The best wellness retreats in the world

The 34 luxury villas are built by pure timber wood including timber furniture, finely designed in modern style. Uniquely built above the sea, SEN Restaurant provides the feel of being in and above the sea while dining. The Roof Top Bar serves sunset cocktails and wine whereas the Beach Bar caters to all day demand of guests on the beach for  refreshing drinks and snacks. 

Thanks to nature of stream in the resort, the Jungle Spa with two private treatment salas are located along the stream offering various choices of massages and treatments. For more info, see anlam.com

Villa Stephanie has its emphasis on modern curative therapy. A former royal residence, the spa was only set up in 2015 but has already progressed in leaps and bounds.

The place harnesses new and old techniques from low calorie personalised menus to a host of body analysis and training like the InBody 720 Analyser which uses electric currents to measure fat, muscle and water composition in the body and will recommend where you need to gain or lose.

The people at Villa Stephanie also place big emphasis on digital detox from rooms decked out in calming tones to de-stressing treatments. There’s also a button to block out the wifi signal – you know you want it. For more info, see oetkercollection.com

Six Senses in the Douro Valley, could, in theory be a retox place. The wellness comes with wine and local presunto cured ham and cheese, tasted in a renovated manor house which used to belong to a noble Portuguese family. The resort ranges across 22 acres and you are encouraged to go walking in the woodland, try aerial yoga or spend the day meditating in pods hung from ancient trees. 

Spa treatments use a variety of bespoke concoctions, like olive oil butter, citrus and raw sugar. Go ahead and indulge yourself.

Or just chill out in the heated pool that appears to drop off into the view with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows. For more info, see sixsenses.com

Schloss Elmau is simply, quintessentially Alpine. The cuckoo-clock wooden houses tinkle in the fresh mountain air and the snowy peaks are pure Heidi. In this wholesomely beautiful landscape sits Elmau castle, built 100 years ago, by one Dr Johannes Müller, which has treatments ranging from Chinese medical massages to cupping and moxibustion as well as acupressure and Ayurvedic practices. 

Unusually for a wellness resort, it also has a library and beamed concert hall which has enticed some of the most famous musicians and literary figures from Ian McEwan to Yehudi Menuhin and Benjamin Britten. 

The place even hosted the G7 Summit when Obama, Merkel, and Cameron came to appreciate its understated luxury. For more info, see schloss-elmau.de

The Espace Henri Chenot promotes a detox therapy, Biontology, created by Frenchman Henri Chenot. It can include 30 intense hours of fasting, if you’re hardcore, but you could also get by with bio light cheeses, juices and yogurt.

The 100-year old building has a medical wing which has all the latest treatments, from lasers to injectables, facelifts and collagen-boosters. 

Coupled with this are a barrage of bioenergetic treatments, massages, phyto-mud therapy, hydro-aromatherapy sessions. Pavarotti was a fan. For more info, see palace.it

The strictest of diets offers no more than 600 calories a day, comprised of repetitions of crackers, spreads and bouillon (maybe an egg or some fish on a cheat day). The emphasis is on silent and considered eating. Your soup spoon is half a teaspoon in size. And chew each morsel at least 30 times. It’s all quite anathema to my usual diet. Then there is the daily dose of Epsom salts which result in conveyer-belt trips to the toilet. Optional colonic irrigation, vitamin drips, supernatural osteopathy sessions, lymphatic drainage massages, hay bags, meditation and saunas will see your insides scrubbed clean.

On the banks of Lake Worthersee, surrounded by the Alps, is the original wellness clinic. Situated in the ‘St Tropez of Austria’, this spa takes its ‘cure’ from one FX Mayr, an Austrian physician who laid down a principle of intestine management at the start of the 20th century. The Original has been promoting its therapy here since the 1970s and the place promises much – from maintaining a youthful appearance to greater energy and fat shedding all the way to improved wellbeing and mood. Getting there involves, in a nutshell, reducing your calorie intake. So reduced, it is.

Unlike its cousin down the road, Viva Mayr, which attracts a more Soviet clientele and comes with a deluxe boutique in the foyer, the Original is homely and familial which helps you get through the experience. The first few days are painful. Hunger pangs are constant and sleep rough. But then miraculously a feeling of wellness takes over. You feel alive, more energetic. And when you return home you will – all things being well – emerge from your dark cocoon a shiny, sparkling butterfly. For more info, see original-mayr.com

Beaune may be most famous for its incredible wines, but the five-star Hotel Le Cep is much more than a gateway to Burgundy. This beautiful medieval property is also home to the award-winning Spa Marie de Bourgogne. The 350sq m spa – with its high wooden beams and a mural fresco representing the local vineyards – is comprised of 12 different sensorial experiences. Facilities include aquabiking, a hammam, a sensorial shower and a relaxation corner with heated beds.

