The Top Hotel Spas in Australia
as voted for by readers of Conde Nast Traveller

Conde Nast Traveller readers have rated their spa experiences Down Under in 2008.

Here's the full list that are in Australia (it's a Top 10 of Australasia and the South Pacific, and the missing 2 on the list are in French Polynesia):

Gaia Retreat & Spa, NSW
The Sebel Reef House & Spa, QLD
Azure Spa, Lizard Island, QLD
Spa Chakra Hayman, Hayman, QLD
Chaun Spa, The Langham, Melbourne, VIC
Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa, NSW
The Spa, Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney, NSW
Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa, QLD

These are a list of the best hotel spas in Australia, and one of these is, in fact, on my list of favourite places to stay (Number 2 — The Sebel Reef House)

One of the Sebel Reef House hotel's pools, with the spa building just a few steps away (behind the shutters lies lots of pampering!)

But as you can imagine, some of the places to stay on the list aren't all that affordable, as an excellent spa is often synonymous with luxury hotel. But I have a plan! Stay nearby and use the hotels as a day spa...

The spas on Lizard Island and Hayman Island aren't really going to be day spa options (they are island resorts that you need to be staying on to enjoy), and the same is probably true for Daintree Eco Lodge (as it's in the middle of the rainforest!), but as for the rest of the list, you can easily visit and use the spa facilities while staying somewhere else nearby.

For the Gaia Retreat, you can book yourself a day spa treatment or package, but stay in nearby Byron Bay (we like Julian's Apartments — funky studios just opposite Clark's Beach).

For the Sebel Reef House, look no further than the hotel itself. You can stay for around £100 a night, and it's truly lovely.

In the Blue Mountains, stay in nearby (10 minute's drive away) Wentworth Falls at the lovely studios and apartments of The Falls Mountain Retreat, and just book a treatment or two at Lilianfels Spa.

And in Sydney, my vote for a lovely hotel is for Simpson's of Potts Point. Then you can take a couple of hours out in the Four Season's Spa, which is just a lovely walk away through the Botanic Gardens.

This is my way of getting 5-star pampering at 3-star prices — you just book your accommodation separately from your spa treatments — easy! Unless you stay at the Sebel Reef House of course, and then you can really have the whole package. It might be Number 2 on the Conde Nast list, but its Number 1 on mine!