Best for... big city glamour: Dorchester Hotel Spa, London W1

Park Lane, London W1A 2HJ (+44 (0) 20 7319 7109 ; www.thedorchester.com).

USP This year's big spa opening is a result of a multi-million pound refurbishment. The cleverly named “Spatisserie”, serving champagne, cocktails and wicked treats has to take the cake for the best USP in spa-land. A spa doesn’t have to be all about purifying, cleansing and detoxing – after all, we all need to be spoilt rotten once in a while.

Offering a comprehensive list of luxury treatments with state-of-the-art beauty products in an extravagant setting, it’s all me, me, me. And why not?

WALLET WATCH A Kerstin Florian facial starts at £90; a “caviar facial” costs £160. The Spirulina Detox Wrap is £125, and a short 25-minute De-Stress Massage costs £55. For £550 you can go for the “Full Preen” – a 6 hour and 25 minute experience incorporating massage, facial, afternoon tea and champagne, manicure, pedicure and a hair-do by resident stylist-to-the-stars Royston Blythe.

Expert View

Each day includes a luscious 2.5-hour-long four-handed ayurvedic massage

Caroline Sylger Jones

• More

• Post a comment

Five retreat spas

Reflect on your life from afar at retreats in Surrey, Ireland, Italy, India and Thailand

• Get body beautiful in the Maldives

Europe's best pampering for two

Love suite love... the Times Online spa editor picks six of the best treatments for an amorous break

Related Links

• Europe's best pampering for two

Best for... proximity to London: Fawsley Hall Spa, Northamptonshire

Grayshott Studio Spa, Fawsley Hall Hotel, Fawsley, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 3BA (01327-892000; www.fawsleyhall.com).

USP Fawsley Hall is the Northamptonshire sister hotel to the Grayshott in Surrey, surrounded by acres of rolling land with a divine little chapel parked in the middle of a field just in front of it. It used to have a tiny spa in its basement, but it has now opened an altogether more fancy operation, dubbed the first Grayshott Studio Spa, in the newly-refurbished Coach House, located a short stroll away from the main hotel.

WALLET WATCH One-off treatments range from £50 for the 55-minute luxury spa facial to £90 for the most expensive Real Aromatherapy Experience. Better value are the packages. The bargain Spa Day is for groups of up to six people and comprises a back, neck and shoulder massage and luxury spa facial plus use of all the facilities, including lunch (in either the spa café or the bar menu over in the main hotel) – all for £85 from Monday-Thursday and £100 Friday-Sunday. Overnight packages are priced from £215 and include dinner, breakfast, accommodation in a club bedroom, and varying combinations of treatments.

NEED TO KNOW Grayshott Studio Spa, Fawsley Hall Hotel, Fawsley, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 3BA (01327-892000; www.fawsleyhall.com).

Best for... eco credentials: The Scarlet Spa, Cornwall

Mawgan Porth, Cornwall (01637861800, www.scarlethotel.co.uk)

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.

Times recommends

• Checking into ‘Europe’s dirtiest hotel’
• The best out of season European breaks
• Smugshots special: wintersports