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I’m often invited to visit and sample a new spa, which obviously the hotel or resort is immensely proud of. I’ve just returned from such s visit – to a beautifully restored old villa in Fiesole overlooking Florence. A vast amount of money and much care, thought and pride – especially watched over by the Italian version of English Heritage, so that every wood, stone, corner etc. had to be historically and architecturally accurate – has been expended on Il Silviatino, and given the fact that so much of the originl carvings and frescos were vandalised by a former owner, the work has been seriously impressive.

So what we have is an elegant Italian villa, set in immaculately planted Italianate grounds overlooking one of the most famous Duomos in all of Italy…and what do they do? Install a Thai spa – Thai treatments, Thai therapists, Thai decor. Should somebody remind somebody that the very word SPA comes from the Latin – salus per aqua – one of the reasons why Roman baths were famed throughout the known world. Or is it me, just wanting to preserve a little of their heritage?

Any thoughts?

I’m not really a great fan of facials, but I’ve just had a Sisley anti-ageing version which has left my skin looking refreshed and alive. Normally I like really heavy duty jobs with steams, scrubs and extractions. This was gentle by comparison but with a very good facial massage and soo relaxing. Mind you the bed helped – it was a glorious contoured heated one which completely enveloped me and in no time I am sure I was snorting and dribbling. Had the facial at Harrods Urban Retreat which is frenetic on the outside with every type of product and treatment on offer, but once you are led down the side corridors to the specialist rooms…all is calm.

one thing to look out for if you book to go to Viva Mayr – try to arrive later in the day…that way you will not be wandering around looking vacant and lost. The clinic is terrific once it gets going…but unless you know the ropes it is very confusing for those first few hours. Your treatment doesn’t really get under way until you have your first consultation with a doctor…and most of these are in the morning. What it means for you is that you have no idea what to do until that happens…what to eat, what you are allowed etc. and you are dependent on other guests and the dining room staff to keep you informed. So don’t waste time wandering and wondering…get there late afternoon, have your last meal (or what amounts to one) and then start afresh in the morning…with your first glass of epsom salts…
Don’t worry too much…in the end it’s worth it

Have just returned for the Viva Mayr on the shores of Lake Worth in Austria…ohmigod! I’m not really complaining…but the toxic headache was worse than ever and took longer to get rid of. The powers that be, don’t approve of headache relieving drugs…but after 30 hours and the only pain relief offered was in the shape of a suppository…I ran for the Nurofen.
Did they not realise that my nether regions were fully occupied with the results of the early morning epsom powder…that to try and introduce any further activity to that part of the body…may well have ended in tears and been a tad messy.

In spite of everything…my stay. though short, was worth every minute. In between tests, massages, almost meals, educational lectures…there was a lot of fun and my diet began to change for the better
More to come…

Every once in a while – and remember I have massages like most people have sandwiches – I have a truly memorable treatment. It’s not so much the treatment itself (although it can be) but mostly it’s the aftermath. I had such a massage the other day at the Sequoia Spa at the Grove in Hertfordshire. It’s a rather glamorous spa with a huge local following, so I knew it was going to be professional – what I did not expect was what it did to my body. It was one of their signature massages, a Thai compress job. Now I have had any number of these before, where hot compresses of herbs and rice are pounded or smoothed onto your body to help relax the muscles before the therapist goes to work. A lovely stream of hot oil was drizzled on my aching shoulders and then massaged in with deep strong strokes, and then the compresses were called into play again. I felt relaxed afterwards and kept the oil on for a couple of hours to benefit from it. I did what I was told and drank huge amounts of water before and during dinner, and was thrilled to notice that all the tension had disappeared from my shoulders and that pain at the base of my spine was hardly there.

