This mood au naturel continues as you lie under a grass roof of cathedral-like proportions before an audience of big banana branches and flapping palms. Outdoor bathing diverges from the spa norm and takes on a whole new meaning: your bath is sunk into a loamy lotus pond twice the size of the double spa villa, making any presidential suite seem meagre by comparison.
The pièce de résistance here is the Mandara signature massage, an other-worldly combination of five massage techniques. It is rhythmically performed, like a dance over your body, by two therapists working together in synch. Book it.
These soap bricks are mild and gentle to smell and to touch thanks to their 100 percent natural content. They are exclusive to Mondoro Spa
Like her sister hotel, The Serai in East Bali, The Chedi has a reputation as a foodies' hotel. Her fashionable cuisine is a topic for the chattering classes from Hong Kong to Los Angles.
The famous floral bath in action! In this context the flowers symbolize cleansing; they wash away bad luck. For Asian people flowers are part of everyday life, right down to ablutions.
Pavilion suites with steep, classic Thai-style roofs interspersed with landscaped gardens offer peaceful settings for practising yoga. tai chi and meditation.
Chiva-Som
Chiva-Som is the only dedicated health resort that blends the quest for physical and mental well-being with exquisite luxury. Interwoven with the grace of the Thai people, this is a spa in a class of its own. As a result, the world of spa-goers can be divided simply between those who have stayed at Chiva-Som and those who have not. People cannot get enough of the kaleidoscope of facilities: scrubs, wraps and toning treatments, hydro-therapy in all forms, iridology and Chiva-Som's very own equilibropathy, medical guidance as well as meditation on the seashore. And this is only a sampling of what awaits guests at this visually sparse yet karmic resort.
Most people come for a period of between three and 14 days: these are spent blissfully in a bathrobe, yet busily pursuing Chiva-Som's 'mind, body, spirit' philosophy with a programme tailor-made to help de-stress, overcome trauma or whatever. In between a session in the gym, an outdoor Thai massage and an introduction to tai chi at dusk, it's hard to find enough time to try the toys: water beds, flotation tanks, musical back massaging chairs..., let alone a gentle snooze by the pool.
Chiva-Som subscribes to the notion that diet and nutrition play a vital role in mind-body harmony. The kitchen caters for this with carefully controlled cuisine and a strict mealtime roster, offering a no-salt, no-fat buffet. However, the many lavish spa facilities and treatments take ones mind off food.
After all, at a US$26 million 'haven of life' (the meaning of Chiva-Som) with a staff to guest ratio of four to one, it's hard not to subscribe to the maxim that health and happiness are one.
Surely one of the most peaceful and luxurious 'wellness' centres imaginable, Chrva-Som overlooks the Gulf of Siam, just three hours drive from the centre of Bangkok.
The indoor spa area at Chiva-Som is enormous and full of facilities from a one-person jacuzzi pool to the innovative Body Blitz, a hydrotherapy treatment whereby high-pressure water jets directed at certain body areas work on lymph drainage to eliminate cellulite and smooth skin tissue.
Experts claim that half an hour in the Flotation Tank is the equivalent of eight hours' sleep. The temperature of the water mimics that of the body which is naturally supported by a saline solution. The feeling of suspension is designed to send you into limbo and leads to a deep feeling of inner relaxation.
One of the inner courtyard views, in keeping with the pared down mood of the pared down mood of the overall design style of the resort.
Mandara Spa at The Datai
The Datai resort offers a 'tropical' spa experience in one of its purest forms-immersed in the jungle. Every sense is invaded while you lie, open to the elements, in one of the four spa suites that are mapped out along a wooded stream far away from the hotel rooms.
Try not to fall asleep to the rhythmic touch of your masseur. Cock open an eye and take in a full sweep of the surrounding rain forest.An open ear hears the chattering stream (whose sound is recorded on the hotel phone) and an open nose catches that pungent smell of rich, wet earth. With your third eye it's not hard to see a Dayak tribesman emerging from the trees to appear on the jetty of your spa suite. Stick to real vision and your visitor will likely be one of the many monkeys to whom this Malaysian slice of rain forest really belonged before The Datai arrived.
Aware of its intrusion into the precious equatorial forest, The Datai wears a mantle of sensitive design, somewhat like a hunting lodge, lying quietly under an ancient canopy in front of Malaysia's oldest rock formation from 550 million years ago.
The spa experience here, with its oriental massage and outdoor steam bath, enjoyed in the confines of a dark wood villa a hair's breadth from the fronds of the rain forest, is incomplete without a dawn nature walk. This gives the spa goer a clearer understanding of the greatness of the rain forest and how it affects us. Take for example the gatukola, a tiny ground creeper barely discernible among the thousands of species on Langkawi: apparently it is an aphrodisiac that reduces blood pressure and promotes long life while dilating the blood vessels and encouraging collagen production in the body. It is now pounded into face packs that we devour with relish in our quest for eternal youth! What better place to appreciate the harmony between health, beauty and the natural world.
The main body of The Datai hotel, Malaysia's first grand-deluxe resort, is almost 1,000 feet above sea level. It is enveloped by centuries-old trees, many with buttress roots and jungle twines, which represent just a handful of the 813 tree specres found on Langkawi, itself an archipelago of 104 islands in the north-west of the country.
The landscape design by Bali-phile Made Wijaya has won awards for this hotel. These hot and cold plunge pools reveal one of the many secluded spots found amongst the beautiful gardens. These took 500 labourers nine months of excavation and planting to create, according to what Wijaya calls his 'tropical Cotswold' aesthetic.
The Spa at Jimbaran,
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
When it comes to luxury spa resorts, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay has earned its stripes as one of the world's best, offering a seamless fusion between five-star amenities and local ambience. This same success has been carried over into the