My Tenerife Spa Reset · Part Two

Long before spas became candlelit rooms inside luxury hotels, they were about something much simpler: water. The word itself comes from the Latin “sanitas per aquam” - health through water. Ancient Romans built entire cities around baths, not for indulgence, but for routine. You washed, you soaked, you talked, you rested. Wellness wasn’t a trend. It was part of daily life.

Over time, that idea slowly migrated. From public bathhouses to private retreats, from medical necessity to personal ritual. When hotels began to understand that rest was just as important as comfort, spas found their place - not as decoration, but as a core experience. Somewhere between travel getting faster and life getting louder, the spa became the quiet counterbalance.

Today, a good five-star hotel spa isn’t about excess. It’s about intention. Space, silence, skilled hands, and time that isn’t measured in minutes. When done properly, it doesn’t feel like an activity on your schedule - it feels like part of how the stay works.

In Part Two, I’m focusing on three hotels in Tenerife where the spa experience stood out in very different ways:
Las Terrazas de Abama Suites,
Red Level at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora, and
The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama.

Three five-star hotels. Three approaches to wellness. Same island, same ocean air - completely different ways of slowing down.

Sandára Wellness & Spa - Where the Reset Feels Effortless

Las Terrazas de Abama Suites

This spa didn’t feel like something added to the hotel later with a checklist and a budget meeting. It felt like it grew there naturally — shaped by the landscape, the silence, and that very specific Abama calm where even your thoughts slow down.

Sandára Wellness & Spa is understated in the best way. Clean lines, warm textures, soft light, and views that quietly remind you why you came here in the first place. No dramatic lighting, no spiritual slogans on the wall. Just a beautifully designed space that lets you relax without telling you how.

The spa is compact but very well thought out: 450 sqm of wellness space, a hydrotherapy pool, warming beds (dangerously comfortable), sauna, steam bath, ice fountain (a brief but humbling experience), bi-thermic and bucket showers - all laid out so you move through it on autopilot. Changing rooms lead straight into the water circuit, which feels like a small luxury you didn’t know you needed until you had it.

I went for the Detox & Reset package - ambitious name, fair results. It includes a renewing facial, a full body detox treatment, a Sandára massage, and three rounds through the water circuit. Nothing rushed, nothing overwhelming. I walked out calmer than I walked in, which doesn’t always happen, even in good spas.

The treatments use Anne Semonin products - vegan, biotechnological, and refreshingly subtle. No overpowering scents, no “you should feel this chakra opening now” energy. Just skin that looks better and a body that finally stops holding tension where it shouldn’t.

The staff were calm, attentive, and genuinely lovely. They make you feel looked after. Between treatments, lying on the warming beds and staring out at the views, I had a brief but serious thought about cancelling the rest of my plans.

For the price, the package felt thoughtful and generous - no unnecessary extras, no upsell guilt.

If your idea of wellness involves space, silence, and not being talked at, this one gets it.

Red Level at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora - Spa by Clarins

Image credits: Red Level at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora hotel website

This spa feels like the calm, polished heart of Red Level. The moment you step inside, the light softens, voices drop, and that unmistakable Clarins scent makes it very clear you’re in good hands now.

Spa by Clarins is all about balance - between proper technique and pure indulgence. The hydrotherapy circuit alone is reason enough to come: hydromassage pools, sauna, chromotherapy, bi-thermal foot baths, essence showers and a meditation area that gently convinces you to stop checking the time. Skin feels better, muscles loosen up, thoughts behave themselves for once.

I went for a hot stone massage, and yes, it did exactly what you hope it will do. Deeply relaxing, perfectly paced, and one of those treatments where you forget what tension even felt like. Afterwards, I stayed longer than planned on the heated loungers, doing absolutely nothing, which, in a spa like this, feels very productive.

What I really liked is how tailored everything feels. Clarins treatments are personalised, plant-based, and adapted to actual needs - hydration, firmness, recovery, stress, even programmes specifically designed for men. Nothing generic, nothing rushed.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to keep moving, there’s also a Health Club attached: a large gym, personal training, nutrition guidance, and group classes like yoga, pilates, spinning and meditation. Wellness here isn’t just about lying down - it’s about choosing how you want to feel.

In short: elegant, calming, quietly luxurious. The kind of spa where you arrive curious and leave slightly glowing, very relaxed, and wondering if you could realistically move in.

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Abama - Where Ritual Becomes Recovery

Image credits: The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama website

The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama

When you hear Ritz-Carlton spa, expectations are already high - and somehow, this one still overdelivers. The spa at Abama feels less like a hotel facility and more like a carefully choreographed ritual inspired by the island itself. Volcanic stone, water, temperature, steam, silence - everything here is intentional.

The Wellness Circuit draws inspiration from ancient Roman baths, and you feel that sense of progression as you move through it. Hot, cold, steam, pause. The Turkish-style herbal steam bath was a standout - softly lit, aromatic, almost cinematic. The room itself feels timeless, like it’s been there far longer than the hotel.

Then there’s the World of Showers, which is exactly what it sounds like, and more fun than expected. Tropical rain, lateral jets, sudden cold blasts that wake you up properly. The cold cabin with Arctic rain is not gentle, but it’s effective. You walk out feeling sharper, more awake, very alive.

The Kneipp circuit was a surprise favourite. Walking barefoot over volcanic stones forces you to be present - it’s grounding in the most literal way. By the time you finish with hydrotherapy and chromotherapy in the plunge pool, your body feels recalibrated.

I came here on a very specific mission: recovery. I’d just done an outdoor leg workout using the gym’s terrace (yes, spinning bikes outside, yes, with views), and my body was loudly asking for help. The sports massage delivered exactly that - deep, precise, no unnecessary softness. Relief, not ritual for ritual’s sake.

Afterwards, I stayed. Lying down. Not thinking. Letting the place do what it does best.

What makes this spa special isn’t just the scale or the facilities - it’s how well everything connects. You can work out, hike through botanical gardens, play golf or tennis, then come here and put your body back together properly. Active and restorative don’t compete here…they support each other.

This spa doesn’t rush you toward enlightenment. It just gives you the space, the tools, and the silence - and lets your body handle the rest.

Why Silence Is the Most Expensive Amenity

In five-star spas, silence isn’t an accident - it’s a choice. And it’s one of the hardest things to get right.

Real silence takes space. It takes layout, thick walls, good acoustics, thoughtful scheduling, and staff who understand when not to speak. It means fewer people per circuit, no rushing between treatments, and no background noise pretending to be calming.

What I noticed in the best spas wasn’t the music, the scents, or the treatments - it was the absence of everything unnecessary. No phones ringing. No loud conversations drifting in from the next room. No sense that you’re on someone else’s timetable.

Silence gives your body permission to drop its guard. Muscles soften faster. Breathing slows naturally. Thoughts stop performing. It’s the difference between feeling relaxed for an hour and actually recovering.

In a world that’s constantly loud, scheduled, and demanding your attention, silence has become rare. And like anything rare, it’s expensive - not in price, but in effort.

The best spas understand this. They don’t sell you silence.
They protect it.