Best of Boston

Some say visiting a good day spa is so therapeutic it’s tantamount to regular trips to a shrink. If that’s the case, the relaxed, blissful feeling you’ll leave with after an afternoon at Bella Santé will seem like a breakthrough. Perched in a second-floor sanctuary above Newbury Street, the spa has a soothing beige décor and wonderfully quiet atmosphere (cell phones are verboten)—your first signals to relax. Then there are the treatments: facials so effective they’re like mini-facelifts, massages that melt away even the peskiest knots, body buffs, herbal wraps, and pedicures that last for months. The unassuming, easygoing staff is professional and subdue, just like the spa itself.