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Maryland Spa Guide: The Best Spas in Baltimore

Baltimore, MD. [Photo credit: Brendan Beale]

A city whose nickname speaks to its charm and hospitality, Baltimore is unsurprisingly the home to several wellness havens and spas that demonstrate why Baltimore is Charm City. With a healthy mix of traditional and cutting-edge treatments, the city has a diverse mix of spas from luxury hotel spas to intimate day spas.

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From a wellness retreat set on a lake to a center of services focused on men, Baltimore has spas that promote well-being, health, beauty and relaxation. Check out our Maryland spa guide to discover the best spas in Baltimore for the ultimate day of self-care.

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If you’re looking for the best deals on flights to Baltimore, click here.

Art of Balance Wellness Spa at The Ritz-Carlton Residences

801 Key Highway, Unit 821, Baltimore, MD 21230; (443) 424-4080

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A full-service aesthetics and wellness spa, Art of Balance Wellness Spa takes a luxury approach to helping guests tap into mindfulness and to pursue holistic wellness. They describe their “core pillars of personal transformation” as being modern aesthetics, wellness therapies, and spa experiences—all pathways to finding a balance of body, mind, and spirit. They are located in the Spa at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Inner Harbor Baltimore.

Modern aesthetics treatments include fillers and injectables, body contouring, laser treatments, chemical peels, acne treatments, lip injections, and radiofrequency skin tightening. Plastic surgery is available for both medical and aesthetic purposes. Trained medical professionals consult with guests and provide all services in this category.

Wellness therapies include weight management, halotherapy, IV nutrient therapy, B12 injections, and fitness coaching. Spa treatments include skin care, massage therapy, and body treatments. The spa also offers couples and group experiences ranging from “Bubbles and Botox” to sensory creation experiences where a team member guides a guest in herbology and creating a unique blend for their body’s needs.

Even Keel Wellness Spa 

3600 O’Donnell Street, Suite 100, Baltimore, MD 21224; (410) 862-0928

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Since 2003, Even Keel Wellness Spa has sought to boost the wellness of its clients, working with their doctors and trainers to create a program that helps them find optimal wellness. The spa’s environment is one of “calm, comfort, and whimsy” according to their website and they mix Eastern and Western modalities to find the best of both worlds.

They have created what they call a “calmness-centered menu” where relaxation takes priority. In October, both their Baltimore and Annapolis locations offer a “Calm for a Cure” where complimentary services, activities, and pampering are available to anyone battling cancer. In Baltimore, they also offer rooftop yoga.

Services include massage, facials, spray tanning, dry float, lashes, body contouring, body treatments, LED light therapy, and permanent jewelry. Massages start with a health screening and postural analysis so the massage therapist can create a customized massage using Swedish, deep tissue, facilitated stretching, and neuromuscular work.

Massage services include couples, pre-natal, CBD, lymphatic drainage, cupping, Shiatsu Shin Tai, myofascial release, sports massage, reflexology, bamboo massage, Reiki, scalp massage, sticks and stones massage, and celluma light therapy.

Skincare incorporates plant-based treatments with high-performance specialty products and LED light therapy. Facial enhancements include cupping, bamboo, hot stone, Reiki, hot towel massages, and foot scrubs. The Baltimore spa is the only place in Maryland that offers dry float therapy. Also known as zero-gravity therapy, it gives clients the sensation of floating on a specially designed bed. Body treatments include vajacials, booty treatments, and body wraps.

Massage Envy 

727 W. 40th Street, Suite 108, Baltimore, MD 21211; (410) 387-2555

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A nationwide wellness franchise, Massage Envy provides clients with massage, facials, and stretching services—all designed to promote whole-body wellness. Their stated mission is to help guests keep their body working through an accessible daily wellness routine. Their core corporate values are optimism, gratitude, excellence, consistency, and empathy. Since opening their first location in 2002, they now have 1,000 locations in 49 states.

They stress the difference between feeling better and living better, and customize massages to help their clients live better. They incorporate a catalytic process to wake up muscles and use generous amounts of lotion that is paraben and sulfate-free.

Techniques include Swedish, trigger point, deep tissue, and sports massage. Enhancements include a skin serum boost, aromatherapy, exfoliating hand and foot scrubs, CBD cream, hot stones, enhanced muscle therapy, and percussion therapy.

Stretching services are designed to promote flexibility and use what they call the Streto Method. This involves a top-down technique, chiropractic influences, and a personalized approach. It can also include percussion therapy and Kinesiology tape. Skincare services include customized facials, chemical peels, microderm infusion, back facials, and light treatments.  

