Where can you go for an averagely luxurious spa stay this summer without feeling so aghast at the bill that all those de-stressing treatments go to waste? Costs can be eye-watering, even before you climb on to the massage table.
“A client of ours recently came back from a stay at La Residence in Mauritius, complaining about having to spend 30 or 40 euros on half a bottle of wine at dinner,” one spa tour operator, Deborah Barnett of Essential Escapes, told me recently. “We’ve also had complaints about the costs of European hotels - in particular, people say the Greek luxury hotels, which used to be such good value, are much more expensive these days.”
But few places in the eurozone are a bargain any more, with local prices rising and a poor exchange rate against the pound making it 20 per cent more expensive this year than last for British travellers. Spas in eastern Europe remain much more affordable - “with those in Slovenia the best value of all now,” says Miro Sajfert, the managing director of the medical spa specialist Thermalia. “Treatments are first class. Service and food are not comparable with western European spa hotels yet, but they have improved considerably.”
But nowhere beats Asia in terms of value. You can get a week in Thailand including flights and surcharges for the cost of a weekend and a single treatment at a five-star hotel and spa in England – if, that is, the English hotel in question is somewhere ultra-deluxe such as Whatley Manor , in the Cotswolds, where standard room rates run to £485 a night, suites to £850, and a three-hour La Prairie treatment will set you back £515. Compared with that, though, pretty much anywhere else looks cheeringly good value.
The following prices are all per person, for July/August, and based on sharing a twin room.
1 Bedruthan Steps Hotel
Mawagan Porth, north Cornwall (01637 860860, www.bedruthan.com)
Luxury and good value are not words that go together naturally when talking about British spa hotels — but there are exceptions. This four-star family hotel is set on one of the most dramatic stretches of coastline in Britain, and has a spa that, like most of the 101 rooms, overlooks the Atlantic.
Beside the family pool, the Ocean Spa’s new thermal pool is adults-only. And a 70-minute massage from ex-Chiva-Som therapist Victor Quemuel costs a not outrageous £60. In summer, most stays have to be for a week, but some three-night breaks cost from £300 in July and September, rising to £384 in August. Price includes breakfast and dinner.
2 Lasko Health Spa
Slovenia (00386 3734 5122, www.slovenia.info)
East European spas offer exceptionally good value. Often formerly part of state health services, they focus more on medical conditions than on beauty, so they tend to be clinical rather than glam, with gruff rather than fluffy therapists. But they are proper spas, using local nutrient-rich thermal waters, which can be hugely beneficial for all sorts of ailments. Lasko is particularly noted.
Roman legionaries first discovered the healing waters of the hot springs here, and the 210-room spa now specialises in treating people with mobility difficulties — even MS sufferers. Seven nights, including flights, transfers, half board, a full medical check-up (suitable for anyone) and personalised treatments, cost about £826 from spa specialists Thermalia (0870 165 9420 , www.thermaliaspas.co.uk).
3 Spa Hotel Nove Lazne
Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic (00420 354 644111, www.marienbad.cz)
In the centre of the immensely grand Belle Epoque spa resort of Marienbad is this gorgeous confection, built in 1899. The biggest and most comprehensive spa hotel in the resort, it will make anyone susceptible to the combination of marble, pillars, mirrors and chandeliers swoon in pleasure.
Edward VII, no stranger to luxury, stayed here nine times, and although the hotel and spa were modernised in 1999, the work was done prudently. The Royal Cabin is still in use. A seven-night classical spa cure, with flights, transfers, full board and treatments, including drinking the local waters, costs about £847 from Thermalia (0870 165 9420 , www.thermaliaspas.co.uk).
4 Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa
Koh Samui, Thailand (0066 77 429800, www.kamalaya.com)
A full-on spa destination and brilliant budget alternative to Thailand’s landmark Chiva-Som. Not a place to go with children - under-16s are banned - but on your own, to lose weight or detox or just relax for a week, it’s terrific, as long as you can bear the long journey there.
Built on the edge of a lagoon, looking out over the ocean and outlying islands, it has 59 rooms, beautiful airy outdoor yoga pavilions and treatment areas, a really good mixture of treatments, and accomplished staff. With Essential Escapes, a seven-night stay costs about £1,999, including flights, transfers, full board, wellness consultation and daily treatments and activities such as yoga and tai chi (020 7284 3344 , www.essentialescapes.com).
5 Banyan Tree Lijiang
Yunnan Province, China (00 86 888 533 1111, www.banyantree.com)
Watch the Olympics in China, but away from the crowds and mania of Beijing - and as a daily treat have the best bargain massage available anywhere. Yes? You fly to Shanghai, then on to Lijiang, which, with its mesmerising, red-lanterned, canal-lined 800-year-old-heart, is one of China’s few remaining ancient cities to have escaped the architectural butchery of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
You stay in a villa with its own garden and pool at the new Banyan Tree Hotel & Spa, looking across to the last peak of the Himalayas, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Admittedly this luxury comes at a price, but every day you head for the massage parlour in the town’s main square, where any of the team of blind masseurs provides an hour’s sublime reflexology massage. Cost: £10. Seven nights’ b&b at the Banyan Tree, with all flights and transfers, costs from £2,765 from Carrier Travel, valid till September 30 (0161 491 7630, www.carrier.co.uk). For details of more modestly priced hotels in Lijiang, see www.elong.net.
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