The 10 best spas in Chicago

This list covers the spas worth planning a day around in and near Chicago, from Five-Star hotel spas above the Magnificent Mile to a Wicker Park bathhouse that has been heating up since 1906 and a Korean-style spa in Niles that never closes. This guide is for residents who want a reset close to home and for visitors deciding between a thermal circuit and a massage.

The list favors places where the ticket buys more than a treatment room: saunas, steam rooms, cold plunges and pools you can linger in. Prices run from a $50 all-day bathhouse pass to $250 and up for an hourlong massage at the downtown hotel spas, and several add automatic service charges of 22 to 23.5 percent.

How we chose

The list is ranked. Order came down to how consistently each spa showed up across independent coverage, including Time Out Chicago’s spa guide, WBEZ’s 2025 sauna roundup, Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 ratings and USA TODAY 10Best’s 2025 readers’ poll, then to how long each has operated and how much a visit includes beyond the treatment itself. Spas that let you soak, sweat and cool down for hours placed above those that sell treatment time only. Addresses, hours and prices were checked against each business’s own website in September 2026.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

AIRE Ancient Baths

Set in the basement of a restored 1902 factory in River West, AIRE Ancient Baths runs a candlelit circuit of pools at different temperatures, from an ice plunge to a saltwater float pool, plus a steam room and an outdoor bath you reach by swimming through a waterfall. Book the 90-minute Ancient Baths session, listed at $175 on AIRE’s site, or pair the baths with a massage if the budget allows. The size of the bath circuit and a national readers’ poll nod put AIRE first. Reserve early for weekends, which sell out first, and pack a swimsuit, since one is required.

Hours: Mon 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Tue-Wed 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thu 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fri-Sun 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Address: 800 W Superior St, Chicago, IL 60642

Why they made the list

• AIRE opened in late November 2017, and the Chicago location covers almost 20,000 square feet, the largest in the Spanish company’s network.
• USA TODAY 10Best readers ranked AIRE No. 10 among U.S. day spas in the 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards.
• Adding a 60-minute Ancient Relaxing Massage to the baths costs $300, and staff schedule the massage within your session rather than at a time you pick.
• Valet parking is $35, and the Blue Line’s Chicago and Grand stations are the closest L stops.

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The St. Regis Spa Chicago

Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 ratings list just one Five-Star spa in the city: The St. Regis Spa Chicago, on the 10th floor of The St. Regis Chicago overlooking the river. Book the 60-minute Relaxation massage, $250 Monday through Thursday or $275 Friday through Sunday, with a scent you pick at the spa’s scent bar and French Sothys products. Show up 30 minutes early, because a booked treatment includes the steam room, dry sauna and Iridium lounge for the day. The Five-Star rating earns second place, behind only AIRE’s far larger bath circuit. Budget for the 23 percent service charge added to every treatment.

Hours: Daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 401 E Wacker Dr, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601

Why they made the list

• The 12,000-square-foot wellness floor includes an indoor pool that looks out toward Lake Michigan and Navy Pier.
• A 25-minute sound bath with guided meditation costs $145 Monday through Thursday.
• Guests must be 18 or older to use the relaxation, locker and hydrotherapy areas.
• Phones and cameras are banned throughout the spa to protect guests’ privacy.

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Chuan Spa at The Langham

Guests pass through a moon gate and get a cup of hot herbal tea before anything else at Chuan Spa, on the fourth floor of The Langham, Chicago. Treatments follow the Five Elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine. Book the 60-minute Chuan Balancing Massage, $260, which works acupressure into the massage, and arrive early for the herbal sauna, the Himalayan salt stone sauna, the steam room, the hot tub and the 67-foot pool. Readers’ poll recognition two years running and a Forbes Four-Star rating put Chuan third. Driving? Parking validation costs $30 for up to four hours.

Hours: Daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 330 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• USA TODAY 10Best readers ranked Chuan Spa No. 4 among U.S. hotel spas in the 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards, a second straight year on the list.
• Time Out Chicago’s December 2025 guide to the city’s spas put Chuan Spa at the top.
• An automatic 23.5 percent service charge is added to each treatment at checkout.
• The menu also covers cupping, acupuncture and gua sha alongside massages, wraps and facials.

