Here are four of our favourite retreats across the Middle East
Thuraya Wellness, Habitas AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Thuraya Wellness within Habitas AlUla is the destinations quiet centre of gravity, designed for restoration in the middle of Ashar Valley’s sandstone drama. The purpose-built complex brings together a peaceful lounge and alchemy bar, dedicated spa treatment rooms, a fitness centre, an outdoor wellness agora and a yoga studio, so guests can move seamlessly from movement to recovery in one place.
Treatments draw on regional botanicals and time-honoured Middle Eastern practices. Signature therapies feature all-natural, locally inspired ingredients (think moringa peregrina, frankincense and mastika) alongside warm AlUla stones to encourage deep relaxation. Facials and body rituals also incorporate staples such as date, oat, lavender and mineral-rich clays for skin resilience and glow.
Beyond the treatment menu, Thuraya’s daily rhythm includes yoga, meditation and mindful fitness sessions, with the gym fitted for guests who want to maintain cardio and strength training while away. The interiors of the property are built from glass, w,ood and stone and blend harmoniously into the desert. Meanwhile, the outdoor agora hosts breathwork or stretching as the cliffs change colour at dusk. It’s a thoughtful balance of contemporary wellness with Saudi influences, made for guests who value both ritual and results. For guests building an AlUla itinerary around recovery, bookable sessions can also be paired with pool time or sunset yoga to create a compact, restorative circuit.
ourhabitas.com/alula/wellness/
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai, UAE
The property’s Timeless Spa is at the heart of the Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, offering, a quiet sanctuary framed by palms and open desert views inside the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The spa’s menu blends regionally resonant ingredients with results-driven therapies.
Highlights include the Sodashi Oud Renewal Therapy, designed to ease muscular tension while supporting detox and skin radiance, and the Al Maha Body Journey, which uses figs, dates and essential oils for exfoliation before a soothing massage and a fresh dates-and-milk foot mask. Facilities help guests truely reset at this desert retreat, alongside the treatment rooms, there is a jacuzzi, steam and sauna, a fitness space and the main infinity pool, creating a straightforward route from recovery to relaxation without leaving the complex.
Wellness at Al Maha also continues in-suite. Each of the 42 villas has a private, temperature-controlled pool and generous deck space for stretching or unwinding in privacy, with desert views that make sunrise mobility or sunset breathing sessions feel unforced. Set within the UAE’s first national park, the resort’s nature-led rhythm complements a programme that prioritises calm, restoration and a sense of place.
marriott.com/es/hotels/dxbam-al-maha-a-luxury-collection-desert-resort-and-spa-dubai/overview
Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea is nestled with the Alnesai desert with a 3,974-square-metre, two-storey spa designed for results as much as retreat. The upper level houses a fitness suite with desert views and classes from spin to aerial and traditional yoga. Below, treatment rooms connect to a wet zone with a vitality pool, infrared salt sauna, steam, cold plunge and relaxation areas.
Facilities also include a single hammam, outdoor cabanas, a sensory suite with meditation dome, a Holistic Anti-Ageing Centre, hair and nail salon, male barber, Biohacking area, Alchemy Bar and Juice Bar. Local notes, such as frankincens,e bring Saudi character to the journey. Programming follows the Six Senses personalised approach. Non-invasive screenings, skin analysis and smart-tech biohacking inform tailored plans across core tracks, including Fitness, Sleep, Detox, Weight Management and Discover Yoga, combining movement, therapies, nutrition and recovery to sustain gains beyond the stay.
Meanwhile, treatment highlights range from Desert Bliss on a warm quartz sand bed to a Traditional Date Seed Hammam that uses antioxidant-rich date kernels for full-body exfoliation, and Biologique Recherche’s Triple Lift facial for contouring and tone. Hands-on Alchemy Bar workshops teach guests to blend clean skincare, drawing on the region’s spice-route heritage. The wider resort context strengthens the proposition. As the first hotel to open at The Red Sea in 2023, the property celebrates Nabataean heritage and desert ecology, while the central Oasis canopy and pool areas create an easy loop between movement, treatment and downtime.
sixsenses.com/en/hotels-resorts/middle-east-africa/saudi-arabia/southern-dunes-the-red-sea
Qasr Al Sarab by Anantara, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara is shaped by its dramatic setting within Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter. Situated in the world’s largest uninterrupted sand desert, the property is the perfect spot to switch off, rest and rejuvenate through targeted treatments at the Anantara Spa and its dedicated Wellness Centre. The spa blends Arabian rituals with Thai wellness practices inside light-filled treatment spaces that face the dunes. Biologique Recherche facials are offered on an exclusive basis at the resort, alongside Moroccan hammam rituals and desert-inspired massages. The positioning is restorative, with therapies adapted to individual needs. The property also offers five noteworthy experiences which are worth booking in during your stay at the property.
There is a guided Desert Ice Bath provides cold-immersion therapy to support circulation, muscle recovery and nervous system calm within the Wellness Centre.
A Biologique Recherche Soin Oxygénant VIP O2 facial which targets hydration and radiance, using formulations tailored to each guest. An Arabian Desert Rose Ritual which offers a four-hour sequence that layers a desert sand scrub, rhassoul clay mask and milky rose bath with a full-body massage and a Biologique Recherche facial for a comprehensive reset.
A Rub’ al Khali Healing Sand Bath draws on Bedouin tradition, using the heat and minerals of the desert sands to ease muscular and joint discomfort before a cooling mask is applied. And finally the Qasr Al Sarab Royal Hammam, which delivers a private steam, traditional exfoliation and mineral-rich clay application, completed with a calming back massage to aid circulation and lymphatic support.
