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 hotel's spa, also ranking as one of the best while maintaining its indigenous sense of the exotic: gamelan music, eastern aromas and a soul-soothing atmosphere where time has no role to play.
Unique to the Spa at Jimbaran is its Quiet Room: while painted in hot shades like the rest of the spa pavilion, it offers absorbing time-out as nurturing as the treatments themselves. Treatments here are high class and expertly devised in a menu that makes choosing almost as agonizing as the stress they aim to bust. The mere sound of a Coconilla Scrub with Vanilla Beans and Coconut Milk, a steamy 20 minutes in a Peppermint and Lemon Grass Vapour, or a Wrap with Aloe Vera and Banana Leaves, is a heaven-sent reminder that indeed this is the Island of the Gods.
Many treatments have been exclusively devised by Kim and Cary Collier, a couple who spent a number of years studying Indonesia's botanical heritage before launching their own spa consultancy. Their sensitive dedication to their work is reflected in the 'karma' that prevails among the therapists and hangs in the air. They also create the divine products used here. The texture, fragrance and ingredients of the spa's Bali Santi massage blend - coconut oil infused with essential oils of vetiver, basil and patchouli - speak for themselves. Sampling is believing!
While this spa is beautifully designed with indoor-outdoor treatment rooms offering that all-Asian frisson of showering naked next to nature, guests can be pampered in the privacy of their own residence too. These comprise walled courtyards, dining pavilion, bedroom, bathrooms inside and out and the famous private plunge pool and outsized tub. Indeed, some guests have been known not to emerge through their carved, painted, double Majapahit Palace front doors from arrival to check-out... and they have still enjoyed spa treatments most people only dream about.
Hand movements in traditional Balinese massage.
A view up to the lobby from the main body of the hotel designed by Grounds Kent Architects according to a brief that combines the ambience of Balinese culture, namely a Balinese village layout, and the standards of a hotel in the 'World's Best' category.
(Clockwise from top) This infinity edge pool is one of the resort's two public pools. However this was one of Asia's first hotels to introduce private plunge pools in each of the villa suites.
All spa treatments are based on natural products rather than chemical preparations.
In oriental philosophy breath is synonymous with 'inspiration from the gods'. While normal breathing supposedly eliminates one third of toxins from our bodies, inhaling essential oils does more, stimulating our respiratory and nervous systems. This must explain why the scent from these oil burners enhances our sense of well being as soon as we enter this spa.
The Bali Hyatt was one of the first and remains one of the loveliest hotels on Sanur Beach. This swimming pool lies just back from the sand amid 36 acres of exquisite garden, designed by landscape architect Made Wijaya.
Spa at Bali Hyatt
Like so many Javanese words, leha leha says it all succinctly. It says peace, relaxation, day dreaming, an empty mind and lying prostrate gazing at the sky. In other words it says 'tropical spa experience', and more precisely the Spa at Bali Hyatt. This spa, designed and built as a Balinese village, is overhung with bougainvillea branches and lost in the midst of one of the most bountiful hotel gardens in Asia. It is leha leha at its most tangible.
In the raised, open reception of the spa, enjoy the honeyed taste of a health drink while you look at the stone maidens, hear the water that trickles from their pitchers, smell the flowers and touch the velvet pink of lotus blooms in the pond. Then walk through the Balinese doors into the inner sanctum for the ultimate leha leha.
The Spa at Bali Hyatt is special for the longer treatment programmes it offers. Once ensconced in your enormous private spa villa with sunken bath, shower and daybed outside and more within, it would be criminal not to linger for a two- or three-hour session. On top of this, the therapists here
are blissfully slow at keeping time and quick at offering unexpected added extras: a floral foot soak at the start of every treatment, heated oil for scalp therapies, flower bowls fragrant with essential oils and an almost excessive change of fluffy towels. They even leave you with a fruit platter midway through your treatment for 20 minutes more of pure leha leha on your daybed. On leaving, it really is a case of pinching yourself back into the real world of signing the bill!
This spa mixes a complement of Asian-based scrubs,
