The best places in paris to get a massage and pampering

The brainchild of Algerian-born Karima Lasfar, O'Kari offers everything you'd expect from an Oriental hammam (women only, FYI). The place is clean, calm (as you'd expect of a spa) and offers a wonderfully indulgent experience, starting with the thick pearl-white bathrobe you're given upon entry. Even the changing rooms have all the trappings of luxury: comfy slippers, discreet lockers and enough towels to dry a herd of hippos.

After a spot of pampering you're led into the hammam proper, where your skin is pinched, spanked and smeared in Aleppo soap during massage. Then comes the icing on the cake: a glorious soak in a large bath surrounded by large clay amphoras, where an obliging attendant serves fresh lemonade.

With two Michelin-starred restaurants, sumptuous gardens, a cigar room and their own hairdressers, it's only right that the five-star Le Bristol also has a stellar spa. Run by La Prairie, this extremely elegant bolthole – with marble floors, lush green palms and the fanciest cucumber water you've ever tasted – offers everything from the extravagant (white caviar facials) to the essentials (manicures). All of which is perfectly topped off by cocktails in Le Bristol bar.

This cute little haven of relaxation is situated just off Boulevard de la Chapelle. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but inside is, as the name indicates, an oasis of calm. Lots of wood, low communal seating and a black-and-white decor scheme give it an Oriental feel. As do all the well-placed interior plants. There are areas to hang around in hammocks, get a massage or stroke the house cat, but the real draw of this place is the floatation tanks. Each one is in an individual cabin, so if you don't like the idea of being confined in a space-age capsule, but you do want to float your cares away – this is the place for you.

There's no denying that the George V is serious about luxury: chandeliers, glorious flower arrangements and ludicrously comfortable beds in some of the largest rooms in all of Paris. So it stands to reason that the in-house, Versailles-inspired spa would live up to any preconceptions you might have. Services include whirlpools, saunas and a menu of treatments for an unabashedly metrosexual clientele. And you don't have to be a guest there; members of the public can book in too and, trust us, it's worth every cent.

Perhaps wooden cabins and safari-style tents don't scream luxury, but when they're situated beneath stone vaulted ceilings they certainly do. We're of course describing Spa Nuxe, which offers massages and skin treatments that make excellent use of Nuxe's gentle, plant-based products. The 'facials', for which you undress entirely, begin with a brief foot, tummy and neck message to ensure total relaxation.

Founded in 2006, Passage du Désir is a veritable 'lovestore' and pampering palace. Seedy sex shop this certainly is not! 'Intimate health and wellbeing' is their motto – meaning things like dietary supplements to give your libido a boost and sexologists on-hand to offer advice. That doesn't mean that you can't still get hold of willy-shaped pasta and his-and-hers sex toys (including a dildo that plugs into your i-pod and vibrates to the rhythm of your music) here, but you won't feel even the least bit shady walking into this joint. Grab some essential supplies to take home and create your own personal pleasure zone.