Spa heaven
The Banyan Tree, Phuket
The combination of tropical scenery, the Andaman Sea, romantic villas scattered around a glass-edged pool and exotic spa facilities in open-air pavilions, makes this one of the world's ultimate wellness centres. Facilities include an 18-hole golf course, tennis and squash courts, two restaurants, and a watersports centre.
What's special: More than 60 treatments combining European and Asian techniques. Natural Thai Herb Exotica £100 for two hours, Royal Thai Honey Steam Wrap £55 for 30 mins, Cucumber & Ginger Body Cleanser £35 for 30 mins. At night, an outdoor bath is filled with perfumed oils. The break: Seven nights from £1,590 not including meals from Seasons in Style (0151- 342 0505, seasonsinstyle.co.uk), banyantree.com.
Capri Palace Hotel & Spa
A light and airy five-star hotel offering glorious views over the Bay of Naples and the neighbouring islands of Ischia and Procida. It has a magnificent roof terrace and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The adjacent Capri Beauty Farm offers thalassotherapy using thermal mud and seawater. It claims, alarmingly, that "with a simple test we can establish if your age corresponds to the real age of your body".
What's special: Clay Facial €55 (45 mins), and Detoxifying Algotherapy €43 (45 mins). The break: From £757 for four nights' half-board from Exclusive Italy (01892 619650, exclusivedestinations.co.uk), capri-palace.com.
Cavalieri Hilton, Rome
An oasis in a city, set in lush Mediterranean gardens just 10 minutes walk from the Vatican. The hotel has two restaurants including the rooftop Pergola, regarded as one of the best in the country.
In your non-epicurean moments, you can try La Prairie Spa with its glass-domed indoor swimming pool with hydro-massage waterfall. Outside is an Olympic-sized pool.
What's special: Caviar Body Treatment €124 for 90 mins, The Skin Caviar Facial Treatment €114 for 90 mins. The break: From £550 for three nights, not including meals, from Mediterranean Experience (020-8445 6000, themed.net), cavalieri-hilton.it.
Spa plus
The Aspen Club & Spa, Aspen
Aspen is one of the world's top ski resorts, but it is just as vibrant outside the skiing season. You can't actually stay at the Aspen Club, but you do have free access it if you're staying at hotels such as the St Regis, the Independence Square, Hotel Jerome or the Hearthstone House. The club is vast - 77,000 square feet. It also contains a restaurant featuring "healthy cuisine", a Kid's Gym with daycare, and a Sports Medicine Institute.
What's special: Alpine Rejuvenator £100 for 80 mins, Après-ski Massage £75 for 50 mins, Day Brightener Massage £40 for 25 minutes. The break: From £897 for seven nights' B&B at the St Regis from Ski Independence (0870 5550555, ski-independence.co.uk), aspenclub.com.
Brenner's Park-Hotel & Spa, Baden Baden, Germany
Located on the edge of the Black Forest, this pretty but relatively formal 125-year-old spa offers a combination of health and sport. You can bathe in the Roman-style thermal waters, catch a yoga class, play tennis or golf, horse ride, cross-country ski, or just wallow in a Japanese blossom steam bath.
What's special: Milk & Honey Pack £30 for 45 mins, Shiatsu massage £114 for 60 mins. The break: About £540 for two nights' B&B, including 3hr Beauty Spa Deluxe Program, but not including travel, from Brenner's Park-Hotel & Spa (0049 7221 9000, brenners.com).
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Interlaken
A recently restored 19th- century hotel set between two lakes in Alpine Switzerland where you can climb, hike, ski, mountain bike, hang-glide, fish, play golf or take a lake cruise. Among its many facilities, the spa has a wonderful Roman-style swimming-pool, a large gym, and four indoor and three outdoor tennis courts.
The three restaurants include La Terrasse, which offers health-conscious Spa Cuisine with waiters who sing Broadway tunes.
What's special: Foot Massage £20 for 30 mins, Facial Cleaning £50 for 60 mins. The Bio-Sauna with Active Light Therapy is free to hotel guests. The break: From £655 for two nights' half-board, including one spa treatment, from Erna Low (020-7590 1777, bodyandsoulholidays.com), victoria-jungfrau.com.
Spas among the vineyards
Meadowood Health Spa, Napa Valley, California
A secluded 250-acre estate, 90 minutes from San Francisco in California's principal wine-growing region.
The rooms are housed in low-rise cottages around the grounds; all have wood-burning fireplaces and private sundecks.
Meadowood has two restaurants, a pool terrace café, and wine classes taught by the in-house tutor. At the Health Spa, you can use the exercise equipment or book a personal trainer. Outdoor activities include golf and tennis.
