The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is arguably India's finest luxury hotel, with its manicured interior courtyard, pool, and a wide array of guest suites that accommodate royalty and celebrities alike (Yoko Ono and John Lennon once occupied one, without leaving, for a week), writes Sophia Banay on Forbes.com. Mumbai's historic landmark ranks No. 9 in Forbes's latest list of the world's most luxurious spas. It is the only Indian five-star hotel on the list.

"The Taj's branded Jiva Spa chain has classes on everything, from Ashanti Yoga to the Art of Breathing, and the Exotic Lime & Ginger Scrub involves body buffing with Indian lime, ginger and salt," Banay informs her readers. Taj is in the exalted company of such international big-hitters as the Beau Rivage Palace ( Lausanne, Switzerland ), Chiva Som ( Hua Hin, Thailand ), Hayman Island Resort ( Great Barrier Reef, Australia ), Maroma Resort & Spa (Riviera Maya, Mexico ), Soneva Gili & Six Senses Spa (The Maldives) and Terme di Saturnia Spa Resort in the Tuscan countryside.

It wasn't so long ago that luxury hotels were racing to add spas, realising that they were not competitive without one. Today, luxury spas are racing one another. The pressure is on - we're not talking about your massage, Banay writes.

As spa-goers become more sophisticated and better-travelled, they expect more from a spa experience than ever before, and they're willing to pay for it. The industry generates about US$40 billion globally, according to SpaFinder, a New York-based spa marketing and media company. So spas worldwide are adding private suites, Japanese baths, rain showers and an ever-more-exotic array of treatments, therapies and fitness programmes.

Sure, you can still get a basic Swedish massage at any spa worth its bath salts. But some spas, like the Six Senses Spa at Soneva Gili in the Maldives, are offering Abhayanga, a full-body massage derived from Indian ayurvedic medicine that is performed by two therapists.

And forget the traditional facial. At the Terme di Saturnia Spa Resort in Tuscany, you can have a rejuvenating salicylic acid mask, which exfoliates away skin problems like wrinkles or acne and leaves the skin looking fresher and younger.

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