in the bathroom with a tub of alternative cosmetic cream called something like 'Peace of Mind'. The tropical spa is the only place that offers the real thing. The Banyan Tree Spa Phuket speaks for all its cousins in describing itself as a 'sanctuary of the senses'- a buffer from the outside world that people everywhere increasingly want and need.
The Nikko stands proud like a castle on the southern tip of Bali's Nusa Dua peninsula. The resort's spa is mapped out like a village street, with courtyard houses as treatment rooms. It lies just behind the beach.
Tropical Asian spas have made a late entrance to the international scene but they are well worth waiting for.Here are some of asia's best health and beauty hideaways in destinations of our dreams.
Banyan Tree Spa Phuket
For all the pleasure they lay before you, spas in Asia also present a problem: blood pressure rises in the face of the options on offer. How can the world-weary soul decide between a Voyage of Peace, an Oasis of Bliss and, for a jet-fresh business man, The Asian Affair? Spa goers pour over the treatment menu like it had five stars from Michelin. But in keeping with the Buddhist philosophy that this spa embraces, the Banyan Tree Spa Phuket recommends you stick with whatever takes your fancy first. Your intuition will decide what is right for you. It may be honey, mud, sea salt or herbs that are rubbed into your body; but whatever it is, it comes with a little dose of love, the most important ingredient of all.
The people at Banyan Tree Spa Phuket believe that love is what is needed most in modern lives that are so alienated by gadgets and material objects. The meditative philosophy and practice of Buddhism (most young men in Thailand spend three months in the monastery as novice monks) allows the Thais (this includes the therapists here) to detach themselves and offer this love unconditionally through their hands. It's not health claims, but relaxation with all her attendant touch, sound, scent and scenery, that is the panacea adopted at this spa.
However, this spa has become so popular that the mood of relaxation can get a little lost in the clamour of souls on its doorstep. Opt for your Oasis of Bliss in the privacy of your own Pool Villa, with its extensive proportions, raised sala and lap pool within a tropical, walled garden. Here that little extra dose of love, Thai-style, will leave you so relaxed you will never want to leave.
Each private Pool Villa covers an extraordinary 270 square metres. This nine-metre mini lap pool, as well as the Thai sala or outdoor dining area landscaped gardens and outdoor sunken bath, have all contributed to making the Banyan Tree Spa Phuket something of a yardstick among the top-end spa resorts in Asia.
This, one of the resort's two rock edge swimming pools, overlooks the secluded bay at Tanjong Said, on the northwest tip of Britan Island.
Banyan Tree Spa Bintan
There is little global fanfare about Banyan Tree Spa Bintan which is a blessing for those who seek that which has come to classify the essence of an Asian spa resort: tranquillity, therapy and spiritual time out packaged in a tropical setting. Banyan Tree Spa Bintan offers it all with understatement.
Perhaps this special little spa misses out on the hype lavished on many of its Asian cousins because it is situated on the relatively unknown Indonesian island of Bintan. Lying just 45 minutes by hydrofoil from Singapore, Bintan is a growing tourist destination with a plethora of new resorts. Never mind; when paddling in a spectacular private villa pool with palm-fringed beach views that sweep to the horizon, who would know that this was not the furthest corner of the South Pacific? And yet it is conveniently located.
The resort's spa pavilion is as tropical as they come, clinging to a cliff face and communing with nature. Watch out for the giant geckos while wending your way along the decking to your treatment room that seems to float over a vociferous ocean be low. The nub of the 'tropical spa' assault on the senses lies here in Banyan Tree Spa Bintan's 'Tranquil Room' where the sound is the waves, the view is the seashore, the smell is spicy-burning patchouli, vetiver and clove oils- and the mood is thick with calm. To lay back in here is to let life's pains evaporate from every pore. And then walk along the corridor for a treatment. Otherwise, it's easy to stay in the hilltop villas that are tastefully decorated and feel like home but, undoubtedly, with better views and clean sea breezes.
Treatments here embrace the general gamut of massages, facials and wraps using raw materials and mesmerizing scents, which altogether compound the peaceful experience that this resort already provides.
The Source at Begawan Giri Estate
We have come to associate Bali with the very best in luxury resort hotels, spas and tropical holiday locations so it is something of a feat to have created Begawan Giri which outstrips her cousins on so many levels. The nub of her exclusivity- there are only five private residences, each designed to defy description - really lies with her owner. Bradley Gardner has been locked in a passionate clinch with this piece of land ever since he first set foot on its sacred ground over ten years ago. Since then he has fashioned the private estate of his dreams on this extraordinary peninsula.
The spa experience here is an innovative one; it focuses less on passive indulgence and more on guests' ability to tap into their own inner source by embracing the vitality of the landscape. This is not as 'cultish' as it sounds. There is a palpable energy at Begawan Giri that flows from a natural spring, revered for miles around for its rejuvenating and healing powers.You don't have to chant mantras to appreciate some meditative moments by one of its natural pools half way down the mountainside above the confluence of two rivers.
The Source, the Estate's 'natural' spa (no spa buildings, receptions or treatment rooms here) is spread all over the estate's eight hectares with walking trails, a 'jungle gym', spring-fed rock pools and outdoor massage pavilions perched among the trees. Restorative programmes-up to three hours long-are conducted in the belief that the body can restore itself with the right kind of guidance: Reiki, meditation, yoga, walking and inner focusing finished off with pampering, all made that much more effective by a setting that is beautifully bewitching.
For the more sedate spa-goer, a full complement of traditional treatments is offered on the decks or in the rooms or poolside of the residences.
The 'swimming pool' redefined. Begawan Giri boasts a number of rock-lined pools fed by water from a holy spring (see above). It is said to have inborn healing properties. The pools are always cold, but also chlorine-free.
The 'natural' spa experience at Begawan Gin (Wise Man's Mountain) takes visitors on a journey through terrain like this found at one of the villa's open-air bathrooms. The 25-acre estate is planted
