USP An unpretentious, adults-only and genuinely eco-friendly hotel with a holistic spa to match. The two outdoor hot tubs are wood-fired, the natural outdoor pool is cleaned by reeds, sarongs and robes are made from organic cotton and treatments use organic seaweed concoctions from Voya and sustainably sourced ayurvedic oils and lotions from Tri-Dosha.

AMBIENCE Almost every space in The Scarlet overlooks the romantic, windswept beach of Mawgan Porth in Cornwall, an invigoratingly windy spot where waves crash perpetually on the shore.

In the spa you can enjoy the view through floor-to-ceiling windows from the indoor swimming pool, while soaking in one of the two bright red outdoor tubs perched on a man-made cliff by the natural pool, or from one of the blue-suede loungers in the refreshingly huge, wood-floored relaxation room, which also has a sunken pit area with giant, velvety cushions for quiet reading or chatting.

You won’t find any boring photos of pebbles here - calm interior spaces are uplifted with splashes of colour and inventive art sourced from local artists. I especially loved the white and red papier maché models of a man cradling a woman hanging in reception, and the giant carved wooden heads and decorated tree trunks in the relaxation lounge.

BACKGROUND

• Cowshed at St Moritz Hotel, Cornwall

• Chi Mind, Body and Spirit, Devon

• Ocean Spa, the Bedruthan Steps Hotel, Cornwall

• St Michael's Hotel and Spa, Falmouth, Cornwall

• Downe Health Spa, Bideford, Devon

The Lugger Hotel, Portloe, Cornwall

A seaside spa in a micro-country house where you can hear the waves lapping the beach from the treatment room

• Budock Vean Hotel Spa, near Falmouth, Cornwall

Related Links

• Aquae Sulis Retreat, Fowey Hall, Cornwall

A simple unisex meeting area has zipped canvas boxes decked out with brown and cream flowers for hassle-free clothes storage and small lockers for valuables. There are private changing cubicles with showers – Tri Dosha shampoos, conditioners, body washes and moisturisers are all supplied.

Treatments are carried out in darker, quieter spaces. There are two cream tented treatment rooms, one spacious couples suite with two beds and a bath, a wet treatment room, a hammam and a rasul. A clutch of relaxed and helpful therapists dressed in brown thai fishermen’s trousers and t shirts are led by cheerful young spa manager, Steph Crosby, and they all really seem to care about your wellbeing.

The indoor swimming pool is cleaned by carefully-monitored levels of bromine, less toxic than chlorine, and there’s a eucalyptus-infused steam room for you to use whenever you want. A yoga room will open later in the year, and an outdoor sauna in 2010.

Pampering pedicures and manicures are done in your room, reserving the spa for holistic treatments. Bedrooms are stylish, contemporary and colourful, and there are plenty of other spaces to relax in the hotel including a courtyard garden and a residents-only ‘Retreat’ lounge and rooftop.

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE I fill in a lengthy but absorbing ayurvedic-inspired questionnaire and during a 30 minute chat with my smiling, rasta-haired therapist Tamarin decide on a four-hour ‘Unlock’ journey to ease out my neck, back and shoulder tension which she tailors to my likes and dislikes. The consultation room is small and a little claustrophobic, but it smells utterly divine.

My ‘journey’ starts with a delightfully relaxing body scrub and poultice rub in the hammam with a smiling Katie, after which I wrap myself in a soft brown blanket and stare out at the horizon for 20 minutes in the relaxation lounge. In a tented treatment room, which makes me feel like I’m on holiday in the desert, Tamarin then talks me through a guided meditation, gives me a very decent foot and head massage, and pummels my back.

Later I nestle in a hanging pod and flick through Tamarin’s copy of The Meditation Bible, focusing in on the ‘Get Out of Debt’ meditation. One for later, I think, and, feeling a little lonely in the darkened space, emerge to find my mother. She has enjoyed a one-hour ayurvedic massage with Linda from Sweden, who has taken very good care of her bad back, not letting her sit in the hanging pod incase she worsens it. I feel a little overheated, so I change into a purple sarong, then mum and I play scrabble looking over the natural pool, while rain lashes the windows and we sip oolong tea infused with jasmine.

The next day, Tamarin gives me an especially good full body deep tissue massage, during which she whacks my back with hot poultices until my muscles are comatose. The hot tubs are yet to be up and running on our visit, so mum and I swim a lot instead – the pool is cool and just large enough to do lengths in - and dip in and out of the steam room. I contemplate the inviting outdoor pool throughout my stay but eventually wimp out through fear of the extreme cold. It doesn’t matter, as we get lungfuls of salty air on our early morning ambles along the smooth, wet sandy beach and from an invigorating hike along the coastal walk which starts from the hotel’s back gate.

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