Chi at the Shangri-La

Ambiance: Walking into Chi is like walking into a cavernous sanctuary. Everywhere candles flicker their gentle light in the huge spaces, and the atmosphere of quiet is tangible. A modern interpretation of a Tibetan temple, there really is something almost religious about it, which has you tip-toeing to your treatment room so as not to break the spell.
Treatment menu: The best of Chinese and Himalayan philosophies have been brought together with treatments strongly influenced by the traditional five elements - metal, water, wood, fire and earth. In fact before you start one of the 35 treatments, your therapist will determine your predominant element and decide on which oils and products are therefore best for you. Experts in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Himalayan healing arts created signature therapies like the Chi Balance, Himalayan Healing Stone Massage, Mountain Tsampa Rub...
What's Special: Just opened, the question really is what isn't special in this spa? But AsiaSpa especially liked the Tibetan singing bowls which are played at the beginning of each treatment, the oh-so-indulgent infinity baths, and their cashmere robes are to die for.
Products: Biodroga for the facials, and Chi's own line of products for the body treatments.
Downside: The spa is only accessible for hotel guests.
Where to go: Shangri-La Bangkok, 89 Soi Wat Suan Plu, New Road.
www.shangri-la.com

THE Oriental spa at the oriental Bangkok

Ambiance: The Oriental is an absolute legend. The historical hotel opened the first spa in Bangkok in the charming teak Thai house right next door to the Oriental Thai Cooking School. Walk in, and the first welcome comes from two mischievous birds who have been taught to chirp "Sawadikaaaaaa" and some rather less savoury phrases in Japanese.
Treatment Menu: More than 50 treatments cover everything you could possibly want from top to toe, drawing on traditional 2000-year-old herbal preparations, as well as high-end hydrotherapy treatments. Book in for a half, full-day or an impossibly indulgent three-day programme of massages, facials, wraps and more...
Products: Thalgo, and their own private label.
What's special: The Exclusive Monsieur and Exclusive Madame treatments, available to try alone or as a couple, include a Cuisine Minceur meal, as well as a massage, cleansing, manicure or pedicure and a facial. His and hers complete re-energising.
Downside: Priority goes to guests between 3pm-6.30pm and during the New Year celebrations. The waiting room is a little on the austere side, but the treatment rooms are comfort personified.
Cost of a typical massage: Essential oil massage, 60 minutes, Bt 2800
Where to go: The Oriental Bangkok, 48 Oriental Avenue. Shaphan Taksin Skytrain station or jump on the Oriental boat.
www.mandarinoriental.com

Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani

Ambiance: Leave the real world behind, and walk through the heavy sculpted doors into the peaceful open-air courtyard of the Dusit Thani's temple garden. Devarana means 'garden of heaven', and here you'll have found exactly that: a stream dances by, a fountain plays its welcome and calm enchanting music envelopes you from head to foot.
Treatment Menu: Anything and everything from basic massages right up to complete healing treatments - stay an hour, or stay a day. Packages include the divinely named Body Bliss, a body scrub, wrap and 90-minute massage, and the Inner Balance which concentrates firstly on your feet with a reflexology session, followed by a massage.
Products: At Devarana, facial therapies use organic Jurlique, while body treatments come with the seaweed based Algotherm.
What's special: Simply irresistible is the new Tiramisu Body Scrub - a sweet combination of crushed almonds, cocoa butter and espresso beans with a touch of vanilla. Revel in the complete indulgence and then come back to your senses for an unhurried return to reality at the foot of the waterfall in the garden. Delicious.
Downside: The fitness centre, yoga and meditation classes, and the stunning pool are for hotel guests and members only.
Cost of a typical massage: Aromatic Detoxifying Massage, 60 minutes Bt2000.
Where to go: Dusit Thani Hotel, 946 Rama IV Road. Near Silom Station.
www.dusit.com

