The bowl of handmade Swiss chocolates in the bedroom is a giveaway: Hotel Therme is no boot camp. You don't come here to shape up but to chill out, lie in pools, sip cocktails at the bar and worship the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps. Water is a major ingredient as the main feature of the spa is its six thermal pools. It's a thrill to immerse yourself, neck-deep in the steaming hot water and gaze at the snow-covered mountains as snow flakes fall on your head.
The hotel was built between 1962 and 1970 on a hillside just below St Peters (the natural thermal spring from which it draws all its water) in Graubünden, Switzerland's least populated canton. In 1996, the spa was rebuilt by a Swiss architect using locally collected quartz. The result is a large, modernist building with stone walls and high ceilings, set into the hillside. Inside, recordings of monastic chanting mingle with the sound of the thermal water as it bubbles out of taps into the spa. A series of doorways and tunnels lead to different interior bathing areas including a flower pool full of petals, a fire pool (42°C) and an ice pool (14°C). Facing each window are rows of recliners that allow bathers to rest, reflect and snooze. One floor down is a Wellness Centre with an air-jet
Jacuzzi and 13 therapy rooms. Treatments range from thalassotherapy to aromatherapy and include the four-handed Synchronous massage. Most of the bedrooms are in the hotel's central building, which also houses the main restaurant, bar and lounge. The restaurant's European menu is good and uses lots of fresh ingredients. There are 46 rooms, 26 of which have been recently redesigned. They are all modern and white, with splashes of colour provided by bright Indian rugs and chocolate leather armchairs.
CONTACT
Hotel Therme, 7132 Vals, Switzerland (00 41 81 926 89 61; fax: 926 80 00; www.therme-vals.ch). Doubles from around £39 per person or around £94 per person in one of the newer rooms. Massages from around £23; facials from around £42. Four-night stress-busting packages staying in one of the newer rooms from around £594 per person (based on two sharing). All prices correct at time of going to press.
GETTING THERE
easyJet (0870 600 0000; www.easyjet.com) flies to Zürich several times daily from Luton and Gatwick from £50 return. It's a two-and-a-quarter-hour drive from the airport
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