Pampering palaces: The best hotels with spas in Paris

In many ways, Paris is the ideal destination for a spa-in-the-city activity, with its plethora of high-end hotels and a dense, busy layout that makes a moment of calm all the more enjoyable. The more traditional ‘Palace’ hotels offer vast, marble-clad spa complexes, with sizeable pools and tailor-made treatments, while more modern competitors offer slick surrounds and designer products. Many offer the option to roll into plush suites with comfy beds and scintillating views of the city, while some offer Michelin-starred restaurants for that truly luxurious experience. However you choose to unwind, here's our pick of the best spa hotels in Paris.

A stylishly opulent five star, located in the epicentre of Paris with a sumptuous subterranean spa. It features a sauna and hammam, and a very swish 16-metre pool, enhanced with a mirrored ceiling and complemented by elegant dim lighting. A full roster of beauty treatments and pampering is also available. Think everything from anti-jet-lag eye treatments to 'urban detox' sessions featuring remineralising peat wraps. Bedrooms are well-geared for deep relaxation too: French cotton linens; large beds; marble bathrooms. PS – don't miss the cracking dessert menu in the restaurant.

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A self-proclaimed luxury art hotel, complete with gallery, art concierge, concept store and cinema. There's also an Alice in Wonderland mirrored spa, with the largest hotel swimming pool in Paris. Separate ladies' and gentlemen's saunas, Turkish baths, laconians and ice fountains complete the experience. Clarins treatments include 'youth synergy' therapies, reflexology and watsu rituals. This is also a place for foodies: One of two flagship restaurants takes the surname of Nobu Matsuhisa, also famous for the Nobu chain, co-owned by Robert De Niro and gastronomic Italian fare is on offer in Il Carpaccio, which has a Michelin star.

? The best luxury hotels in Paris

An elegant boutique hotel that cleverly combines history, good taste and a sense of contemporary style, with a relaxing approach. The basement contains a wellness centre with a gym and spa geared around personalised treatments using Codage skin products. There is also a swimming pool, which is rare in Paris. Elsewhere, relaxed living spaces with art and design books, great squashy sofas and patterned rugs create an autentic home-from-home feel. Four Indulgence Suites each feature a beautifully tiled private hammam steam bath, which couldn't be more appropriate for soothing spa break in the city.

? The best Paris hotels with Michelin-starred restaurants

Located in the heart of Paris, opposite the Champs-élysées, La Réserve is well-placed for lovers of old-school prestige and luxury, with the high-end boutiques of Rue Saint-Honoré and Avenue Montaigne within close walking distance. Exquisite interiors were designed by Jacques Garcia, butler service is standard and a courtesy car is available for guests for dinners and outings. The spa offers a range of high-end treatments by Nescens and access to the pool, hammam and gym is available 24 hours a day. Décor in the rooms is much like the rest of the hotel – plush and luxurious without being flashy – go for a room on one of the higher floors for views of the Grand Palais and Eiffel Tower.

? The best hotels in Paris city centre

Fashionably retro spa resort meets modern art gallery. The Piscine Molitor, located on the western edge of Paris, was once a summer destination for stylish Parisians and has been reborn as a luxury hotel complete with Clarins spa and sports club. The baths have been faithfully restored to their former 1930s glory, with the uniform yellow and blue design of the summer pool providing a striking centrepiece to the hotel, but the Molitor offers just about everything else you need for a spot of R&R; a large state-of-the-art fitness room, classes that range from boxing to ballet, and pampering courtesy of Clarins in the spacious spa.

? The best budget hotels in Paris

This magical address in fashionable SoPi (South Pigalle) makes the heart sing. With an extraordinary combination of Belle époque glamour, five-star luxury and creative exuberance by celebrity French designer Jacques Garcia, Maison Souquet is the ultimate lovers’ address. Highly personalised service is akin to having your own butler and, quite frankly, once checked-in, you should have no desire to leave. An afternoon simply playing chess or backgammon over drinks in the beautiful trio of salons is rare entertainment, along with the use of the Salon d’Eau, an intimate and sensual basement spa with toasty-warm 10m-long pool and mosaic steam room, in which guests can book exclusively.

? The most characterful hotels in Paris

Opened in 1925, Le Bristol is decorated in quintessential French regalia, featuring polished marble floors, crystal chandeliers, plush flower arrangements, Versailles-style furniture and 17th-century antique tapestries. Rooms are huge for Paris, with a standard Double measuring the same size as many Parisians’ apartments. Guests seeking a soothing spa will not be disappointed: backing onto a courtyard garden, it offers a range of treatments including luxurious personalised massages, and the pool on the sixth floor is surrounded by wooden ocean liner-style paneling and flanked on two sides by floor-to-ceiling windows. Gourmands can head to Eric Frechon's Epicure.The Spa Valmont in this distinguished property has its own mezzanine level and is arranged around a quiet interior courtyard. Here, guests can choose from a range of high-end body treatments and facials and there’s a steam room, sauna and relaxation room. Elsewhere, the hotel’s suites take opulence to a fantasy-land level. The vast Presidential Suites on the first floor are straight out of Versailles, but the jewel in the crown is the Belle Etoile suite on the seventh floor, which has its own private lift and 360-degree-view terrace. For something more subtle, the standard rooms are just as comfortable and decorated in the same style. A reservation at two Michelin-starred Le Meurice Alain Ducasse completes the picture.This is luxe with a capital L. Located on Avenue Kleber, one of the 12 prestigious avenues that radiate from Place de l’Etoile, the property is well placed for experiencing the finer things Paris has to offer. But if you’re looking to spend a few hours in the comfort of the hotel, the subterranean spa has much to offer, including the longest hotel pool in Paris (20m), treatment rooms and a large gym space (with the option of hiring personal trainers by the hour – try the ‘Culture Run’ under the Eiffel Tower or morning stretch on the rooftop terrace). Fine dining abound here, from L’Oiseau Blanc, located on the top floor to gourmet Cantonese options at LiLi.

? The best boutique hotels in Paris

This plush pile located in Paris's most kingly suburb offers a relaxing escape for Parisians and out-of-towners. Gordon Ramsay signs the menus in both gastronomic restaurant Gordon Ramsay Au Trianon (one Michelin star) and bistro Le Veranda. Service is efficient and friendly at reception, with an extra degree of attentiveness on display in the bars and restaurants. The hotel’s stand-out facility is the Guerlain-branded spa and wellbeing space. Treatments are on offer in the polished, subterranean environs of the spa, while the pool provides an unpretentious area in which to relax and unwind. Concierge service is discreet and efficient.

Contributions by Natasha Edwards, Nicola Leigh Stewart & Nicola Williams