GRANDe SPA AT THE Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit

Ambiance: The scents of lemongrass, sweet orange and pandan leaf waft over you the moment you enter the spa, while the natural surroundings of silk, teak and colourful orchids provide a calm visual antithesis to the busy Sukhumvit Road outside. Your spa experience has started before you even enter the treatment room.
Treatment Menu: The Grand Spa offers a full range of treatments for men as well as women, including holistic aromatherapy, hydrotherapy and an inspiring massage menu. Try the Grande Head and Scalp Massage Treatment which releases tensions causing headaches, hair loss and - remember this - memory lapses.
Products: Guinot, the French brand exclusive to Sheraton, as well as Integrity, their own line made from Thai herbs, plants and spices.
What's Special: A Thai massage at the edge of the most dazzlingly exotic deep blue pool in Bangkok. Surrounded by lush tropical plants, clay pots and delicate pink bougainvillea, this is an experience not to be missed.
Downside: Again, the pool is reserved for hotel guests, so you can look, you can dream, you even can eat a light spa lunch under its outdoor sala, but you can't dive in.
Cost of a typical massage: Aromatherapy sports massage, 55 minutes, Bt 1700
Where to go: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, 250 Sukhumvit Road, (between Soi 12 and 14). Skytrain Station: Asok.
http://www.sheratongrandesukhumvit.com/grande_spa.asp

Praduu Spa CLUB

Ambiance: Very exclusive, very marble. This private house, owned by a wealthy businessman, opens its doors for only the most privileged. The luxury and purity of the Roman spa style takes you back in time, while the treatment rooms all boast a different feel from colourful green and red, to canary yellow to a more calming soft pink and mauve.
Treatment menu: This spa won the Bangkok Spa Contest 2004 for its range of exotic signature treatments featuring Vichy showers and incredible body treatments, and they even have the Junior Spa Suite where kids can be spa'd along with their parents.
Products: Garraud, the French skincare brand whose very European products are all plant based.
What's special: How much more special can you get than a goat milk bath a la Cleopatra or a red wine bath surrounded by red roses? They also have candlenut spa treatments, just one of their botanical secrets.
Downside: To go from the changing room to the treatment room you must cross the garden, so in the middle of the rainy season you could start your hydrotherapy treatment a little earlier than expected.
Cost of typical massage: Aromatherapy massage, 60 minutes, Bt 3000
Where to go: Praduu Spa Club, Sukhumvit between Soi Ekamai 63 and Klongtan Road 17.
www.praduuspaclub.com

COMO Shambhala at the Metropolitan Bangkok

Ambiance: Smart and fresh, the minimalist modern design of Shambhala offers a beguiling mix of the latest East and West designs with graphic furniture and sophisticated décor standing out against a cool white palate. Fluidity and transparency are key, and nothing disturbs the complete break with the outside world.
Treatment Menu: Numerous signature treatments are on the menu from massages to facials, all developed at COMO's Parrot Cay retreat in the Turks and Caicos. From Jet Lag Therapy to Jet Set Beauty, your wellbeing both within and without is taken care of.
What's special: The COMO Shambhala Bath Body Care Treatment is a combination of invigorating salt scrub infused with essential oils, macadamia oil and oat bran, followed by the Como Shambhala massage and a fresh juice from Glow, the spa cuisine restaurant just next door. Drop in for a light lunch after your treatment, the food here is inspiring - so healthy and yet bursting with flavour.
Downside: The spa and fitness centre are for hotel guests only, and aficionados of the colourful warm spa beware, the clean, stark atmosphere might be a shock to begin with, but you'll be reveling in it by the end.
Cost of typical massage: Thai Massage or COMO Shambhala massage, 60 minutes Bt 2200
Where to go: The Metropolitan Bangkok, 27 South Sathorn Road, Tungmahamek.
www.metropolitan.como.bz

