From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

MONTY’S, CHARLTON HOUSE, SOMERSET

If you like crushed velvet you’ll love this Moroccan-informed pile, with its pretty in-to-outdoor pool artfully hidden in the garden’s shrubbery. It’s popular, but not as popular as doing nothing after a candlelit session at the expert hands of therapists, who work miracles with products developed from ‘spelt’ oil.

The space, scented with rose petals and scattered with candles, is a delight – by far the best thing about this slightly tired country-house hotel. Check in for the day and then head for the Somerset hills.

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East River Spa, Docklands, London

A Thameside urban retreat with express treatments for frazzled city workers and a mud bath for two

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l TRY the Hot Stone massage – 45 minutes of cool-and-fiery pleasure for your limbs (£45).

01749 342008, www.montyspa.com; doubles from £180, B&B.

SEAHAM HALL, CO DURHAM

With its grass roof, curved walls, trickling water and oriental objets d’art, Seaham could hardly be accused of flouting feng-shui principles. Decor-wise, it’s what you might call ‘geisha gorgeous’. Bag a lounger at the ozone-cleansed hydrotherapy pool, get pruney in the Jacuzzi on the woodland deck, or order Thai tapas in the suede dining room after your treatment.

l TRY the Karin Herzog Coco2 facial – it finishes with a naughty hot chocolate (£90).

0191 516 1550, www.seaham-serenityspa.com; doubles from £225, B&B.

THE VIGILIUS, ITALY

Accessed only by cable car, this mountaintop resort (opposite, bottom left) in the Dolomites is the pinnacle of eco-chic. It’s invitingly minimalist, wholesome and natural, with pine-scented timber and cow-hide furnishings. It’s also organic: therapists use fir cones for foot rubs, South Tyrolean herbs in their massage oils and even offer traditional hay baths – ticklish types beware.

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