What's special: Chardonnay Rosehip Mud Wrap £120 for 80 mins and the Cabernet Harvest Crush £65 for 50 mins. The break: from £802 for three nights, not including meals, from Carrier (01625 547040, carrier.co.uk), meadowood.com.
Les Sources de Caudalie, Bordeaux
A rustic four-star hotel in the middle of the Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard, 15 minutes' drive from Bordeaux itself.
The hotel has two restaurants, and a spa that is famous for its slimming and anti-ageing programmes. Following the discovery that grape seeds contain polyphenols, which are even better than vitamin E as skin aids, the vineyard uses the by-product of its wine-making in its spa treatments.
What's special: Honey and wine wrap £29 for 30 mins, Sauvignon Massage £39 for 60 mins, Pulp Friction Massage (during the harvest season only) £58 for 75 mins. The break: from £490 for two nights' half-board, including four daily treatments, from Erna Low (020-7590 1777, bodyandsoul holidays.com), sources-caudalie.com.
Beach spas
The Miramar-Crouesty Hotel, Brittany
The hotel is on the Rhuys peninsula and looks like an ocean liner. All 142 rooms and suites open on to terraces overlooking the sea. Dynamic walks on the beach are part of the treatment. The Thalassotherapy Centre Louison Bobet runs programmes for back pain, stress reduction, slimming, and nicotine addiction.
What's special: Reflexology £34 for 45 mins, Abhyanga Ayurvedic massage £40 for 60 mins. The break: From £490 for two nights' half-board, including four daily treatments, from Erna Low (020-7590 1777, bodyandsoulholidays.com), miramar-crouesty.com.
Movenpick Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Jordan
A waterfall flows from the hotel lobby, pouring into a man-made river across the gardens towards the cafés, shops, restaurants, and The Sanctuary Zara Spa, an extraordinary mix of Swiss capability and Arabian opulence.
The hotel has a gym, freshwater swimming pool, and its own beach where you can absorb minerals as you float on the Dead Sea.
What's special: Sixty holistic treatments using the Dead Sea's natural therapeutic ingredients. Dead Sea Salt Scrub £24 for 25 mins, Dead Sea Natural Mud Wrap £32 for 55 mins. The break: From £830 for seven nights' half-board from Thermalia (020-7586 7725, thermalia.co.uk). From £652 from Tailor Made (0870 2413212), movenpick-deadsea.com.
The Spa of Peace and Plenty, Dunk Island, Queensland, Australia
The first inhabitants of Dunk called it the island of peace and plenty, and little has changed since then.
The spa has a low-key, friendly atmosphere. The herb garden produces many of the raw materials, such as wattle seed, cherry alder and lemon myrtle, that are used in treatments. Most of these are based on ancient Aboriginal recipes.
What's special: Coral Sea Cleanse £23 for 60 mins, Tropical Dreaming (massage of the face, hands and feet) £42 for 75 mins. The break: From £1,260 for seven nights' full-board from Austravel (0870 0550223, austravel.com), poresorts.com.au.
Wilderness spas
Ananda in the Himalayas, India
The Ananda is the former palace of the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal, set on a mountain ridge in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Rooms either overlook the mountains or the Ganges. The restaurant features low-calorie, high-nutrition meals enriched by exotic herbs and vegetables from the hotel's organic garden. You can also dine in an amphitheatre while watching traditional dance and music performances. Cooking classes are held by master chefs.
The vast spa is the largest in India, and uses the healing remedies of Ayurveda in all treatments.
What's special: Njavarakizhi (massage with small bags filled with cooked Njavara rice after a liberal application of oil to the whole body) 3,600 rupees for 45 mins. Tharpanam eye care (ghee applied to the eyes) 4,500 rupees for 30 mins. The break: From £1,535 five nights' B&B at the Ananda and two nights in Delhi from Abercrombie & Kent (0845 0700616, abercrombiekent.co.uk), anandaspa.com.
The Blue Lagoon, Iceland
The Blue Lagoon is a hot, powder-blue lake that allows a unique - albeit sulphurous - experience, both in winter when it is surrounded by snow, and in summer under the midnight sun. Facilities include a geothermal seawater indoor swimming pool, a geothermal steam bath, and a lava cave to relax in.
The lagoon's white mud revitalises, while the blue-green algae nourishes and softens the skin. The spa restaurant specialises in seafood and has floor-to-ceiling views of the lagoon and its surrounding lunar landscape.
What's special: Shoulder massage £8.45. The Blue Lagoon Geothermal Skin Care is available online. The break: From £358 for three nights' B&B at the Gardur guesthouse in Reykjavik, six-hour excursion to the Blue Lagoon £37, from Arctic Experience (01737 214214, arctic-experience.co.uk), bluelagoon.is.
· Prices are per person and include flights and transfers unless stated otherwise.