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King Spa & Sauna

Nine themed saunas, built with materials such as charcoal, amethyst, Himalayan salt and 23K gold, fill the co-ed floor at King Spa & Sauna, a Korean-style spa in Niles that stays open around the clock. Admission is $75 at the door. Book a traditional Korean body scrub in the gender-separated bathhouse, then eat at the on-site restaurant, which serves Korean and American dishes, juices and smoothies. A full day of heat for less than a third of the price of an hourlong hotel massage explains the No. 4 spot. Bring a government-issued ID, because every guest needs one.

Hours: Open 24 hours daily; no entry from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Address: 809 Civic Center Dr, Niles, IL 60714

Why they made the list

• The Fire Sudatorium, which King Spa bills as the world’s hottest sauna, runs at 390 degrees Fahrenheit.
• The spa’s site was advertising a $45 e-coupon day pass in late September 2026, and overnight guests pay an extra $20.
• Minors must be at least 8 years old and come with a guardian of the same gender.
• The bathhouse areas with hot tubs, steam rooms and cold plunges require nudity, while the saunas and lounges are co-ed with spa clothes provided.

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The Peninsula Spa

High above Superior Street, The Peninsula Spa takes up the 19th and 20th floors of The Peninsula Chicago, with a menu shaped by Ayurvedic and Asian traditions. Book the Jade Hot Stone Massage, then spend time in the half-Olympic-size indoor pool, whose floor-to-ceiling windows face the skyline, or out on the sundeck, a rare perk downtown. A Forbes Four-Star rating and a spot on Time Out Chicago’s spa lists since at least 2008 put The Peninsula fifth. Call ahead for current rates, and note that non-hotel guests need at least two hours of services to use the pool, according to Forbes Travel Guide.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 108 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• Forbes Travel Guide describes a 15,000-square-foot spa with eight treatment rooms and about 15 facials.
• The Purva Karma treatment uses two therapists working at once with Ayurvedic herbs.
• Treatments are for guests 18 and older, though facials are open to guests 16 and up.
• Time Out Chicago’s December 2025 guide singled out the lounge, with single beds tucked behind draped curtains.

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Chicago Bath House

People have been sweating at 1914 W Division St since 1906, and Chicago Bath House keeps the Russian-style sauna going in Wicker Park, with a cold pool, a full bar and a restaurant. A $50 adult day pass covers a robe, towels and slippers. Book the traditional platza, $50 for 15 to 20 minutes with bundled oak, birch or eucalyptus branches soaked in hot water. The price, the history and walk-in sauna access put the bathhouse at No. 6. Bring a swimsuit for the co-ed areas and plan to stay a while, since the pass has no re-entry.

Hours: Mon-Thu 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m. to midnight; Sat 7 a.m. to midnight; Sun 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Address: 1914 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• The bathhouse ran for decades as the Division Street Russian Baths and later traded as Red Square before becoming Chicago Bath House.
• Saul Bellow wrote the baths into his novel Humboldt’s Gift, as the Sun-Times noted in 2023.
• The Signature Russian/Turkish Platza, $85, adds a soap scrub and a short massage over 30 to 35 minutes.
• Children under 12 get in for $25 with an adult.

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Kohler Waters Spa at Lincoln Park

Water is the whole idea at Kohler Waters Spa at Lincoln Park, a 20,000-square-foot spa in the Lincoln Common development on Lincoln Avenue. Any booked service includes all-day use of the thermal suite: a co-ed sauna, a eucalyptus steam room, a cool plunge pool and a hydromassage pool designed by Kohler’s own water experts. Book Lavender Rain, the signature 50-minute scrub and rinse under a custom Vichy shower, from $250. That all-day hydrotherapy circuit is why Kohler ranks seventh, ahead of spas that sell treatment time only. Arrive at least 45 minutes early, and expect to lock your phone away.

Hours: Mon-Sat 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Sun 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Address: 2358 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Why they made the list

• The spa opened on October 11, 2019, as Kohler’s first Chicago location.
• A 22 percent service gratuity is added automatically at check-in.
• The Lincoln Common garage at 2316 N Lincoln Ave validates the first 90 minutes of parking.
• Guests must be at least 16, and weekend and holiday rates run higher than weekday prices.

