A Thai spa sensation

With its cerulean skies, clear sea and many attarctions, Thailand is hugely popular as a winter escape.

"Culture in the North, shopping in Bangkok, beaches in the South", say the Thais. To see the south, I tried the coast of the Andaman Sea and an island in Phang Nga Bay.

The Sarojin was due to open in January 2005 but on 26 December 2004, the tsunami swept it away.

Luckily no one was in the hotel at the time, but it was 11 months before it could open again.

British owners Andrew and Kate Kemp and local staff aim to make you feel you are at a friend's house, and it works. Proof comes in the form of an award as Asia's leading boutique hotel in 2008.

Fifty-six rooms in contemporary Asian design sit among a white and green garden that surrounds a beautiful swimming pool and leads down to an unblemished beach.

Bathrooms have rainfall showers suspended over smooth pebbles, ginger soaps and large baths for two.

Under the hanging roots of a Ficus tree, dine on international favourites or go beachside at The Edge for Thai cuisine such as tom yam goong, a spicy Andaman prawn soup that you can savour while gazing at the perfect view of turquoise blue seas and golden sands.

In an old coconut grove lies Pathways, the Sarojin's spa, with a dizzying range of treatments in rooms open to the sea.

During a traditional Thai massage the masseures tease out your stress with a painfully pleasurable touch.

For the restless, there are local markets with exotic fruits, cooking lessons held out in the open, led by the Sarojin's chef; tailboat journeys along the Takuapa river; elephant trekking through the national park or a trip on the Lady Sarojin, the hotel's own 38ft luxury boat.

You can also go snorkelling — to the magnificent waters of the Similan islands, or to the equally memorable limestone caves and rocks of Phang Nga Bay.

The environmentally-committed Six Senses Hideaway is in Phang Nga Bay, on the quiet Muslim island of Yao Noi.