Fontainebleau Las Vegas Spa Review: Is It Worth the Cost?

^{It’s easy to spend hours inside Fontainebleau’s opulent spa just lounging around and visiting all the rooms across the 55,000-square-foot facility (Photo: courtesy of Fontainebleau)}  

LAS VEGAS – The Fontainebleau is the giant blue high-rise casino anchoring the North end of the Strip. The casino itself is exuberant, as many people know. But it should be no surprise that the spa inside the casino-resort is essentially an adult playground of relaxation.

I had heard murmurs about Lapis Spa & Wellness at Fontainebleau for a while, but with my birthday coming up, I figured it was the perfect excuse to finally investigate whether it was really worth the hype and the cost. To enjoy this 55,000-square-foot facility, prepare to spend $200 or more on a day pass or a treatment. 

As someone who used to work at a spa at a popular off-Strip casino resort, I have the credentials to judge what makes or breaks a spa experience. Here's my full, honest review of the service I received and the amenities throughout Lapis Spa and Wellness at Fontainebleau.

What’s Included in a Full Spa Day

First and foremost: Fontainebleau’s spa is probably one of the most expensive on the Strip, but also one of the newest. While Caesars Palace  and Bellagio have recently undergone renovations to their facilities, Lapis hasn’t even been around for a full three years.

They offer a thorough list of services, including massages, body treatments, and facials.  The most affordable service you'll find here is a 60-minute massage, starting at around $264. That's significantly more than most casino spas on or off the Strip, which usually start around $200. On the bright side, gratuity is already included in all prices, so you know exactly what you're paying from the start.

But be wary: if you want to add things to your massage, like hot stones or a face mask, you may end up paying an extra $60. These add-ons would easily be under $20 at other facilities in Las Vegas.

Before you write it off entirely, it helps to understand how the pricing generally works. At almost every spa in a Las Vegas casino, the price for one service includes access to the spa's amenities for the entire day. The number may look high on its own, but you're paying for a full-day experience. If you're looking for a quick massage without the full experience, you'd be better off heading away from the Strip, where prices are much more reasonable.

The spa opens at 9 AM and closes at 7 PM, so you have a solid 10-hour window of enjoyment if you book a service. However, they do not offer come-and-go access, which is probably my biggest gripe. There are reasonable ways to monitor re-entry, but the policy feels inconvenient if you want to step out for a bit for food or venture onto the rest of the property. 

My experience was on a Monday afternoon, since Lapis is only open to the public Monday through Thursday. Hotel guests can book treatments any day of the week, but if you were thinking about coming in on the weekend from another property, you’re out of luck. It's an exclusive policy that I think drives away business, but they must be packed on weekends if they can't accommodate outside guests at all.

Beyond their traditional services, Lapis also offers options through its Reboot Lounge, including hand and foot massages at a much lower rate. But these do not include access to the spa amenities and are quite overpriced for what you get.

Your Money is Going Toward Those Top-Notch Amenities

Most of the value in this spa’s price comes from the long list of rooms and pools you can enjoy all day. I fully basked in it by spending a total of five hours at Lapis, including my service and using the amenities. Their day passes offer the same amount of time for access, so it’s more than enough time to experience everything.

It is important that you visit the Stargazing Lounge and get a nap in here during your spa day. (Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)

The amenities at Lapis are capital-I Impressive. Some are gender-separate, while others are co-ed. Here's what you can expect:

• Men's and women's locker rooms with a full vanity area and private showers
• Stargazing lounge 
• Multiple gender separate and co-ed jacuzzis
• Cold plunge pool
• Saunas
• Steam rooms
• Anti-gravity chairs
• Himalayan salt room
• Aromatherapy room
• Snow shower (yes, real snow falls from above)

Despite all the enjoyment to be had in the many areas of the spa, phones are strictly prohibited at the facility since many areas do not require a bathing suit. The policy is firmly enforced throughout the spa area. All photos and videos in this review were taken when each amenity was empty. While it was a bit of a shock, it’s valid to encourage folks to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with themselves and others visiting the facility.

Since you can’t leave the spa to get food or drinks, they provide many snacks for you along with tea and coffee. I may have snuck in a few extra snacks of my own from Trader Joe’s that topped the complimentary ones, no regrets! 

A Full Day of Zen at Its Finest

My personal favorite area of the spa was the co-ed area, which is massive on its own. Here, you can go from the snow shower into the aromatherapy room, rinse off, sink into a jacuzzi, and then recover in an anti-gravity chair. These zero-gravity recliners let you lie all the way back with your feet up, which is great for back pain and for taking pressure off the spine. 

The Aufguss Sauna was something I regret missing, since it's one of the more unique offerings I've seen at any spa. Multiple times a day, an Aufgussmeister (sauna dance performer) pours water onto hot stones inside a large event sauna and performs a 15-minute dance with towels, aromatherapy scents, and color-changing lights. It sounds unusual, and it absolutely is fit for a spa on the Las Vegas Strip.

At check-in, the spa receptionist told me they don’t normally do anything special for birthdays, but this personalized birthday proves otherwise! (Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson)

I booked the Odyssey Massage, and it was everything I hoped for: excellent pressure, and it’s great that they don't charge extra to change the pressure during your service. When I entered my treatment room, my therapist handed me a rose, and a happy birthday message was waiting for me. My 50-minute massage felt like hours, and I was able to choose from a variety of music options to help me relax

If you're planning a visit to Fontainebleau or simply looking to treat yourself to a luxurious spa experience on the Strip, Lapis is absolutely worth considering. The service is excellent, the amenities are unique, and the facility's size gives you more to explore than most people can in a single visit.

This spa is a full-day commitment at a premium price point, so it’s best saved for special occasions. The no come-and-go policy and limited weekday access are real limitations, but the amenities really pack the punch you’d expect for the price point.