Currently in Slovakia to experience two of its newest hotels, Kempinski Hotel River Park and Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras – both with exceptional spas.

As there are limited flights between London and Bratislava, we took an early morning flight into Vienna and drove for 45 minutes to Bratislava, the bustling Slovakian capital. We arrived in time for a delicious buffet lunch at Kempinski Hotel River Park, the city’s latest and most glamorous  5-star hotel.

My treatment in the Zion Spa was booked for 7pm, so plenty of  time for a tour of a new local winery at Modra, outside Bratislava. Nigel, a Kiwi winemaker who helped set the winery up for its Slovakian owners, showed us around. We tasted the white wines first then moved onto the reds, which we sampled with nibbles of local cheeses and delicacies. We returned to the hotel feeling noticeably more cheerful!

Now on our way back to the UK after our Spanish holiday. It’s always a wrench to leave our little bolthole, but at least we have the journey home to look forward to as we’re driving back though France.

We were up before dawn (ghastly!) for our long trip, leaving Javea around 6.30am and taking the A7 motorway to the French border then on northwards to Millau in the Midi- Pyrenees.  It was quite an effort in the heat, but we covered over 600 miles in a long day of shared driving with just one diversion  - lunch at Llafranc, one of our old haunts on the Costa Brava. The villa we rented for a family holiday 25 years ago is still there and looks much the same.

It was probably the fastest, but not the most enjoyable way to travel, with heavy traffic in places, expensive tolls and below par service areas selling refreshments at lunatic prices.

We reached Millau around 8pm and as we drove down the steep winding road into the town, had a great view of the famous Millau bridge in the distance. This beautiful bridge is one of the wonders of the modern world and an awesome sight.

Following a good night’s rest, we drove out to the bridge the following morning and toured the visitor centres above and below the bridge, to get a true feel for the sheer scale of this graceful and amazing feat of engineering. The bridge spans the wide Tarn valley and links two limestone plateaus and has made the A75 highway the shortest route between Paris and the Mediterranean. We finished our visit by driving across the bridge’s one and half mile span before continuing our journey north.

Millau bridge

A couple of hours north of Millau, we turned off the main highway to visit Bagnols-les-Bains – a sleepy little thermal spa village near the town of Mende. The spa facilities seem quite good for such a small place and include indoor and outdoor swimming pools. You can visit for half a day and enjoy the pools and showers or have a massage in the therapeutic waters. I noticed that the several doctors practise at the spa, where the waters are used to treat respiratory and rheumatic conditions.

Spa Entrance, Vichy

We over-nighted in the elegant spa town of Vichy, where we stayed at the Thermalia hotel. While our room was a good size and perfectly adequate, the ambience felt dated and a bit clinical (old fashioned weigh- scales outside the lifts on each level). The famous Vichy Spa adjoins the hotel and can be accessed directly through doors on the ground floor. However, it is a separate business and has links to other hotels in the town.

The spa was closed when we arrived in the evening in heavy rain. The next morning I’d hoped to have had a look around the facilities, but unfortunately my request was turned down by a haughty receptionist in the palatial entrance lobby. I gathered from my elementary French that the spa was busy so no-one was available to show me round. I’ll have to come back! At least I managed a photo of the spa entrance and can report that the highly carbonated waters are used medicinally to aid digestive problems and in beauty and wellbeing treatments. Oddly enough I never saw mention of a Vichy shower in the treatments list!

Our Spanish Garden

It’s hard to believe that we’ve  been in Spain for a month – the weather has been glorious – just one short refreshing rain shower in five weeks!

The time time has flown – what with visits from family and friends, shopping, housekeeping, gardening and essential cooling dips in the sea and the pool.

I’ve done some work on the next issue of Spa Wellbeing, written up a couple of features and made frequent visits to the internet café. The only thing I haven’t done is visit any spas. This is the peak season, so not the ideal time for a fam or press trip – these can wait until our next stay in the autumn. I’ve lots of features to write up in the meantime for the website.

Working from Spain is not ideal because we don’t have an internet connection in the villa.  We’ve applied for a phone line and broadband connection, and are keeping our fingers crossed that this will be installed before we leave for the UK in about ten days.

Carly, my lovely therapist in the Mandara Spa took this image of me during my Signature  Epic 24-Carat Gold Facial. I’d no sooner relaxed on the treatment bed before Norwegian Epic’s engines started up and  I felt the huge ship slowly edge away from her berth in Southampton and down the Solent. There’s something special about having a spa treatment when a ship’s moving!

I completed a detailed health form, which Carly discussed with me so she could  tailor the facial  to my specific concerns (dry skin and dark circles under my eyes). The renowned Elemis Pro Collagen Quartz Lift Facial forms the basis of the treatment, but with the exotic  addition of a 24-carat gold leaf mask. The benefits sounded promising -  lifting, firming and tightening the skin, while improving circulation and lymph drainage. The complexion is cleared and instantly brightened.

