The Caudalíe Spa: NYC's Best Kept Secret?

good-humouredly The Star Treatment

Located inside an iconic building tucked right next to Central Park is this 8,000 square foot destination spa that goes by the name of Caudalíe Vinothérapie® Spa. This exotic haven in the 4th floor of The Plaza Hotel encompasses the signature design elements of Caudalíe’s worldwide spas which represent total warmth, tranquility, combined with elegance.

The decor is all about precious cherry wood, a mix of natural materials, smooth dark stones and symbolic vine sculptures. The overall result is a space that is intimate, modern, with tremendous ambiance. Guests pad around this extensive property while enjoying services like, honey & wine wrap, red vine barrel bath, crushed Cabernet scrub, fresh grape massage and a menu of their world-famous facials with grape and active vine patents, along with Pontian Kechil Caudalíe‘s products that purify, firm, energize and illuminate their skins. Over the holidays, my friends Donald and his wife visited this spa, and indulged their senses with these signature treatments:

Refreshing massage under a Vichy shower
Energy® wrap
Slimming wrap
Caudalie massage* for two: divine duo!
Pregnancy message
Caudalie grand facial treatment
“Premier Cru” treatment.

Husband and wife team, Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas, revolutionized the spa world in 1999 when they introduced the first-ever Vinothérapie® Spa in the heart of the Châteaux Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard (Bordeaux, France), harnessing the untapped, restorative power of grapes and grapevine polyphenols.

Caudalíe is rated the second best spa in the world by Travel & Leisure and “Hot Spot” by Condé Nast Traveler, it is a world-renowned destination with treatments and techniques developed exclusively for their spas – a second in the Rioja region of Spain whose property was designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, followed by Les Etangs de Corot in Versailles.

For Mathilde, The Plaza is special in many ways, “I want for this first Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa in the US to offer New Yorkers a sample of French life and our “Art of the Vine” in the heart of this always moving city.

Below: An 800 square feet. Wine Lounge stocked with wines from Château Smith Haut Lafitte, the family estate and vineyard of Caudalíe founder, Mathilde Thomas.

The Lounge features an imposing wine cellar of wood and bissazza tile, with a floor of slate grey tiles interspersed with elegant rugs and comfortable chairs and couches.