The good news is that we no longer have to travel to Asia to benefit from Banyan Tree spa treatments - to my mind, the best in the world. While it might take people from outside Cape Town a little longer than 15 minutes to reach Nirvana, Capetonians are blessed to have such a facility on their doorstep.

Although the Angsana Spa at The Vineyard Hotel in Claremont does not bare the Banyan Tree name, it is the very same. While in India recently I enjoyed the "uber" luxury of the Oberoi Vilas Hotels and experienced Banyan Tree’s expensive but fabulous treatments. The brand’s Thai etymology comes from native Thai trees - Banyan and Angsana - and the warm Thai customary Sawsdee Ka clapped-hand greeting is a wonderful start to the treatment.

I opted for the Bali massage, which began with a gentle ceremonial foot wipe while my therapist enquired about my health and familiarity with massage. It was here we negotiated the depth of pressure and I alerted her to my lower back that needed attention. This ritual set the tone for the treatment in two respects - it affirmed my role as honoured guest as she knelt on the floor before me and also gave me the opportunity to take in the spa suite around me. The massage table was beautifully adorned with silk fabric covers and flowers. Exotically sweet fragrances filled the air and gentle esoteric music added to the ambience. The bright sunshine from outside was muted by silks that matched the bed’s and a soft and gentle light provided a haven from the outside world. Not, mind you, that the immediate outside world is anything one wishes to get away from - the Angsana spa and adjoining luxurious spa suites are in a newly built complex that is as different from the Vineyard Hotel’s historic homestead as Angsana is from other spas. Supported by steel girders and clad in glass, the gym and Splash café complex provides views both inside and out while the spa suites look out over the river to the forest.

Deep relaxation
Although I tried to pay careful attention to the massage I found it too easy to drift from euphoria to deep relaxation. As a consequence, I can’t report too accurately on the mechanics of the treatment but one image that sticks in my mind - and is indicative of the experience as a whole - is that beneath the face hole in the massage table was a ceramic bowel filled with scented water and floating flowers. I had the feeling that every position and view had been considered and either adjusted or improved. Despite enjoying massages in many places around the world, I don’t recall this simple yet effective gesture - instead, I looked down either at the ground or the massage table's legs.

The treatment involved the therapist using her elbow to apply strong pressure in certain places which, at times, felt similarly uncomfortable to when, in Thailand, I had a massage where the therapist walked on my back. I was served ginger tea and chilled melon balls that had been shaped as a bunch of grapes with an oak leaf. I was given the choice of allowing the oils to soak into my skin for the remainder of the day or having a bath or shower. The wet facilities were on a dais that overlooked the treatment area and out on the private garden. Again, the cleverness of the design was visible. The glass-cube shower was sandblasted to provide privacy from the room yet open to the garden so that light and views swept through without any embarrassment.

There is an excellent special available until the end of September and I recommend the two-day Winter Weekend Spa Special, which costs R1590.00 per person sharing.