And then…I woke in the middle of the night with what felt like red hot iron bars going from my neck up to my head. If I hadn’t felt like this before, I would have been worried – a migraine? a brain tumour? The imagination runs riot at 4.a.m. No, it was my toxic body trying to clear itself. For what happened was the massage was so good, so thorough and so right that it was releasing the toxins I was holding hostage. I drank a few more gallons of water, and kept doing so for the next 24 hours, for that is how long it took for me to revert to what I term normal. My body still feels looser and relaxed and I have vowed to get the train to Watford as often as I possibly could and book Chris for this treatment – he is a really gifted therapist.
www.thegrove.co.uk

I truly admire the way so many spas take infinite care over our comfort and well-being. I’ve always been impressed by those little bowls of lotus blossom or pebbles or crystals, which are carefully placed under the massage bed, so that we have something other than bare boards to look at during the treatment – no matter that our eyes invariably close. Is it possible to lie down and keep your eyes open? I’m not sure…but just in case, have something pretty to look at. However this aspect reached its height when the Over-Water Spa first opened at the Conrad Rangali Island in the Maldives – the whole floor is made of glass, and as the treatment rooms are on stilts over the water, you have the most amazing view of coral and fish of every imaginable colour. Totally magical. Sadly my eyes began to close, even though I was willing them to stay open! But then fish are supposed to have a relaxing and soporific effect – think of all those aquaria in dentists’ waiting rooms….
www.conradrangalimaldives.com

I’m in favour of anything that helps the body relax during a treatment. Warm beds and rooms are top of the list, sensuous smells and occasionally (very occasionally) soothing music. I love those massage chairs you are sometimes offered while having a manicure but I have just experienced one of the best things ever. It’s called a SilentChi machine and I encountered it at the newly opened Spa at the Grand Hotel, Stockholm. It is Raison d’Etre’s first own brand spa and has all sorts of special therapies and treatments especially devised for this northern pamper palace – one signature treatment, called Be Rested, has this machine as part of it. After your feet have been massaged, anointed and then placed in those rather fetching plastic bags before being wrapped in towels, your feet and legs are raised and placed on a small machine – which then gently rocks your body to such an extent that gradually you can feel each vertebra gradually relax and loosen so that your spine and back lose any muscle tightness and rigidity., thus preparing your body for a great massage. It only takes about 10 minutes and once you get used to the rhythm you want it to continue for ever. Apparently if you have one regularly your aching and rigid muscles become almost normal! Sheer magic – I’d love one at the end of my bed so that I could have a session whenever I wanted or needed one. (www.rasiondetrespa.se)

One of my favourite city spas is the one at the Cavalieri Hilton in Rome. It is so opulent that it looks as if it belongs in a Fellini film – there is even a roaring fire in a very grand fireplace next to the swimming pool – in case la signora feels a little chilly. There are candelabra, animal print chaise longues, marbles, gilt and jade wherever you look. And then there is a huge state-of-the-art fitness studio (not that I spend too much time there)…and just in case it all sounds a little tame for current visitors they have just installed a climbing wall in the gardens. Suffice to say that the hotel is built on the highest of Rome’s seven hills and the views of the city are breath-taking from every aspect…can you imagine what they will be like from the top of the wall? Having never thought of climbing up a wall…although occasionally I have been driven up one by annoyances…this could be the temptation I need…except would it be too scary? and would I break a nail? I think in the meantime I’ll settle for a little light retail and then some reflexology to combat the pavement pounding. www.romecavalieri.com

I’m very pernickety about facials and lose patience with most of those available. I think there is far too much going on for one small area – too many products, too many serums, lotions, masks, exfoliations and then, at the end something for your face, your eyes, your mouth, your neck…it’s enough to make your skin sag. However there are exceptions and I am always thrilled when I come across one. Eva Lom still gives the best facial imaginable – but you have to book her and none of her pupils. She has healing hands and a profound knowledge of the body and the mind.

However Daniela Steiner spas have a truly great facial..it could have been designed for me…a serious cleanse and scrub and exfoliation, plus extractions. How can you possibly have clean skin with those horrible tiny blackheads lurking in the creases and crevices…but then best of all they start working on the rest of your face. Any stray hairs are removed, eyebrows shaped and dyed if necessary, as are your eyelashes. The whole lot in one fell swoop while you are lying on a warm bed. Why don’t more facials include all of this…it saves time in the long run as you don’t have to keep making different appointments for different things.

Her flagship spa is at her home base Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano in the Dolomites (www.rosalpina.it) but you can also find the facials at her spas in Monaco, Sicily, Sharm el Sheik, Cairo and New York (www.steinercosmetics.com).