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The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

Skincare is the draw at The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, set above the Magnificent Mile on Delaware Place. The spa works with 111Skin and Omorovicza, and the Black Diamond Facial uses 111Skin products with retinol and fine diamond particles. For bodywork, book the 80-minute Mariposa Massage, which moves from dry brushing to cryo stones and heated poultices. A Forbes Four-Star rating and the hotel’s infinity-edge pool earn a place here; thinner independent coverage than the hotel spas above leaves the spa at No. 8. Prices are not posted online, so call before you book.

Hours: Spa treatments 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 120 E Delaware Pl, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• Forbes Travel Guide rates the spa Four-Star in the guide’s 2026 ratings.
• The indoor pool is 44 feet long, and adults have the pool to themselves on Friday and Saturday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m.
• Time Out Chicago’s December 2025 guide listed Himalayan salt stone massage and seasonal body treatments on the menu.
• Couples treatments are on the menu for two people booking together.

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Allyu Spa

An escalator down to the Riverwalk level at Chicago Avenue and Larrabee Street leads to Allyu Spa, an independent day spa named for the Quechua word for community. Book the 60-minute massage, $140, which the therapist tailors anywhere from pure relaxation to injury work, and settle in first in the tented relaxation area shaped like a chakana, a South American sacred symbol. Fair prices and a run at the same address since at least 2008 put Allyu at No. 9. There are no communal locker rooms, so reserve a private shower if you want one, and bring cash for the tip.

Hours: Mon-Fri 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Address: 600 W Chicago Ave, Riverwalk Level, Chicago, IL 60654

Why they made the list

• Time Out Chicago listed Allyu at 600 W Chicago Ave in a 2008 spa roundup and still included the spa in a December 2025 guide.
• The spa validates parking for $4 for up to three hours at the 811 N Larrabee St garage.
• A 90-minute hot stone massage costs $240.
• Cancellations need at least six business hours’ notice to avoid a 50 percent fee.

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Ruby Room

Massage with a side of tarot is the draw at Ruby Room, which Kate Leydon founded in Wicker Park in 2002. Every session opens with what the spa calls an Essence Reading, a few minutes of intuitive assessment before the work begins. Book the Enerssage, a custom massage mixed with energy healing, from $150 for 60 or 90 minutes; first-timers get steered to the 60-minute Intuitive Blend of reading, tarot and energy work. A 24-year run and a menu unlike anything else here earn the last spot. Take the Blue Line to Division, about a four-minute walk away.

Hours: Wed-Thu 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Mon-Tue.

Address: 1743 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• Tarot and oracle readings start at $65 for 30 minutes and can be done in person or over Zoom.
• Time Out Chicago’s December 2025 spa guide pointed to crystal exfoliation and cold stone add-ons for facials and massages.
• Facials use Arcona’s organic fruit enzyme products.
• Late cancellations inside 24 hours are charged in full, with one free reschedule allowed.

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Also worth knowing

North of the city, Sky Spa & Sauna in Buffalo Grove packs five saunas, two Himalayan salt caves, a saltwater pool and an outdoor pool heated to 84 degrees all year into a 16,000-square-foot building. WBEZ put a day pass at $49 in March 2025; the spa’s own site does not list prices, so call ahead.

In the Gold Coast, Waldorf Astoria Spa & Health Club covers more than 14,000 square feet inside Waldorf Astoria Chicago, with an indoor heated lap pool and a Forbes Four-Star rating. Prices are not listed on the hotel’s spa page, so call (312) 646-1310 before booking the Himalayan salt stone massage.

Frequently asked questions

Which of the best spas in Chicago let you stay all day?

Chicago Bath House sells a $50 adult day pass with no re-entry, and King Spa & Sauna in Niles charges $75 at the door and stays open 24 hours, with no entry from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. At Kohler Waters Spa at Lincoln Park, any booked service includes all-day use of the thermal suite.

Is there a Korean spa near Chicago?

King Spa & Sauna at 809 Civic Center Dr in Niles is a Korean-style spa with nine themed saunas, gender-separated bathhouses and a restaurant serving Korean and American dishes. Admission is $75 at the door, and minors must be at least 8 years old.

How much does a day spa in Chicago cost?

A 60-minute massage runs $140 at Allyu Spa in River North and $250 Monday through Thursday at The St. Regis Spa Chicago, where a 23 percent service charge is added. For water rather than bodywork, AIRE Ancient Baths lists a 90-minute bath session at $175.

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