After taking three deep breaths, the treatment started with a cleanse and tone with gorgeous Elemis products, including a gentle rose exfoliator. Carly explained that these products make pathways into the skin for other nutrients to be absorbed. Gold has good anti-ageing properties as it has powerful magnetic forces that clarify the skin’s texture and speed up cell renewal.

The facial includes relaxing face and neck massage including a gentle eye massage to help plump up the tissue under the eyes and eradicate dark circles.

Eventually after a papaya and pineapple peel and eye mask (with the most delicious fragrance -  good enough to eat!) it was time for the gold mask to be applied.

I was intrigued to learn that the gold leaf comes in tissue-paper-thin 24-carat gold squares, which were carefully applied to my face -  Carly used about 15 squares in all. These were left on my face for about 20 minutes while I was given a soothing scalp and foot massage. I could feel a warming tingle on my face.  Then the gold was removed – very simply with water. Disappointingly, the gold leaf just rubs off so you don’t leave the spa with a pocketful of 24-carat gold!

Carly finally applied delicate Absolute Eye serum to my eye area and Pro-collagen moisturiser to my neck and décolleté. She then handed me a mirror so that I could see how my skin looked brighter with my dark circles noticeably reduced.

Verdict – an enjoyable treat, but at $325 too expensive to have on a regular basis. The results were good, but not outstanding.

June is proving to be a busy month! Two days after returning from our trip to the Austrian Tyrol, I’m packing my bag again and heading down to Southampton for the two-night inaugural sailing of Norwegian Epic, the newest and largest cruise ship belonging to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL).

After her 2-night introduction to Europe, Norwegian Epic sails to New York for her naming ceremony and then to Miami for her first season cruising the Caribbean. She’ll be back in Europe next summer and based in Barcelona.

EPIC - NCL's new cruise ship

Norwegian Epic is the  largest ship in NCL’s fleet so far,  accommodating over 4,000 passengers. With 18 decks, 21 restaurants, bars, amusements and activities, not to mention the largest spa at sea, this is one colossal lady!

I’m having the 24 carat gold signature facial treatment when I visit the spa this afternoon, so will report back later.

The Wiesenhof Hotel

After a thoroughly enjoyable  and interesting stay at the AlpenMedHotel Lamm in Seefeld, (more about our amazing treatments in my longer review coming soon), we have now moved to the rural setting of the Wiesenhof Hotel in Pertisau – a short walk from the the shores of Lake Achensee and the Karwendel Alpine Park.

Our lovely room has a four poster bed and a large balcony with rural and mountain views! The surrounding countryside looks beautiful in the mist and rain so must look positively stunning with blue skies and sunshine

The Wiesenhof has extensive wellness facilities and after lunch, we have the first of our treatments, a 20-minute Tyrolean shale oil bath for two, which we take in a long narrow wooden bath. The shale oil is extracted from local stone and has a pleasant, slightly antiseptic fragrance.  We thoroughly enjoy a warming and relaxing soak – perfect on a wet and cool afternoon!

Wooden bath for shale oil treatment

What a pleasure to be in Austria again!

We’re visiting the Tyrol, flying into Innsbruck and then taking a half hour drive to the alpine village of Seefeld. Shame about the weather! – we leave the UK basking in sunshine and land at Innsbruck in heavy rain. The city’s spectacular mountain backdrop is completely shrouded in mist and low clouds.

Seefeld village

We’re staying at the AlpenMedHotel Lamm in the heart of Seefeld. This is a comfortable, well established hotel – with a choice of  traditional or contemporary accommodation in two wings. There’s also a super modern spa with outstanding facilities, including a medically supervised cryrotherapy chamber, one of a select few in Europe. We’ll be having a few sessions in the -110° chill – and  writing more about this unusual treatment in Spa Wellbeing.

AlpenMedHotel Lamm's lovely spa pool

Summer has arrived – at least in Portugal!  Cloudless blue skies and bright sunshine from early morning until late evening – a welcome contrast to the  cold  weather we’ve been having in the UK this May.

Thalasso pool at Grande Real Santa Eulalia Resort

I’m in the Algarve  for a few days to visit and experience some leading spas, including the new Longevity Wellness Resort and Medical Spa, which opens officially in July.

I’ll also take a peek at  Caldas de Monchique, an old village away from the coast with natural spa waters. It’s the region’s only thermal spa and is situated in the hills near the highest point in the Algarve. The village has several spa hotels and a spa centre where you can have with therapeutic and wellness treatments.

This part of southern Portugal has long been a haven for spa goers and golfers alike. There’s an abundance of  luxury hotels and  golf resorts all with spas with outstanding facilities and treatments. Look out for my impressions of the trip and what I found in Spa Wellbeing soon.

The above photo is of the warm thalasso pool at Grande Real Santa Eulalia Resort in Albufeira.

Celebrity Eclipse

Spent the weekend on board beautiful new ship Celebrity Eclipse, on a two-night cruise organised for the travel trade and media. The stunning £500m vessel achieved  international celebrity last week when her launch celebrations were put on hold for her mercy mission to Bilbao in northern Spain, where she rescued some 2,000 British holidaymakers, stranded by the Icelandic volcano eruption.

