Off to the spa pavilions for a massage to remember

HEAD to Conrad Bali for blissful rubs and salty scrubs.

Visitors enjoy their massage at Conrad Bali's Jiwa Spa on Bali, Indonesia.

HEAD to Conrad Bali for blissful rubs and salty scrubs.

AT the Jiwa Spa at the Conrad Bali resort, I have the best massage in memory. This is not the most glamorous spa in Bali, nor one of the most hyped, but a confluence of factors make up an experience that caps a stay on this Indonesian island getaway.

It has been a holiday of massages and in this I am not alone. While there was a time, back in the era of shoulderpads and porn-star moustaches, when that word spa meant not much more than a hot tub full of funsters, now only those who have spent the past decade with their head in a bucket could have failed to grasp the whole scrub and rub, pummel and paste revolution that started in Asia and has slithered across the world.

No resort worth its salt (and make that sea salt crystals and algae mousse) these days would operate without a spa, and it's particularly the case in Bali and southern Thailand, where healing traditions stretch back centuries. It helps, of course, that treatments can be very cheap in these destinations - there are as many day spas as bars in, say, Phuket - and we have at last got past the preconception that massages are something dodgy, replete with nudge-wink "happy endings".

At the Conrad, the spa's satellite of five garden pavilions is set near the resort's newish Conrad Suites enclave where the apartment-sized guestrooms are simply enormous (among the largest in Bali), beautifully kitted out and with a separate lounge and dining area, dressing room, walk-in wardrobe and balcony. There are individualised room-sprays, choice of bathrobe styles and sizes, personalised music selection and juicer with a choice of fresh fruit daily.

The Conrad Suites concept also includes a dedicated lounge, pool with 10 cushioned cabanas, beach club and a host of extras covered by the tariff, from free internet and laundry to afternoon tea and cocktails and 15 per cent off spa treatments and food and beverage purchases within the resort.

Guests in this exclusive wing can pad across to the Jiwa Spa in their gowns and then float back; if my Ocean Flow massage (sea salt exfoliation and aromatherapy rub with long and rhythmic strokes) is any example, pampered feet will all but hover above the ground.

Conrad Bali is at Tanjung Benoa, near Nusa Dua, about 10km from Denpasar airport, and features a long beachfront and expansive gardens full of buoyant tropical plantings plus a popular glass-sided and marble-floored Infinity wedding chapel set amid a reflecting pond. It's a lovely resort, somehow big and intimate all at once, and made even lovelier with the prospect of plentiful and affordable spa treats.

Checklist
Jiwa Spa is open daily from 8am to 10pm and is also available to non-guests. There are 17 treatment rooms, including five garden spa pavilions, two pool pavilions, exclusive pool, beauty salon and fitness facilities. A one-hour Ocean Flow massage costs the equivalent of about $80; there are also packages incorporating massages, tailored facials and flower baths.

The resort has an offer to stay five consecutive nights and receive a $US500 credit to be used in the resort, including treatments at Jiwa Spa. Book by December 30 for stays up to May 30; from $US230 a room a night.

More: www.conrad.hilton.com/bali.