Spa treks

A holistic spa opening in December in a coconut plantation on Vietnam's Nha Trang Bay is one of 34 retreats featured in Essential Escapes, a brochure dedicated to luxury spas. The treatment rooms at the Ana Mandara resort, which is a 50-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City, are set among ponds and lush vegetation.

Seven nights' half-board at Ana Mandara costs from £1,065, including flights and transfers, with Essential Escapes (020-7284 3344).

Benedictine B&B

An 13th-century Benedictine abbey, later an Elizabethan dwelling, has been given a £5 million makeover as an intimate B&B. Original features have been preserved at Ford Abbey, near Leominster, but the bathrooms are ultra-modern and a barn has been artfully converted into a swimming pool.

Until February (excluding Christmas), B&B costs £85pp (dinner £35pp). Details from 01568 760700, (fordabbey.co.uk).

Open house

Africa House, the estate at Shiwa in northern Zambia built by English eccentric Stewart Gore Brown in the early 20th century and featured in Christina Lamb's recent book of the same name, has been restored to its former glory by one of Gore Brown's grandchildren.

Three nights at Shiwa, combined with a four-night safari at Nkwalki Lodge in south Luangwa, costs from £2,587pp, including flights, transfers and all meals, with J&C Voyageurs (01373 832111).

· Email Desmond Balmer