THE FACTS ABOUT EVASON HIDEAWAY & SIX SENSES SPA AT HUA HIN

Thailand

Most Thai resorts present you with a cool towel on arrival, but they do things a little differently at the Evason Hideaway: here the towel has a stick of lemongrass inside, which you snap in half to release the scent. One of three 'boutique'-styled resorts run by the Six Senses group (the others are on Koh Samui and in Vietnam, and a new one will open on Thailand's Yao Noi next year), the Hideaway Hua Hin in Pranburi is unusual in that it is attached to an existing Evason resort, with which it shares the splendid Six Senses spa, an exhaustive range of family-based activities and a pool separated from the disappointingly narrow beach by a red-dirt road. The Hideaway, though, is smarter and more aloof than its neighbour, having turned its back on the sea to face inland with 55 spacious, twin-roomed villas, each a resort in miniature with pool and massage sala. Guests from both resorts can move freely between the two, using pathways cut through the tropical grounds; but I had the impression these were paths less travelled. People's idea of luxury varies wildly, but for me there's nothing quite like having a private 10-metre pool without fitter swimmers ploughing through the water nearby. After your swim, you may decide to shower in the living room for a change, or make an opening move on the chessboard. You can pre-book an iPod for your villa, and order in anything from Jenga to a Jet-Lag Massage a call that brought over three spa attendants carrying potions and piles of white towels, like a travelling apothecary. In the evening, the modestly titled 'turn-down service' turned the villa into a glowing spectacle my own Thai spirit house lit from palm tree to lily pond. The only thing missing was a view, although a few palm fronds waved across the whitewashed walls. (A supplement is charged for full or partial sea views.) The tropical profusion is remarkable the dense orchids, huge waxy leaves and vine-clad trunks so fertile you suspect that what was a pot-plant before you go to bed could be tapping at your window by morning and in such a setting the be-shorted European members of staff seemed a little It Ain't 'Alf Hot Mum, struggling to keep cool in some far-flung outpost. The general manager tours the resort by bicycle and greets every guest on arrival; and a butler is assigned to each villa more mobile concierge than Admirable Crichton who made what was already an easy existence even easier. The overall impression was one of quiet efficiency tempered with moments of surreality: the shy pair of classical musicians emerging from behind bullrushes to serenade guests over breakfast; the giant beehive domes being raised from mud and rice husks by northern Thai craftsmen, eventually to become treatment rooms at the Hideaway's Earth Spa (the 'Skin Food' treatment menu uses ingredients such as turmeric and papaya, all from the resort's garden). There are several places to visit nearby, but I imagine most guests in a Hideaway villa are content to leave the outside world to its own devices. CONTACT Evason Hideaway & Six Senses Spa at Hua Hin (00 66 32 618200; www.sixsenses.com). COST Doubles from about £210