USP The sheer scale of the complex is impressive. There are several hotels, an aqua park, a village of well appointed self-catering apartments and the usual sporting facilities.

AMBIENCE The place has an air of lightly worn luxury and therapists tend to be no-nonsense, knowledgeable and extremely good-looking.

EXPERIENCE A range of different massages and something called an Irish Roman bath for two. In between treatments, we had free range of the indoor pools, the saunas, the crystal-clear whirlpool bath and the outdoor pool shaped suggestively like an hourglass into which tumbled the temperature-controlled waters of an artificial Niagara.

FOOD The hotel restaurant offers high-quality health food. Breakfast is buffet style; lunch and dinner guests choose from different menus.

IN CROWD Robust Eastern European couples, burnished by the sun, catch up on their neglected flesh or parade around proudly in tight, patterned trunks.

WALLET WATCH About £50 for a two-night stay, which includes half board, use of sauna, fitness studio, and swimming pools. Easyjet flies to Ljubljana from Stansted.

NEED TO KNOW For more information call: (00 386 749 36700; www.terme-catez.si or www.slovenia-tourism.si)

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