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Tropical Asian spas have made a late entrance to the international scene but they are well worth waiting for.Here are some of asia's best health and beauty hideaways in destinations of our dreams.

Banyan Tree Spa Phuket

For all the pleasure they lay before you, spas in Asia also present a problem: blood pressure rises in the face of the options on offer. How can the world-weary soul decide between a Voyage of Peace, an Oasis of Bliss and, for a jet-fresh business man, The Asian Affair? Spa goers pour over the treatment menu like it had five stars from Michelin. But in keeping with the Buddhist philosophy that this spa embraces, the Banyan Tree Spa Phuket recommends you stick with whatever takes your fancy first. Your intuition will decide what is right for you. It may be honey, mud, sea salt or herbs that are rubbed into your body; but whatever it is, it comes with a little dose of love, the most important ingredient of all.

The people at Banyan Tree Spa Phuket believe that love is what is needed most in modern lives that are so alienated by gadgets and material objects. The meditative philosophy and practice of Buddhism (most young men in Thailand spend three months in the monastery as novice monks) allows the Thais (this includes the therapists here) to detach themselves and offer this love unconditionally through their hands. It's not health claims, but relaxation with all her attendant touch, sound, scent and scenery, that is the panacea adopted at this spa.

However, this spa has become so popular that the mood of relaxation can get a little lost in the clamour of souls on its doorstep. Opt for your Oasis of Bliss in the privacy of your own Pool Villa, with its extensive proportions, raised sala and lap pool within a tropical, walled garden. Here that little extra dose of love, Thai-style, will leave you so relaxed you will never want to leave.

Each private Pool Villa covers an extraordinary 270 square metres. This nine-metre mini lap pool, as well as the Thai sala or outdoor dining area landscaped gardens and outdoor sunken bath, have all contributed to making the Banyan Tree Spa Phuket something of a yardstick among the top-end spa resorts in Asia.

This, one of the resort's two rock edge swimming pools, overlooks the secluded bay at Tanjong Said, on the northwest tip of Britan Island.

Banyan Tree Spa Bintan

There is little global fanfare about Banyan Tree Spa Bintan which is a blessing for those who seek that which has come to classify the essence of an Asian spa resort: tranquillity, therapy and spiritual time out packaged in a tropical setting. Banyan Tree Spa Bintan offers it all with understatement.

Perhaps this special little spa misses out on the hype lavished on many of its Asian cousins because it is situated on the relatively unknown Indonesian island of Bintan. Lying just 45 minutes by hydrofoil from Singapore, Bintan is a growing tourist destination with a plethora of new resorts. Never mind; when paddling in a spectacular private villa pool with palm-fringed beach views that sweep to the horizon, who would know that this was not the furthest corner of the South Pacific? And yet it is conveniently located.

The resort's spa pavilion is as tropical as they come, clinging to a cliff face and communing with nature. Watch out for the giant geckos while wending your way along the decking to your treatment room that seems to float over a vociferous ocean be low. The nub of the 'tropical spa' assault on the senses lies here in Banyan Tree Spa Bintan's 'Tranquil Room' where the sound is the waves, the view is the seashore, the smell is spicy-burning patchouli, vetiver and clove oils- and the mood is thick with calm. To lay back in here is to let life's pains evaporate from every pore. And then walk along the corridor for a treatment. Otherwise, it's easy to stay in the hilltop villas that are tastefully decorated and feel like home but, undoubtedly, with better views and clean sea breezes.

Treatments here embrace the general gamut of massages, facials and wraps using raw materials and mesmerizing scents, which altogether compound the peaceful experience that this resort already provides.

The Source at Begawan Giri Estate

We have come to associate Bali with the very best in luxury resort hotels, spas and tropical holiday locations so it is something of a feat to have created Begawan Giri which outstrips her cousins on so many levels. The nub of her exclusivity- there are only five private residences, each designed to defy description - really lies with her owner. Bradley Gardner has been locked in a passionate clinch with this piece of land ever since he first set foot on its sacred ground over ten years ago. Since then he has fashioned the private estate of his dreams on this extraordinary peninsula.