There are a range of high-tech treatments on offer, ranging from chromotherapy (for your physical and mental wellbeing) to cryotherapy (for treating all types of cellulite).

The spa also makes use of locally produced Vinésime products – cosmetics made from extracts of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes grown in the Burgundy region. Just make sure you don’t drink any of it. For more info, see hotel-cep-beaune.com

If you get your healing from lying on perfect white beaches looking out at the gently swaying blue sea there is no better wellness resort than this. The spaceship white beach houses have all modern conveniences or you could stay up in one of their modern treehouses, suspended 12 metres in the air. 

Personal trainers set a daily routine of wellness programmes, like Hatha yoga at dawn or swinging off the TRX to go along with the skin-firming facials and massages.

 If the exercises don’t thrill you then you could go swimming with turtles instead. Or just stare at the sea.

Ananda is bliss. Set high up on a spiralling ride through the Himalayas over 100 acres, this resort is built onto the back of a maharaja’s palace, two guns pointing out in salute to your entry. But show cannons aside, the place is really dedicated to helping you find inner peace. The retreat follows the Ayurvedic tradition, the 2,000-year-old healing practice which, at its heart, is about balance of mind, body, soul and senses.

You’ll be welcomed by a smiling Ayurvedic doctor who does a run-down of your bio-elemental type (dosha) – one of three from vata (air), pitta (fire) or kapha (earth). Based on this they assign you a diet. The emphasis is on moderation – more vegetables, less meat, alkaline foods. On top of this is layered a health programme of breathing, meditation and exercise – not obligatory but as it suits your body. The yoga teachers have a deep knowledge of their practice and the yoga sessions are of the highest order. Indeed, walk around the lush grounds and take yoga in the vibrating pavilion and hear your energy resounding through the air. The place also specialises in massages – copious massages of all different kinds.

You’ll find yourself slipping and sliding on the tables as you’re kneaded, dripped, rubbed and scrubbed with Ayurvedic oils, salt, yogurt and turmeric mixes and other combinations of special natural ingredients needed to heal your body. The cocoon massage is a particularly special experience, with the feeling that delicate hands are lifting you out to an ethereal plane. The treatment is very much more intuitive than hard-ruled western medical mores. But, by the end of it, you can’t help but feel returned to your inner harmony. For more info, see anandaspa.com

Bad Ragaz bases its philosophy on the health-giving properties of the local thermal water which has been pumped in from the nearby Tamina gorge since 1840.

It is a very state-of-the-art affair staffed by more than 70 doctors and therapists skilled in dermatology, internal medicine, vein treatments and sports-injury rehab.

Aside from the water they offer pretty much every cure you might want. From dental work to lasers for the skin right through to treatments for the eyes, and lots of dietary advice. No wonder athletes like Roger Federer and the Swiss Olympic team come here to recover. For more info, see resortragaz.ch

Chiva Som is one of the pioneering spas that has evolved every year since it was opened in 1995. It offers the usual calorie controlled food, good exercise, world class Thai massages, dermatologists plus a massive range of classes and spa list that has over 150 treatments.

There’s also cosmetic enhancement and non-invasive facial improvements, Botox and laser treatments.

 All put together in a relaxed atmosphere where lily ponds gleam in the sun.

Como Shambhala has a back-to-nature approach in a tropical setting among temples, natural spring pools, waterfalls and jungle. The food is healthy macrobiotic fare but delicious. 

There are Ayurvedic oil massages, Japanese acupuncture, yoga and qigong, balanced with anti-ageing therapies and stress relief designed to set right your psychical disturbances.

If you can’t make it to Bali try the Como Shambhala Urban Escape at the Metropolitan in London which offers many of the same body and mind treatments to give you relief from modern day stresses. For more info, see comohotels.com

The Almar Jesolo resort, situated on Venice’s sparkling Jesolo beach, is home to a multi award-winning wellness centre, the Almablu Spa. This sophisticated spa is renowned for its signature skincare line, formulated with natural seaweed and plant extracts, inspired by traditional Chinese medicine to promote a deep psychophysical and energetic rebalancing.

Indeed, many of the therapies centre around moxibustion – an ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine based on the application of heat on energy meridians. They’re used in the spa’s two flagship health programmes – regeneration and detoxifying. The Veneto region is home to many renowned courses, including the Jesolo Golf Club, which is just 5km from the resort. With this in mind, there are targeted massages and therapies for lovers of the game, including the Golf Swing Relax which relieves swing-induced tensions.

The 2,000sq m spa also includes different types of saunas, steam baths, experience showers and relaxation areas, a seafront whirlpool tub and direct access to the resort’s the 70m-long outdoor pool. For more info, see almarjesolo.com