Pamper Yourself at Los Angeles' Best Day Spas

Los Angeles is brimming with movie stars and models, so, naturally, there are as many spas as there are Starbuckses in this city. Every avant-garde treatment you can think of, from caviar facials to life-sized capsules designed to jumpstart metabolism, can be found here in La-La Land, although there are plenty that offer the no-frills kind of services, too. So, the next time you're in LA, make like a local and pamper yourself at one of its many day spas.

Formerly known as the the Ritz-Carlton, the Langham Huntington still houses an 11,000-square-foot spa where you can find herbal steam rooms and a whirlpool. The treatments here are inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine (featuring a ginger and oil wrap, hot and cold stone therapy, and more). It's been a staple of LA for more than a century and just keeps getting more iconic with time.

There are spa options that don't actually cost a fortune, despite the many that do. An entire day at the Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, for instance, costs less than most massages you'd find at luxury hotels. A standard day pass will let you soak in the steamy Grotto, but facials and other services come with an extra fee.

Inside the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, the "Pink Lady"—as people call her—goes to work on her celebrity clientele: facials infused with platinum and diamonds, massages with caviar, and that sort of thing. La Prairie Spa prides itself mostly, though, on its anti-aging treatments. A day spent here would be the quintessential LA experience.

A Vitamin Therapy Facial and Jade Stone Massage is just what you'll need when you finish touring Paramount Studios, so good thing the Larchmont Sanctuary Day Spa is just next door. It's especially popular for its couples packages, including Date Night (a massage and champagne bath for two) and the Ultimate Romance package (aromatherapy, a salt scrub, and more).

Ole Henriksen is a celebrity skin care specialist whose client roster includes Renee Zellweger and Charlize Theron. His Face & Body Spa on Sunset Boulevard is where the stars come for elaborate facials and body treatments (contour wraps, honey body cocktails, and butt cheek microdermabrasion, to name a few).

Some come to Los Angeles for the glamour of the city; others come for the beach. One Spa at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica is not necessarily the epitome of Hollywood glam. Rather, it radiates a coastal, carefree kind of luxury right on the sand. The Mediterranean Hammam and Craniosacral treatments are house favorites.

Spa Le Merigot in Santa Monica is a beachfront day spa with relatively affordable prices, which is nearly impossible to find. It's housed in an outpost of JW Marriott Hotels, right down the road from the famous Santa Monica Pier. On the menu are the regular mainstays, plus back facials, messages for moms-to-be, mud scrubs, and waxing.

The spa that sits on the roof of The Peninsula Beverly Hills is where people go to get beautified. In addition to seven treatment rooms, The Peninsula Spa also has a blow out bar, a nail salon, and makeup studio. Its salt scrub is designed to do wonders for jet lag—just saying.

The Spa at Equinox in Century City's Hyatt Regency is not your average gym spa (because, well, Equinox is not your average gym). In fact, it's just as luxurious as any, and as big, too, featuring 18 treatment rooms, two Thai rooms, three facial rooms, three body treatment rooms, and a nail salon.

If an elegant environment is what you seek, The Spa at Four Seasons is practically dripping with chicness. It's not exactly easy to book one of its signature Surrender Massages or DNA Facials because of its extensive VIP client list, but if you can manage an appointment, your body will be grateful. Your wallet, however, will not.

Dr. Harry A. Glassman is a cosmetic surgeon to the stars. His Thibiant MedSpa in the heart of Beverly Hills is where folks go to ward off acne, rosacea, brown spots, and bad tattoos. The menu features about 40 treatments, ranging from Botox to chemical peels.

A day at Trilogy Spa in Manhattan Beach is a refreshing break from the city. Located in a quieter neighborhood than Beverly Hills and Hollywood, this day spa is a fun getaway for couples or a destination for solo pampering. The therapists will even teach you how to give a massage as part of the Massage-Your-Mate package.