The spa experience here is an innovative one; it focuses less on passive indulgence and more on guests' ability to tap into their own inner source by embracing the vitality of the landscape. This is not as 'cultish' as it sounds. There is a palpable energy at Begawan Giri that flows from a natural spring, revered for miles around for its rejuvenating and healing powers.You don't have to chant mantras to appreciate some meditative moments by one of its natural pools half way down the mountainside above the confluence of two rivers.

The Source, the Estate's 'natural' spa (no spa buildings, receptions or treatment rooms here) is spread all over the estate's eight hectares with walking trails, a 'jungle gym', spring-fed rock pools and outdoor massage pavilions perched among the trees. Restorative programmes-up to three hours long-are conducted in the belief that the body can restore itself with the right kind of guidance: Reiki, meditation, yoga, walking and inner focusing finished off with pampering, all made that much more effective by a setting that is beautifully bewitching.

For the more sedate spa-goer, a full complement of traditional treatments is offered on the decks or in the rooms or poolside of the residences.

The 'swimming pool' redefined. Begawan Giri boasts a number of rock-lined pools fed by water from a holy spring (see above). It is said to have inborn healing properties. The pools are always cold, but also chlorine-free.

The 'natural' spa experience at Begawan Gin (Wise Man's Mountain) takes visitors on a journey through terrain like this found at one of the villa's open-air bathrooms. The 25-acre estate is planted with 2,000 indigenous hardwoods and is filled with such flowering plants as heliconia, ginger and orchids.

(Clockwise from top left) A hair perfuming treatment offered only at Begawan Gin literally smokes the hair with perfumed incense as it dries.

A Jacuzzi at one of the villas.

The philosophy of The Source says that the more people are returned to nature for reflection, exercise and therapy, the easier it is for them to begin to experience their true inner healing and balancing energies.

Each of the five residences is drop-dead dramatic. They are testament to architectural achievement whereby built form and Jungle fuse in super-statement. There is now here more stunning to stay - or recline for a massage - in Bali.

There cannot be many swimming pool spots in the world that take your breath away quite like this. A stunning slab of black water teeters on the brink of Bali's most dramatic river gorge. The silence here is almost busy with a sense of spiritual activity.

Mandara Spa at The Chedi

The sounds of lapping waves on Bali's coast are swapped for those of lowing cows and crickets in the hilly country of Ubud. Far from the madding beach crowds, nature remains raw and abundant up here and the spas adopt an earthy ambiance in tune with the powerful landscape surrounding them.

The much photoghraphed Ayung River gorge in Ubud is often cited as one of the most beautiful in the world and one of the many benefits of visiting the Mandara Spa at The Chedi is its dramatic setting on the lip of this valley, hundreds of feet above the river. The whole hotel, including the imposing infinity-edge swimming pool, seems to tumble into the sheer leafy jaws of the gorge, made soft by a landscape stepped with trees.

Even that nostalgic image of maidens bathing naked at the water's edge is realized by the local village girls. So just setting off for a spa treatment down a leafy pathway of moss-covered stones, kickstarts that back-to-nature feeling before you even disrobe.

This mood au naturel continues as you lie under a grass roof of cathedral-like proportions before an audience of big banana branches and flapping palms. Outdoor bathing diverges from the spa norm and takes on a whole new meaning: your bath is sunk into a loamy lotus pond twice the size of the double spa villa, making any presidential suite seem meagre by comparison.

The pièce de résistance here is the Mandara signature massage, an other-worldly combination of five massage techniques. It is rhythmically performed, like a dance over your body, by two therapists working together in synch. Book it.

These soap bricks are mild and gentle to smell and to touch thanks to their 100 percent natural content. They are exclusive to Mondoro Spa

Like her sister hotel, The Serai in East Bali, The Chedi has a reputation as a foodies' hotel. Her fashionable cuisine is a topic for the chattering classes from Hong Kong to Los Angles.

