5 Best Spas in Canada Where You Can De-Stress After the Election

Is the election making you so crazy, you need to skip town—hell, the whole country—for a while? Let off some steam in one of these five spas where (hopefully) the locker room talk will be about feminist prime minister Justin Trudeau, not Trump.

Spa St. James | Montreal, Quebec

Go full Canadian by getting a maple-sugar nail treatment—that’s a mani-pedi plus exfoliation and maple sugar mask with heating glove—while sipping a maple tisane at this spa nestled in the Ritz-Carlton. St. James also offers an hour-long nonsurgical “facelift” that uses a microcurrent machine to work out your facial muscles. While there isn't a spa café, the hotel is the birthplace of Ritz-Carlton’s afternoon tea service, and it has Canada’s first Dom Pérignon Champagne Bar, which opens at the perfectly reasonable hour of 1 in the afternoon.

Cedar & Sage Co. | Banff, Alberta

This earthy holistic lounge within a national park offers everything you might expect: Reflexology and reiki to release stuck energy, yoga with flutes and a high instructor-to-student ratio, and one-day spiritual-awakening retreats that include group acupuncture. But what’s particularly novel is the Grand Wetaskiwin, a transformative circuit that starts with 45 minutes in a sweat lodge–inspired cedar infrared sauna that plays indigenous music. After that you’ll spend 15 minutes in the rain shower and finish with a 60- or 90-minute customized massage.

Courtesy of Willow Stream Spa

Willow Stream Spa | Vancouver, BC

The signature 90-minute exfoliation-and-massage combo at this 8,500-square-foot spa is designed to help you recover from the Grouse Grind, a nearby hike so steep, it's sometimes referred to as "Mother Nature’s StairMaster." But it’s not all active recovery here; Willow Stream also offers Tata Harper and Kerstin Florian facials and a hand-brightening manicure with a mineral soak. After your treatment, head to the deck, where you can tuck into a meditation pod or private Jacuzzi and get panoramic views of the city and harbor.

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Inside Chanel au Ritz Paris, Chanel's completely gorgeous—and first-ever—spa:

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The Spa at the Hazelton | Toronto, Ontario

Located in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Toronto (Drake used to own a condo here), this luxe spa uses products from fancy-functional Swiss skin-care line Valmont. Choose from treatments for your face as well as your back, eyes, hands, décolletage, and feet. Another standout: The spa’s lacquer-free sports manicure and pedicure for runners, climbers, and anyone who wants nice-looking nails but knows chipped polish is unavoidable.

Courtesy of The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge

The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge | Whistler, BC

First, work out any tension in a HIIT class or on a hike along part of the 21-mile Valley Trail. Next, re-center yourself at Yoga Loka, which offers vinyasa, guided breathing, and meditation, and boasts the first yoga wall in Whistler. Then, unwind with the signature Kundalini treatment, which uses gentle massage and sound therapy to unlock the dormant female energy believed to lie coiled at the base of your spine. Finally, retreat to a rooftop tub overlooking a glacier-fed lake, the eucalyptus-fed steam room, or the airy, blanket-strewn relaxation lounge.

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