Ojas Massage and Skin Care

1423 Clarkview Rd. #400, Baltimore, MD 21209; (410) 664-6527

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Kelly Wilkes, owner and founder of Ojas Massage and Skin Care with four locations throughout Maryland, wants to make it easier for people to take care of their health and wellness. A massage therapist and yoga instructor who had a life-changing encounter with Reiki, Wilkes founded Ojas in 2003 with a goal to “make clients weep with joy, choose power over pain, and thrive, not merely exist.”

An award-winning spa, they promote the circle of wellness in which the healed become healers. Treatments include massage therapy and skin care. Their four basic massages include custom wellness, pregnancy, Reiki energy healing, and cupping. Therapists all engage in continuous education to be able to bring advanced techniques into the massage room. Enhancements do not cost extra and all massages include aromatherapy, warm stones, and hot towel treatments.

Skincare starts with their customized facial experiences that include natural skincare products with organic ingredients. These facials can focus on different needs such as age-related concerns, detoxifying and clarifying, brightening and repairing, and soothing and calming.

They also offer customized options such as SWiCH dermal rejuvenation, oxygen treatments, gentlemen’s facials, pregnancy facials, and resurfacing enzyme treatments. They also offer hydrafacials and waxing.

The Pearl Modern Spa and Boutique

10275 Little Patuxent Parkway Suite 102, Columbia, Maryland 21044; (301) 835-1651

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The Pearl Modern Spa and Boutique is a 27,000-square-foot wellness retreat built on Lake Kitamaquandi. Just as every pearl is unique, so they believe that every person is unique and has distinct needs that can benefit from healing modalities rooted in nature and international traditional remedies.

Offering a range of wellness services and classes, there are three lakefront studios, a spa area, two separate lounges (one for socializing and one for relaxing in solitude and quiet), and a therapeutic healing waters area that includes an indoor relaxation pool, hot tub, cold plunge, steam room, a vitamin C rain shower, and crystal salt room. Private saunas are available in each of the locker rooms.

Their spa treatments combine ancient rituals and opulent ingredients under the watchful, hands-on attention of professionals. The treatment menu focuses on therapeutic facial treatments, manicures and pedicures, massage, holistic body therapies, wellness and energy therapies, waxing, and tinting.

Mindfulness classes and wellness workshops focus on many forms of yoga, fitness, barre, Pilates, meditation, sound healing, and breathwork journeys.

The QG

31 S. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202; (410) 685-7428

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All genders are welcome at The QG but it caters to men, providing a one-stop location that provides everything they need to look their best including a barbershop, spa, tailor, and clothier in downtown Baltimore. The site also has a speakeasy that pours pre-Prohibition style cocktails and food.

The spa focuses on facials and massages. Facials include traditional treatments, hydrafacials, and PCA peels. They also offer a targeted facial for people in a hurry with just one specific need such as blackhead relief, in-grown hair treatment, eye rescue, or an exfoliating peel. Back facials are available. Massage modalities include Swedish and deep-tissue table massages, cupping, and prenatal massages.

Guests have the option to add on hot stones, aromatherapy, and CBD oils. The barbershop provides services for men seeking a professional look including such options as a straight razor shave, a barber facial, a scalp massage, skin fades, and beard trims.

Simple Wellness 

519 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201; (410) 483-WELL

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Located in the historic Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore, Simple Wellness melds the holistic art and science of wellness to promote external and internal beauty. Founded by Baltimore native Angela Beard-Hardy, she created a place where her expertise in the field of natural hair and holistic wellness could help others. A health and lifestyle coach, holistic hair stylist, kinesiologist, and nutrition counselor, Beard-Hardy once hosted a talk show called “Total Empowerment” and still delivers talks on the subject.

Guests can choose from a chair or table massage. Table massages combine deep tissue, Swedish, acupressure, myofascial, sports, lymph, cranial sacral, and trigger point with guests able to choose between hot towels, stone (hot or cold) therapy or aromatherapy.

Other options include a migraine prevention massage, couples massage, CBD-enhanced massage, and reflexology. Wellness services include advanced kinesiology, ionic foot detox baths, trichology, Zyto scans, and functional nutrition counseling.

Spa Adagio

317 S. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231; (410) 558-1185

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Spa Adagio founder Regina Schneider invites people to slow down, relax, and rejuvenate their life. It’s why she chose the Italian word for “slowly” as the name of the spa. A sleep-study nurse and massage therapist, she invites clients to a consultation with her for which services will best enhance their lives. She offers unique sleep services along with massage therapy, exercising, stretching and relaxation techniques—all offered as part of a personal recommendation and wellness program.

