Hotels across the world have jumped on the spa resort bandwagon and have made claims which are not always entirely true. At the other end of the spectrum are the very high quality places which hardly mention the fact that they are rated off the scale and provide the ultimate experience. Resorts such as Six Senses have properties which address those six senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. That’s five, so what is the sixth? The CEO will tell anyone willing to listen that the sixth sense is personal to each and every person and cannot be defined. That may be a nice piece of public relations spiel, but in many ways he is right. There is a sixth sense which is satisfied when all the other elements are taken care of. At the luxury spa hotel attempts are made to complete the picture with body treatments, fitness regimes, excellent food and all set in natural surroundings. For this ultimate experience, there are many who would recommend the resort in the Far East or in the Middle East. The difference between the two is one of tradition.

Luxury at a price

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) there are the finest hotels in the world, and that is not disputed, The Jeremiah in Dubai has won accolades the world over for sheer unadulterated luxury. From the undersea glass fronted restaurant to the Assawan Spa it is luxury all the way. The best comes at a hefty price, but if a guest wants luxury then they have to pay for it. Except maybe in south east Asia. That difference we spoke about is in the traditions of the country and the culture. To some extent the luxury experienced in Dubai and the health treatments in the spas are manufactured. In the countries further to the east, in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, they are not. They come with centuries of tradition and in Thailand the treatments available are every bit as good as anywhere in the world, but come at a much lower cost.

The Far East and the massage

Local people will go for a massage in the same way as a westerner might go for a hair cut or a manicure. It is an regular and natural experience which goes from the simple street or beach massage right up to the very best luxury spa hotels. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Oriental in Bangkok has been awarded the accolade ‘Best Hotel in the World’ time and again, whilst down in Singapore the legendary Raffles competes as one of the best hotels in Asia. They each have the finest spa facilities, but these are city hotels and many tourists coming to these parts will want to venture out to the provinces and the beaches. On the tropical island of Phuket, the hotels provide the best facilities found in the region and on the other islands there are plenty of resort hotels with great spa facilities along with top restaurants, swimming pools and Thai massage services.

Rooted in religion

Thai massage is something very special with deep roots in the Buddhist religion. The way in which a trained masseur use the fingers and thumbs to bring vitality to muscles is quite extraordinary. In Bangkok at Wat Po there are the people who train the professional masseurs who go on to work in hotels and massage shops all over the country. It’s a profession which almost all Thais have some knowledge of, and is practised by those from the poorest rural villages, as something akin to housework or farming. It is just something which Thai people do, and that’s the way it is.

So whilst the masseur in the top luxury spa hotel will have a full training in all sorts of massage techniques, there are also quite a few who are adequate if not quite as professional. Again this comes down to cost, so the luxury spa massage may cost around £20 for an hour, which is still quite cheap, but the beach massage may be just £3. The quality of the surroundings might not quite so great, but the experience of laying on a tropical beach, under a palm tree, having a relaxing Thai massage is for many, the memory they will have forever.