Verbena Spa at Austin Proper Hotel
Slipping into Verbena Spa at Austin Proper Hotel feels like a warm embrace after escaping the buzzing downtown energy surrounding the building. The fourth-floor spa and fitness center, like the rest of the hotel, was conceptualized by influential West Coast designer Kelly Wearstler, who uses natural materials and earth tones as her palette.
Each of the five treatment rooms, plus a cozy, soothing lounge, is swathed in tactile textures like burlap, cotton, linen and natural wood. Men’s and women’s locker rooms feature spacious steam showers and vanity areas are stocked with Aesop’s line of botanical products and bedecked in stone, marble and brass details. The adjacent sunlit fitness center, which looks out onto Austin’s Second Street District, is filled with a collection of state-of-the-art equipment fit for a luxury resort and makes working out look almost as enticing as relaxing.
But relaxing will be inevitable once you step inside Verbena, and after you complete your treatment and take a long steam shower, you might just not want to leave.
- The spa’s wellness bar welcomes you upon arrival with a spread of delightful treats and drinks like CBD tea, housemade vegan blueberry muffins, cucumber rosemary water and chlorophyll water.
- A spacious 2,000-square-foot, 24/7 fitness center features state-of-the-art strength training, weights and cardio equipment like Tonal machines, Woodway treadmills, Peloton stationary bikes, rowing machines and a Pilates studio. Guests also have access to outdoor classes, including yoga and boot camp and private wellness sessions.
- The Austin spa uses top-of-the-line luxury beauty products like Monastery Made cleansers and serums, Saint Jane Beauty CBD skincare, Antara Organics CBD products and Namari’s highly concentrated vegan skincare. All are also available for purchase in the spa shop.
- The Tequila, The Proper Way treatment starts with a sip of Austin-based LALO’s pure agave tequila and a guided meditation before moving into a full-body dry brushing and a massage using a specially crafted oil made with cypress, geranium, vetiver, angelica root, lime, grapefruit and sandalwood. Palo santo is smudged throughout the service to purify the energy, and a curated soundtrack conjures the mood of a calm desertscape.
- The entire spa can be rented out so that groups of five or more can enjoy private access to the facilities, tranquil lounge and wellness bar. Verbena’s wellness experts can also customize a spa day schedule to fit the group’s individualized needs.
- Verbena offers a variety of different massages, including deep tissue, Swedish, prenatal, reflexology, aromatherapy and a therapeutic sports option incorporating CBD.
- Choose among facials like the Back to Front, which pays special attention to the back, and gua sha, which incorporates a stone tool massage. The Proper facial is a five-step process that resurfaces the skin with a nourishing enzyme exfoliation, refines pores through cleansing and extraction and boosts circulation and tone with a collagen-shaping massage before a calming tailored mask leaves the skin balanced and glowing.
- The oils used in aromatherapy treatments were made exclusively for Austin Proper Hotel & Residences and Verbena Spa by Rootfoot founder and distiller, Laura Huth. Each one provides a customized aromatic experience while highlighting specific plants native to the region.
- Waxing services, from brows and lip to bikini and Brazilian, are offered at Verbena. Soothe your skin afterward with Antara’s CBD oil for face or body.
Spa shop