Spa services include facials, body treatments, and massages. Many of the services are offered as packages such as The Sweetheart, which includes a warm body peel, a rain shower, a back and leg massage, a Go-and-Glow Vacation Facial, and a snack of cheese and crackers.

The Spa Queen includes an Ayurvedic herbal massage with oils and hot stones, the Deluxe Queen Facial, face massage, and time in a private suite wearing a robe, sipping champagne, and nibbling on charcuterie board snacks.

Other services focus on services for men or will combine services for couples or friends. Drawing on Regina’s sleep expertise, they also offer Itamar WatchPAT, a sleep-screening device, and analysis of the data it provides.

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore

200 International Drive, Baltimore, MD 21202; (410) 223-1440

The Four Seasons has always been about personalized luxury and at The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, they are committed to taking care of each guest’s physical body and spiritual wellness. The Spa’s 10,000 square feet is home to treatment rooms, a sauna, gender-separate relaxation lounges, heated lounge chairs, a whirlpool, steam room, and rainforest showers. They invite guests to take a nap in their relaxation lounge, basking in the sun shining through the windows overlooking the harbor.

They’ve curated several unique experiences that have become favorites among their guests. One of these is a Night Spa where two people can reserve exclusive use of the spa that includes a candle-light soak, snacks and champagne, and a couple’s massage. Other favorites include customized facials and sound healing with their healer-in-residence.

All spa services are designed to provide a one-of-a-kind luxury experience. Signature Moments services allow guest to choose from rituals that promote indulgence, grounding, pausing, and restful sleep. Signature services are offered for facials, massages, and body scrubs.

Facials include hydrafacials, traditional facials, and scientifically advanced skincare treatments in their Skin Lab. Bespoke experiences include thalassotherapy, oncology massages, myofascial massages, and ocean-related body treatments.

The Spa at the Ivy 

205 E. Biddle Street, Baltimore, MD; (410) 514-6500

The staff at The Spa at The Ivy invite their guests to relax in luxury within their walls. A sanctuary tucked away on the second floor of The Ivy Hotel, it is a place where they are guided by the principles of natural health and vitality.

They welcome guests to choose from their menu of services, but they also offer each guest a personalized treatment based on a conversation with the therapist. For those who don’t want to travel to the spa, they’ll send therapists to guest rooms for in-room massages.

Spa Profile: The Spa at The Ivy

Massage options include custom massages, Ayurvedic facial massages, pre-natal massages, and probiotic massages with enhancements such as basalt hot stones, Himalayan salt stones, deep tissue, and Antara oil available. Body rituals offer a range of scents and lotions for exfoliation, body wraps, scalp treatments, and foot treatments.

Their facial studio has options such as Biologique Recherche, back facials, gentleman’s facials, and Naturopathic facials, with add-ons including hand or foot quench, targeted back exfoliation, lip treatments, scalp treatments, eye treatments, LED light therapy, NuFace lifting and toning, and extractions.

Zina’s Day Spa and Salon

2832 O’Donnell Street, Baltimore, MD 21224; (410) 342-2077

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A salon and spa that wants each guest to feel relaxed and pampered, Zina’s Day Spa & Salon has won such awards as “Best Massage” in the “Best of Baltimore” issue of “Baltimore Magazine” and “Best Bikini Wax” by CBS Baltimore. For wedding parties, they have a private suite where a group can gather while getting their hair and makeup done or receiving massages and facials.

Services include massages, body treatments, facials, skin treatments, nail care, waxing services, and hair and beauty services. They have a variety of spa packages from a 2.5-hour sampler to a full seven hours that includes a massage, citrus body exfoliation, European facial, sauna access, manicure and pedicure, and champagne and chocolates. Other packages focus on relaxation, beauty, men, executive escapes, prenatal pampering, groom’s escape and bridal’s day out, teens, and couples.

Zina’s also invites their clients to be part of the spa squad by signing up for a monthly membership where they can choose from four different services each month and get discounts on other services and products.

[Photos courtesy of spas and resorts]

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Bridgette, who is a second-generation journalist, fell in love with spas and travel while working as a writer and editor for 16 years at the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. As a freelancer for the International SPA Association, she co-wrote two textbooks, nine workbooks, and numerous case studies on spas. Her freelance career began in the 80s and she has written for publications in Michigan, Arizona, California, and Texas along with several regional and national publications. She is a committed storyteller who loves sharing narratives which improve people's quality of life and build community. Born and raised in Michigan, she currently lives in Lansing with her husband and son. See more of her writing at bridgetteredman.com.