Jetsetting at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Spa in Bangkok! - Stylehive

What gives a spa the title of the best in the world? Stylehivers wanted to know, so I flew to Bangkok and checked myself into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to find out. Why so far? Because no other spa has been so internationally talked about as being the most amazing on the planet, and The Robb Report (a magazine all about ultra-luxury) rated it as the best in the world for their 30th anniversary issue. Ratings-schmatings, I had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about and so begins the journey!

How do you measure a spa, a massage is a massage, right? So I was skeptical from the get go. But when I stepped foot in the place it all became obvious. The whole staff greeted me by name (don€™t ask me how they knew), sat me down, removed my shoes, replaced them with slippers, and served me herbal tea. The spa suites were easily bigger than my apartment, each one equipped with a private shower, steam room, bathroom and in some cases, a claw foot tub for rose petal soaks.

The real treat came in the Ayurvedic penthouse, the top two floors of the five-story spa building. There, they practiced the 5,000 year-old Indian healing methods of Ayurveda. I have never had Ayurvedic treatments before, but I will never look at spa treatments the same again because they changed my life.

I first tried an Ayurvedic massage, which lasted about two hours and consisted of a massage, sitting in a steam box, and finally a full body exfoliation. The next day I tried a Shirodhara treatment, where a stream of warm oil is steadily poured over the forehead. By the end, I felt more relaxed from any treatment I have ever had in my life, and they never even put one hand on my body. Coupled with impeccable Thai hospitality, I was in heaven.

I took about two treatments a day for five days and I can tell you the Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok lives up to its reputation. It€™s the service, the treatments, and the environment, so I get now what makes it the best in the world.