We're often asked what makes a great spa. The answer is complicated—and emotional. When it came time to compile this, our second annual Spas We Love issue, we didn't employ a checklist of objective criteria. Instead, we relied on what our mothers told us about falling in love: When it hits you, you just know.

All these spas have that unquantifiable "it." Some made our jaws drop on first sight; others seduced us slowly, earning our affection with their careful attention and coddling service. Like love itself, our list is unabashedly subjective: It's neither a best-of catalog nor a ranking, and these certainly aren't the only spas in the world capable of inspiring love. To make it easily comprehensible, we've sorted these spas into categories.

Damn the Expense spotlights spas that require a live-for-today attitude toward money but that repay the commitment with something unique. Exotic Hideaways presents far-flung enclaves, and Crème de la Caribbean near-flung ones, while in Domestic Bliss we tip our hat to spas in the U.S. Design Showstoppers introduces spas that had us at hello. Urban Sanctuaries celebrates spas that sequester us from the world around them, while Cultural Immersion honors those that bring that world right into the treatment room. Along with the 52 spas here, you'll find 8 more spas we love in our Pound Wise and Value Spas columns.

All of them are shown on the map. These are our love letters to those 60 spas.