Bilbao rescue

As Richard Fain,  chief executive  of Royal Caribbean Cruises said: ‘The events affecting air travel are completely unprecedented and it is in times like these that the global travel industry needs to pull together.’

So, two days later than planned, we boarded the ship in the warm afternoon sunshine. After being shown to our stateroom (complete with rounded bed, 32 inch flat screen TV, bathroom with high tech power/experience shower  and  our own private balcony, we unpacked and set off to explore Eclipse’s many facilities. On Deck 15,  we walked on the Lawn Club’s half-acre of real springy turf,  watched some live glassblowing and then headed down two decks to eat lunch in the Ocean View Cafe. Service was a bit too efficient with our napkins and cutlery  whisked away each time we left the table to visit the buffet.

Our lovely stateroom

In the late afternoon we headed to the Eclipse Theatre for the  Naming Ceremony. It proved to be an emotionally charged affair, with speeches and tributes to all those involved in the creation of the splendid new ship  and to the crew for their part in the unexpected rescue mission in Bilbao. The ship’s Godmother Emma Pontin was introduced and a tear-jerking film shown about her challenging yachting career and breast cancer battle. The film was accompanied by the Only Men Aloud choir singing She’s The One and an aerial acrobat circling the theatre with a pink ribbon that extended through the ship to the funnel, where an oversized blue bottle of champagne was suspended. This unique ‘Celebrity  blue’ bottle had been specially created for the occasion by the Corning Museum of Glass from New York State, who run the Hot Glass Shows, featured on all Celebrity Solstice-class ships.

The theatre fell silent when Pontin spoke the famous words  ‘I name this ship Celebrity Eclipse, may God bless her and all who sail in her, ‘ before cutting the pink ribbon. We watched on giant screens, as the ribbon disappeared from the theatre to the funnel, triggering the champagne bottle to shatter a few seconds later. A really special moment!

After that we all went up on deck and drank champagne and listened to live bands as Eclipse sailed out of Southampton and into the sunset.

Aqua Spa Persian Garden

One of the major attractions on the ship is the fragrant Aqua Spa, which is on two floors with 16 treatment rooms, indoor pool, relaxation lounges, hairdressing and grooming stations and a huge fitness area. Elemis products are used in many of the treatments which include a new Hot Bamboo Massage, a Thai Herbal Poultice Massage and a 24 Carat Gold Facial that takes 75 minutes and costs $325!  Whatever your indulgence or need – hair, nails, face, body, health or  beauty – it can be taken care of in this highly professional spa by its team of 33 therapists, 2 fitness trainers, 2 acupuncturists and  doctor,  who carries out cosmetic treatments like botox and fillers. As Lana Krizmamic, the spa’s charming manager explained: ‘Botox is very popular with passengers, as when they disembark looking younger, it can be their little secret. Everyone puts their stress-free appearance down to their relaxing and enjoyable cruise!’  I was ready to sign up right away, but decided that a two-day cruise wouldn’t be convincing. I made do instead with a super Fire and Ice Pedicure, which cost $70 and included a sea salt exfoliation, moisturising massage and soothing cooling gel applied to my legs and feet. I shuffled out of the spa  in paper flip flops to avoid smudging my newly painted scarlet toenails.

We enjoyed wonderful dinners in the Moonlight Sonata and Blu restaurants, looked around some of Eclipse’s fabulous family rooms and suites and visited  iLounge, an innovative internet cafe that also offers inspiring classes focusing on Mac applications. You can also buy the latest MacBooks, iPods and accessories.

Our final evening was spent in the Eclipse Theatre, where we were entertained with a pulsating, energetic show, featuring dancing, aerial acrobatics and some incredible juggling and balancing acts on the high wire that were quite unbelievable.  A fitting conclusion to a fab weekend.

Celebrity Eclipse is the first Celebrity ship to be based on Southampton and starts her cruise schedule on 26 April. She will be cruising to the Med and Canaries  during the summer months, then heads off to the Caribbean’s warmer climes in November.

Ibiza Springtime

Work has been full on these last few weeks, so I was more than ready for a break in the Spanish sunshine, even if it meant leaving for the airport at 4.15am!

After three days in Javea, I’m now in the Balearics, on the lovely island of Ibiza for a Spa & Wellbeing weekend. I took the afternoon ferry from Denia (a few miles from Javea), and arriving at the port joined a huge throng of passengers departing to Ibiza for an early Easter break. I seriously wondered if one ship could accommodate so many people, but of course it did and once aboard, there was a surprising amount of room.

Ibiza is looking fresh and green with wild spring flowers and blossom on the trees. We are staying at Cas Gasi, a charming hotel in the middle of the island and during our stay will be having yoga and pilates in the hotel’s exercise studio and also visiting some of Ibiza’s newest spas. Watch out for my account of the weekend on the website soon.