Divana Spa

Ambiance: The most welcoming spa disguised as an old Thai house, Divana is like a breath of fresh air in its simplicity. Surrounding a tropical garden complete with pond, this home from home will have you relaxed and feeling completely at ease immediately.
Treatment Menu: Everything for the body and soul: from their super slimming anti-cellulite treatment, sweet honey and sesame body scrub and avocado and green tea facial, to regular yoga and meditation classes.
Products: Treatments feature various 'Sense by Divana' homemade secret recipe creams and oils depending on the season and the mood of the chef - you might even see the him gathering ingredients from the garden.
What's special: The Slimming Body Massage begins with a ginger heat body gel massage which stimulates the metabolism, followed by a slimming massage with anti-cellulite gel, while a herbal compress increases blood circulation.
Soon Divana plan to share their savoir-faire with the rest of the world by opening an academy for massage and herbal treatments.
Downside: Only Privilege members can join the 'how to create your home spa' lessons, and the only bathrooms are on the first floor.
Where to go: Divana Spa, 7, Sukhumvit Soi 25, Bangkok. Just 10 minutes from Asok Skytrain station.
www.divanaspa.com

Mandara Spa
at the Marriott Royal Garden Riverside

Ambiance: Located on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River, going to the Mandara Spa feels like getting away from it all. Surrounded by a luxurious garden full of secret nooks and crannies, you really can lose yourself in the greenery and among the lily ponds.
Treatment Menu: A harmonious blend of modern facilities and traditional rejuvenation therapies include various massages, body treatments and facials using delicious beauty elixirs. The traditional Javanese Beauty Treatment is unusual, made of powdered spices and sweet woods while the Mandara Four Hands Massage blends five different styles: Japanese Shiatsu, Thai, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, Swedish and Balinese.
Products: Decleor and signature essential oils.
What's special: The Deluxe Spa Suite has a private garden with an outdoor shower and traditional sala, and many of the rooms have, wait for it, your very own ensuite waterfall - so that the sound of gently running water provides an infinitely relaxing background to your treatment time.
Downside: The pool and fitness centre are only available for hotel guests.
Cost of typical massage: Bt2,100
Where to go: The Marriott Royal Garden Riverside, 257 Charoennakorn Road, Samrae, Thonburi. From Skytrain station Saphan Taksin take the Marriott boat.
www.mandaraspa.com

JW's Health Club & Spa AT THE JW MARRIOTT HOTEL

Ambiance: Arriving at this spa takes you past the open gym facing the outdoor pool, and the health bar for blends of juice and spa cuisine, but don't feel bad walking straight into the spa, you are here for something equally as healthy.
Treatment Menu: A full range of spa treatments including the Pregnancy Massage to reduce tensions in the back and shoulders, legs and feet.
Products: Biodraga and Margy's Spa products, which come all the way from Monte Carlo.
What's special: The Colour Body Scrub combines colour therapy with a wonderfully invigorating scrub. Choose, for example, the Ylang-Ylang, associated with patchouli and the vitality of red to bring back energy, or the Deep Blue Sea Scrub, which blends eucalyptus, peppermint and pine essential oils and stimulates the respiratory system, perfect after the heat and hustle outside.
Downside: The serenity room, where you wait for your treatment has no windows, which is a little disconcerting, and there are no spa suites with private Jacuzzi or steam baths.
Cost of a typical massage: Aromatherapy massage 60 minutes, Bt 1,700
Where to go: JW Marriott Hotel, 4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2.
www.marriott.com

Season's Spa at the Conrad

Ambiance: This spa somehow manages to combine the sleekly modern and yet warmly traditional with its natural earth colours and low candlelight. While you are waiting for your treatment a screen hypnotises you with a slow dazzling tropical fish dance in a deep blue sea, so that by the time your therapist comes to collect you, you are already in a relaxed state of mind.
Treatment menu: The exotic spa menu consists of nearly 40 different treatments, including the Elemis Japanese Silk Booster Facial, the Well Being Massage, Exotic Lime and Ginger Salt Glow and Exotic Frangipani Body Nourish Wrap.
Products: The world-renowned Elemis products and Seasons Spa's own line.
What's special: The Elemis Aroma Stone massage sweeps your cares away with a treatment that mimics the gentle flow of a stream while hot basalt stones are annointed with spicy aromas and placed on key energy points on the body.
Downside: There's no serenity room. The after-treatment pause is spent back in the busy reception area.
Cost of a typical massage: Well Being Massage 60 minutes, Bt2,400
Where to go: The Conrad Hotel, 87 Wireless Road, Phatumwan.
www.conradhotels.com