The famous floral bath in action! In this context the flowers symbolize cleansing; they wash away bad luck. For Asian people flowers are part of everyday life, right down to ablutions.

Pavilion suites with steep, classic Thai-style roofs interspersed with landscaped gardens offer peaceful settings for practising yoga. tai chi and meditation.

Chiva-Som

Chiva-Som is the only dedicated health resort that blends the quest for physical and mental well-being with exquisite luxury. Interwoven with the grace of the Thai people, this is a spa in a class of its own. As a result, the world of spa-goers can be divided simply between those who have stayed at Chiva-Som and those who have not. People cannot get enough of the kaleidoscope of facilities: scrubs, wraps and toning treatments, hydro-therapy in all forms, iridology and Chiva-Som's very own equilibropathy, medical guidance as well as meditation on the seashore. And this is only a sampling of what awaits guests at this visually sparse yet karmic resort.

Most people come for a period of between three and 14 days: these are spent blissfully in a bathrobe, yet busily pursuing Chiva-Som's 'mind, body, spirit' philosophy with a programme tailor-made to help de-stress, overcome trauma or whatever. In between a session in the gym, an outdoor Thai massage and an introduction to tai chi at dusk, it's hard to find enough time to try the toys: water beds, flotation tanks, musical back massaging chairs..., let alone a gentle snooze by the pool.

Chiva-Som subscribes to the notion that diet and nutrition play a vital role in mind-body harmony. The kitchen caters for this with carefully controlled cuisine and a strict mealtime roster, offering a no-salt, no-fat buffet. However, the many lavish spa facilities and treatments take ones mind off food.

After all, at a US$26 million 'haven of life' (the meaning of Chiva-Som) with a staff to guest ratio of four to one, it's hard not to subscribe to the maxim that health and happiness are one.

Surely one of the most peaceful and luxurious 'wellness' centres imaginable, Chrva-Som overlooks the Gulf of Siam, just three hours drive from the centre of Bangkok.

The indoor spa area at Chiva-Som is enormous and full of facilities from a one-person jacuzzi pool to the innovative Body Blitz, a hydrotherapy treatment whereby high-pressure water jets directed at certain body areas work on lymph drainage to eliminate cellulite and smooth skin tissue.

Experts claim that half an hour in the Flotation Tank is the equivalent of eight hours' sleep. The temperature of the water mimics that of the body which is naturally supported by a saline solution. The feeling of suspension is designed to send you into limbo and leads to a deep feeling of inner relaxation.

One of the inner courtyard views, in keeping with the pared down mood of the pared down mood of the overall design style of the resort.

Mandara Spa at The Datai

The Datai resort offers a 'tropical' spa experience in one of its purest forms-immersed in the jungle. Every sense is invaded while you lie, open to the elements, in one of the four spa suites that are mapped out along a wooded stream far away from the hotel rooms.

Try not to fall asleep to the rhythmic touch of your masseur. Cock open an eye and take in a full sweep of the surrounding rain forest.An open ear hears the chattering stream (whose sound is recorded on the hotel phone) and an open nose catches that pungent smell of rich, wet earth. With your third eye it's not hard to see a Dayak tribesman emerging from the trees to appear on the jetty of your spa suite. Stick to real vision and your visitor will likely be one of the many monkeys to whom this Malaysian slice of rain forest really belonged before The Datai arrived.

Aware of its intrusion into the precious equatorial forest, The Datai wears a mantle of sensitive design, somewhat like a hunting lodge, lying quietly under an ancient canopy in front of Malaysia's oldest rock formation from 550 million years ago.

The spa experience here, with its oriental massage and outdoor steam bath, enjoyed in the confines of a dark wood villa a hair's breadth from the fronds of the rain forest, is incomplete without a dawn nature walk. This gives the spa goer a clearer understanding of the greatness of the rain forest and how it affects us. Take for example the gatukola, a tiny ground creeper barely discernible among the thousands of species on Langkawi: apparently it is an aphrodisiac that reduces blood pressure and promotes long life while dilating the blood vessels and encouraging collagen production in the body. It is now pounded into face packs that we devour with relish in our quest for eternal youth! What better place to appreciate the harmony between health, beauty and the natural world.

