Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée

Review: The Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris

9 months ago

The ultimate solo spa day

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Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée

With Paris Fashion Week ahead, what better time to pay a visit to Paris’ most fashionable spa? But with new Dior Spas openings popping up across the globe and an ever-expanding wellness offering in the fashion capital, is the brand’s flagship still the destination du jour? Rebecca Cox reviews The Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris.

Review: The Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris

SPA

Since fashion is all about the new, the now, the necessary, first thing’s first, what are the latest offerings at this Parisian outpost that’s been open since 2008? The spa has had a complete facelift as well as the introduction of several buzzy new features following a full refurb in 2023. The brand new Dior Light Suite has been setting the spa scene, ahem, alight, with a treatment room featuring an LED studded ceiling that mimics natural light produced by the sun. Following a consultation the lights can be set to energising, relaxing or regenerating settings, promising a delivery of ‘sunlight’ to help realign body clocks (ideal for the jet-setting fashion pack), reduce stress or restore energy. The light treatments (/journeys/rituals, depending on how spa-y you’re feeling) can also be combined with any 90-minute-plus treatment for an enhanced experience.

Also new are the fitness studio and spa relaxation spaces, the latter of which will transport you instantly from the hustle and bustle of Paris and into a private Parisian palatial apartment, befitting of the Dior name. Cool white marble floors, mesmerising water features, cream upholstery, fresh flowers on stacks of fashion coffee table books (Dior, naturally) on every stand.

But which treatment to choose? Along with the light therapies, there is a full menu of facial and body treatments that use Dior’s luxe products, including, for those in need of serious rejuvenation, four three-hour face, mind and body rituals. We kept it simple with a signature body treatment, a 90-minute full body massage that used deep tissue motions to restore and revive even the tiredest muscles, which, combined with the energising lights of the Dior Light Suite left us feeling thoroughly revitalised.

As premium as the massage quality and brand fragrances is the setting, flawlessly decorated treatment rooms with ultra-soft massage beds and silk sheets topped with signature blue and white logo blankets, bright marble en-suites with fluffy Dior robes and jewellery boxes for storing trinkets while you are pampered. If a polite cough outside the door hadn’t reminded us that we couldn’t actually move in for good, we may have tried to.

SPA MENU

You can find the full Dior Spa at Hôtel Plaza Athénée treatment menu here.

Le Relais Plaza at Hôtel Plaza Athénée

FOOD & DRINK

Feeling thoroughly detoxed it is time for a retox (easy to find in Paris) and there’s no better place than upstairs at Plaza Athénée’s much-loved brasserie Le Relais Plaza. A popular spot to see and be seen (over excellent food) since its opening in 1936, like the Dior spa beneath it, Le Relais continuously evolves to remain in vogue. Chef Jean Imbert’s arrival in 2021 brought with it a culinary vision influenced by his grandmother and Parisian brasserie cuisine. The result: incredible French comfort food served up alongside an outstanding selection of fine wines. The chef’s signatures are the langoustine to start and the sea bream gratin, both of which are flawless. Just eat after, rather than before your massage, as you’ll want to roll back to your hotel for a snooze upon finishing.

THE FINAL WORD

The fashion pack will find a gap in even the busiest PFW schedule for a visit to this Dior flagship for some R&R. There are new and flashier outposts, yes, but none chicer, with a more timeless appeal, than this A-list favourite.