IDEAS FOR 2009

Champneys' four resorts (Tring, Forest Mere, Springs and Henlow Grange ) have a range of half-price packages for arrivals before January 15. A Weekend Mini-Break that includes a full-board overnight stay, a massage, facial and choice of 20 different classes a day costs from £134.97 a room. Details: 08703 300300, www.champneys.com

A spa day at the new £5 million Foxhills Healthspa in Surrey costs £119pp and includes two-course lunch and a foot-salve ritual followed by either an hour-long Elemis prescriptive solution facial, a traditional full-body Swedish massage or mini manicure and pedicure. Details: 01932 704555, www.foxhillshealthspa.co.uk

Family-friendly CenterParcs has a two-for-one deal at its Aqua Sana spas at all four of its UK sites. A midweek spa day for two costs £70 and includes entry to the World of Spa's 16 experiences. To book call 08448 266200 and quote The Times

The Hythe Imperial on the Kent coast has a spa with a large indoor pool, a sauna, steam room and well-equipped gym. A two-day spa break costs £198pp and includes dinner, B&B, a skin consultation, full body massage and a facial. Details: 01303 267441, www.mercure.com

The Ayurveda & Wellness Centre at LykiaWorld & LinksGolf Antalya in Turkey has a package from £115pp. It includes a three-night stay in a standard double room, a hammam aromafoam treatment, a mineral earth face mask, a hydrotherapy bath in its multi-suite spa and one round of golf on the 18-hole championship course. Details: 08702 245524, www.lykiagroup.com or e-mail uk@lykiaworld.com

Choose from more than 200 treatments at four spa centres on a seven-night break at the five-star Fortina Spa Resort in Sliema, Malta. The cost, from £599pp, includes half board, two thalasso pool treatments, a Spa Santé session and return flights from Gatwick, from £599pp. Details: 0800 9173001, www.fortinasparesort.com

A four-night Spa Essentials break at the Hotel Rosa Alpina in the Italian Dolomites includes après-ski treatments for him (pedicure, manicure, facial and deep-tissue massage) and her (a Daniela Steiner anti-ageing treatment, luxury body treatments) and access to the hotel's spa facilities. Accommodation is in a deluxe double room or junior suite on a B&B basis and costs from £1,173pp, excluding flights. Details: 0039 0471 849500

Laughter - the best cure

The best place to go for a good giggle is the Laguna Beach Laughter Yoga Club in California. This group meets every morning on the city's beach to howl with laughter while watching the seals play in the sea. It's a classic West Coast setting: palm trees, white sand, hunky lifeguards and pretty people. Laughter is thought to boost the immune system, lower your blood pressure and induces an endorphin rush. As children we laugh on average 400 times a day. As adults it decreases to about 15. After you've had your morning chortle, tuck into a speciality pancake or seafood omelette at the Cottage Restaurant on the north side of the beach. Details: www.lyinstitute.org , or contact Jeffrey Briar who runs the club at jbriar@lyinstitute.org. It's free.

Hitting the highlights

New York hair supremo Rodolfo Valentin will, in the space of an hour, make you feel like Eva Longoria, with a head full of thick, curly, long hair. Rodolfo's “infusions” take 45 minutes to put in and last for up to five months. Finish the transformation with Dr Theodorou's teeth-whitening treatment at New York City Orthodontics. Beware, you won't be able to eat or drink anything with any colour in it for 24 hours. In the Big Apple, with its culinary treats, that's tougher than you think.

Details: Rodolfo Valentin, 1020 Madison Avenue (001 212 327 4227, www.rodolfovalentin.com). Prices for infusions start at about £600. New York City Orthodontics, 136 East 64th St (001 212 688 8188, www.newyorkcityorthodontics.com). Prices start at £600.

Easy facelift

If you can't face anything too invasive or batty, try a quick fix close to home: the heavy-duty facial. The award-winning spa at Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire offers an hour-long Luxury Age-Defying Facial that mixes massage, exfoliation and its own range of balms, butters and other hydrating unguents that work to restore tired, hungover and dehydrated skin.

The facial is finished off with something called “youth-glow” serum.

There's an intensive 90-minute session for anyone who has overdone it on the booze and late nights. Afterwards, you can swim, play tennis or golf, and explore nearby Windsor. Tess Daly comes to this club to freshen up for Strictly Come Dancing.

Details: Stoke Park Club (www.stokeparkclub.com) is offering Times readers two nights' B&B, with dinner on one evening, and a SPC Luxury Age-Defying Facial, for £299pp, based on two sharing. Valid until March 31, excluding Valentines weekend. To book, call 01753 717172 and quote “The Times”.

Italian job

“Biontology” was invented in 1999 by the Italian health guru Henri Chenot as the study of “the essence of life and its evolution”. Chenot's methods to combat ageing, stress and fatigue are a mix of detoxifying diet, mud and water therapies, exercise and his range of “actif” oils and unguents. Try the programme at the Espace Henri Chenot in the spa town of Merano, Italy. Europe's top politicians, fashionistas and sportsmen come here to lose weight and get their va-va-voom back.

Details: a week at the Espace Henri Chenot (0039 0473 271000, www.palace.it), full board, is £4,152, excluding flights.

Times recommends

• The three best routes to the Med
• How to cash in on your holiday money
• 10 tips for the perfectly packed suitcase