The main body of The Datai hotel, Malaysia's first grand-deluxe resort, is almost 1,000 feet above sea level. It is enveloped by centuries-old trees, many with buttress roots and jungle twines, which represent just a handful of the 813 tree specres found on Langkawi, itself an archipelago of 104 islands in the north-west of the country.

The landscape design by Bali-phile Made Wijaya has won awards for this hotel. These hot and cold plunge pools reveal one of the many secluded spots found amongst the beautiful gardens. These took 500 labourers nine months of excavation and planting to create, according to what Wijaya calls his 'tropical Cotswold' aesthetic.

The Spa at Jimbaran,

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay

When it comes to luxury spa resorts, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay has earned its stripes as one of the world's best, offering a seamless fusion between five-star amenities and local ambience. This same success has been carried over into the hotel's spa, also ranking as one of the best while maintaining its indigenous sense of the exotic: gamelan music, eastern aromas and a soul-soothing atmosphere where time has no role to play.

Unique to the Spa at Jimbaran is its Quiet Room: while painted in hot shades like the rest of the spa pavilion, it offers absorbing time-out as nurturing as the treatments themselves. Treatments here are high class and expertly devised in a menu that makes choosing almost as agonizing as the stress they aim to bust. The mere sound of a Coconilla Scrub with Vanilla Beans and Coconut Milk, a steamy 20 minutes in a Peppermint and Lemon Grass Vapour, or a Wrap with Aloe Vera and Banana Leaves, is a heaven-sent reminder that indeed this is the Island of the Gods.

Many treatments have been exclusively devised by Kim and Cary Collier, a couple who spent a number of years studying Indonesia's botanical heritage before launching their own spa consultancy. Their sensitive dedication to their work is reflected in the 'karma' that prevails among the therapists and hangs in the air. They also create the divine products used here. The texture, fragrance and ingredients of the spa's Bali Santi massage blend - coconut oil infused with essential oils of vetiver, basil and patchouli - speak for themselves. Sampling is believing!

While this spa is beautifully designed with indoor-outdoor treatment rooms offering that all-Asian frisson of showering naked next to nature, guests can be pampered in the privacy of their own residence too. These comprise walled courtyards, dining pavilion, bedroom, bathrooms inside and out and the famous private plunge pool and outsized tub. Indeed, some guests have been known not to emerge through their carved, painted, double Majapahit Palace front doors from arrival to check-out... and they have still enjoyed spa treatments most people only dream about.

Hand movements in traditional Balinese massage.

A view up to the lobby from the main body of the hotel designed by Grounds Kent Architects according to a brief that combines the ambience of Balinese culture, namely a Balinese village layout, and the standards of a hotel in the 'World's Best' category.

(Clockwise from top) This infinity edge pool is one of the resort's two public pools. However this was one of Asia's first hotels to introduce private plunge pools in each of the villa suites.

All spa treatments are based on natural products rather than chemical preparations.

In oriental philosophy breath is synonymous with 'inspiration from the gods'. While normal breathing supposedly eliminates one third of toxins from our bodies, inhaling essential oils does more, stimulating our respiratory and nervous systems. This must explain why the scent from these oil burners enhances our sense of well being as soon as we enter this spa.

The Bali Hyatt was one of the first and remains one of the loveliest hotels on Sanur Beach. This swimming pool lies just back from the sand amid 36 acres of exquisite garden, designed by landscape architect Made Wijaya.

Spa at Bali Hyatt

Like so many Javanese words, leha leha says it all succinctly. It says peace, relaxation, day dreaming, an empty mind and lying prostrate gazing at the sky. In other words it says 'tropical spa experience', and more precisely the Spa at Bali Hyatt. This spa, designed and built as a Balinese village, is overhung with bougainvillea branches and lost in the midst of one of the most bountiful hotel gardens in Asia. It is leha leha at its most tangible.

