group | What earns a point | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Guest rating | 4.7 or higher on Google: 3 points. 4.5 to 4.69, or a busy bathhouse that passes on volume: 1 point. | 3 |
| Heat and water | A bath tradition (hammam, onsen, sento, banya, jjimjilbang, thermal bath), a pool, a sauna or steam room, a jacuzzi or cold plunge. One point each. | up to 4 |
| Care | A massage menu; a local signature ritual such as a kese scrub, Thai massage or a Balinese treatment. One point each. | up to 2 |
| Setting | A building at least 100 years old; a view; a garden or natural setting; a site on the water; an open terrace or courtyard. One point each. | up to 3 |
| Hospitality | A bar or café; a restaurant or food menu, open to spa guests in the same building. One point each. | up to 2 |
| Programme | A regular programme: yoga, classes, ceremonies or events. | 1 |
| Open prices | Spa prices published on the spa's own website. Prices for classes or personal training do not count. | 1 |
When two spas tie, the one with more Google reviews wins.
One pick per part of the city
Each city is divided into parts, and each part gets at most one pick. Picks must also sit a minimum distance apart: about 1 to 1.5 km in dense historic centres and 2 to 3 km in cities that sprawl. If two winners are too close, the higher score keeps its place and the other part of town moves to its next candidate, or stays empty.
An empty part of town is a result, not a gap: it means nothing there passed with a facility we could verify. City pages say so.
Tags
Each pick can carry up to three tags, one from each group. Scale: Resort, Boutique or Local. Character: Historic, Modern or Nature. Mood: Ritual (the city's own bath tradition is the point of the visit), Treatment or Social. Tags describe; they do not change the score.
Where the facts come from
- Prices and menus: the spa's own website, with the date we read it. If a spa publishes no prices, the page says so.
- Rating, address and opening hours: the spa's Google listing, with the date we checked it.
- Quotes: Google reviews, copied word for word with the reviewer's name. We do not trim a quote in a way that changes its meaning.
We do not write as if we visited. Scenes on spa pages describe what you will find, built from those sources.
Money
No spa pays to be on this list. Picks follow the same published rules everywhere.