From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

THE BALMORAL, EDINBURGH

If the day rains on your parade, descend to the city’s best spa (pictured bottom right), tucked beneath the Balmoral Hotel. It’s quite a playground, whatever the weather – start with a splash in the pool, and a spell in the sauna and steam room. That should loosen you up for an aromatic ESPA or Ytsara treatment.

l TRY the Kamala – a hot herbal alchemy of lemongrass poultice, Thai massage and green tea and jasmine facial (£95).

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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The Balmoral (0131 622 8880, www.thebalmoralhotel.com) has an overnight Simply Spa package from £335, B&B, with one Ytsara treatment.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL, NYC

This flashy international hotel group (centre right) pioneered the concept of booking blocks of time, rather than treatments, in its spas, allowing guests to mix-and-match sessions on the day, as the mood takes them. Such flexibility requires accomplished therapists – and they are. Their expertise, along with lavish treatment rooms, make Mandarin special indeed.

l TRY the Vitamin Infusion Facial. It uses the current beauty-buzz ingredient – polypeptides – meant to bring a Sex And The City glow to your skin (£148).

Seasons in Style (01244 202000, www.seasonsinstyle.com) has three nights, room only, from £1,150pp; Heathrow flights.

LE MEURICE, PARIS

Take one 18th-century grande dame, whisk in some Philippe Starck contemporary flourishes, wrap it in elegant excess and you have a recipe for sumptuous decadence that has attracted kings, presidents, A-listers and artists for a 100 years or so (top right). And excess is the word. In its delicious spa, femmes fatales have long given in to seductive treatments that promise to hold back the years. Intensive facials from Swiss skincare specialist Valmont, combined with the latest high-tech wizardry, aim to leave you wrinkle-free and radiant. Indulge yourself. You are worth it.

l TRY the 90-minute Meurice Vitamin C intensive brightening facial (£157); the brave can try the cold cryogenic body wrap (£65) to tone legs and improve circulation. Brrrrr.

00 33 1 44 581010, www.lemeurice.com; doubles from £470, room only. Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com) has returns from St Pancras from £59.

ELEMIS DAY SPA, LONDON

The most ‘ladies-who-lunch’ spa in London, Elemis is hidden away behind New Bond Street down a cobbled lane. It’s one of three flagships for the brand and is cosy with candles and warm red walls. The place is so relaxing you might nod off before you even get to your treatment room. If you want to induct a (reluctant) favourite guy into the spa experience, the Rasul Chamber is a good, unfeminine starter. Against a backdrop of opulent tiled walls and night-sky ceiling, you both cover each other with mud before a rinse-down in a ‘tropical rain’ shower.

l TRY the Tahitian Bloom – a lime and ginger salt exfoliator, followed by frangipani wrap (£115).

0870 410 4210, www.elemis.com.

INTERCONTINENTAL, LONDON

Padding along hotel corridors in your fluffy robe after a spa appointment can be awkward, but Intercontinental has a new alternative: Spa Boudoirs. You get a spacious suite, butler and treatment room in one. An Elemis facial should send you to sleep. If not, you could order champagne, canapés and Breakfast at Tiffany’s on DVD. The suites can even be booked for a few hours: great for a novel girls’ night out.

l TRY an Aroma Spa Ocean Float – lie on a flotation bed wrapped in lemon and juniper algae (£113). Four-hour minimum booking costs £500.

020 7409 3131, www.intercontinental.com .

For more than 250 independent spa reviews log on to timesonline.co.uk/goodspaguide

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