In the raised, open reception of the spa, enjoy the honeyed taste of a health drink while you look at the stone maidens, hear the water that trickles from their pitchers, smell the flowers and touch the velvet pink of lotus blooms in the pond. Then walk through the Balinese doors into the inner sanctum for the ultimate leha leha.

The Spa at Bali Hyatt is special for the longer treatment programmes it offers. Once ensconced in your enormous private spa villa with sunken bath, shower and daybed outside and more within, it would be criminal not to linger for a two- or three-hour session. On top of this, the therapists here

are blissfully slow at keeping time and quick at offering unexpected added extras: a floral foot soak at the start of every treatment, heated oil for scalp therapies, flower bowls fragrant with essential oils and an almost excessive change of fluffy towels. They even leave you with a fruit platter midway through your treatment for 20 minutes more of pure leha leha on your daybed. On leaving, it really is a case of pinching yourself back into the real world of signing the bill!

This spa mixes a complement of Asian-based scrubs, baths, masks

and massages with Western jacuzzis, saunas, steam treatments and Australian essential oils. The belief is that its high-end customers like a tinge of familiarity to underpin the exotic.

The traditional Balinese village layout of the spa.

Designed to mimic a Balinese house plan, these spacious 85-square-metre villas offer a complete escape for up to five hours at a time with a seven-treatment session called The Raharja The day bed is known as a balé bengong which translates as a place for day dreaming.

The Spa at Bali Hyatt has its own exclusive range of massage oils blended with specific essential oils for slimming and easing muscles and for 'intimacy' and 'patience'. The larger bottles of body oils have romantic names such as Moonlight Stargaze and Spirit.

The owners of the Ibah refer to their hotel as a 'luxury homestay', although it is one of the most special on the Balinese spa resort circuit. It achieves. completely, the owners' dream to create a resting place for the senses, mind and heart.

Mandara Spa at the Ibah

Somehow it is obvious - and all the better - when a hotel is family run, as in the case of the Ibah. In fact, it barely qualifies as a hotel with just eleven rooms, more akin to cottages each with its own distinct design.

The Ibah's owners are an Ubud royal family who have held this dramatic site above the confluence of two rivers is for generations. Like the proprietor's grandfather who would walk the one kilometre from the palace in Ubud to holiday and meditate on this spiritual slope, his descendant has sought to preserve it as an oasis of tranquillity for the lucky few who stay here.

"Staying at the Ibah is like being in love," says Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa, its erudite and passionate owner, "you cannot explain it until you experience it." Somehow the light breeze, darting carp, murmuring water, nodding plants and sun-flecked stone seem to offer a healing power that in no extent of the imagination can be anticipated.

This meditative mood remains unchanged in the spa, a panelled salon in the eaves, designed to cater for just one person or couple at a time, so as not to clutter its healing purpose. There's nothing clinical here. Instead, the dark teak wood and colonial furniture lend the spa salon a sense of decadence, accentuated by the massage boudoir, subtly lit behind tall curtains and lined with mirrors and stone deities that watch over you as you lie naked under their gaze.

Similarly, there is not even a whiff of the 20th century as you climb up the stone steps into your private jacuzzi overlooking the gardens below. This restful experience is best enjoyed at dusk when the Ibah, with its heavenly mantra, transforms into a galaxy of flickering oil lamps.

The frangipani flower is the hotel's symbol. The blooms are arranged everywhere, in pots and to decorate statues, throughout the premises.

The hotel is located in Tjampuhan which actually means 'where two rivers meet'. Balinese people believe that there is a flourish of chi (energy) at the junctions between two rivers which may help to explain why the spa experience at Ibah is such a meditative one. Bathing in a jacuzzi over-looking this vista is entirely memorable.

Nirwana Spa at Le Meridien Bali