Located in the Monte-Carlo Bay hotel, the spa shares the same “fusion” spirit, offering beauty and therapeutic treatments and ritual baths from five continents. The menu includes Balinese, Taoist and Thai massages, but the two most popular items are the Oriental hot-oil massage and the Brazilian crème de café cellulite “draining” using a coffee-bean-based cream. Not as snazzy as the two spas listed above, the Cinq Mondes is still well worth a visit, particularly if you’re staying at the Monte-Carlo Bay. The red-and-black Asian-inspired treatment rooms are just steps are away from the hotel’s heated indoor pool under a spectacular glass dome.

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Perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, this enormous high-concept palace of pink marble, wood and glass is one of the principality’s star attractions. It offers thalassotherapy and a wide selection of beauty and well-being treatments, plus a heated indoor seawater pool, a hammam, a sauna and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Among the highlights are the extravagant new Monte-Carlo Diamond treatment, a massage and scrub with genuine diamond powder and essential rose oils; the Tonic Minceur treatment, with detox algae wraps; and the six-day “for men only” program, with everything from cardiotraining to antiage facials using La Prairie products. The numerous day-spa options range from seaweed wraps and Dead Sea mud packs to diverse massage techniques, including Shiatsu and my particular favorite, fasciatherapy, a deep kneading that kept me energized for weeks. If you’re staying at either the Hôtel de Paris or the Hôtel Hermitage, you have free access to the pool and the lovely solarium terrace overlooking the harbor.

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Located on the Hôtel Métropole ground floor, the Jacques Garcia-designed ESPA exudes a chic exoticism, from the polished woods and stingray-skin walls of its thirteen treatment rooms to the brown-mosaic-tiled hammam and fluffy beige robes. The spa has no windows and keeps the lighting low, creating a soothing atmosphere where time seems suspended. For a truly special experience, book a three-hour session in one of the two private VIP couple suites followed by a private hydromassage chromotherapy bath. ESPA’s treatments include energy-boosting massages, salt and oil scrubs and hot-stone therapy. After a cool tropical mist shower, head for the outdoor terrace, where you can sip fresh juices by the heated seawater pool.