To warm the body and relieve tired muscles, once you simply ran a Radox bath. In today's world of wellbeing, the solutions are more extreme - heading for Bali, for instance, where the Balinese Spice Body Mask promises to do just the same thing. One of a mind-boggling array of spa treatments at the Uma Ubud resort, opening next month, it involves applying hand-crushed rice blended with black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 'an all over deep-heat experience'. Deep Heat? It sounds more like Delia.

In fact it all sounds like a spa too far. The new generation of luxury hotels is going to ever greater lengths to offer guests cutting edge treatments to soothe and pamper. Take the luxurious new Huvafen Fushi resort in the Maldives which boasts two glass-walled underwater treatment rooms, designed to make you feel as if you are in an aquarium, with tropical fish gliding by.

Not to be outdone, the new Raffles Resort scheduled to open on the island of Canouan in the Caribbean at the end of July, will also offer two glass-bottomed treatment rooms set over a coral reef reached by boat.

Or how about your own astrologically aligned treatment room? In keeping with Mayan spiritual beliefs, each of the suites at the Kinan Spa at the Maroma Resort on the Caribbean coast of Mexico has been aligned with the stars to 'ensure positive energy flow to keep mind, body and spirit at peace'.

Meanwhile, the newly-opened Rock Spa at Frégate Island Private claims to be the first indigenous spa in the Seychelles, with its own on-site apothecary combining 'the principles of herbalism and aromatherapy'.

If that all sounds too sedate, try the 'Tarzan and Jane' massage at Anse Chastenet on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. Fortunately, the his-and-hers rub-in doesn't involve any swinging from vines.

· For bookings, call ITC Classics on 01244 355527; www.itcclassics.co.uk