Look great on fantasy island

The racing-tycoon Irish owners, the massive budgets of a million dollars upwards per room, the local strikes that held up proceedings and, finally, the glorious unveiling: the story of the three-year renovation of the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados is legendary.

So, when I was invited to visit the state-of-the-art, 45,000sq ft spa - the jewel in the crown of the updated venture - it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

I was in Barbados, anyway, staying with friends nearby who are regular island visitors. I gleaned from gossip at the lunch table that, for a decade, the Sandy Lane has been a favourite winter destination of the G and T, polo-shirt and deck-shoe crowd (or the "ice and two-slice brigade" as they are nicknamed). Since the movers and shakers of the international social scene today are more partial to vodka cocktails and Vuitton, it will be interesting to see whether, after its refit, the great hotel will pull in a new generation of punters.

With its new, world-class spa, it certainly deserves to. The spa is housed away from the hotel in an impressive Greco-Romanesque building where coral-coloured stone dolphins spout water into a sapphireblue swimming pool. It would be easy to spend the entire day there having hours of treatments in marble-floored rooms the size of the average London flat, resting between strenuous massages, nibbling the perfect club sandwich before a first-class blow dry at the John Frieda salon. All that without dipping my superbly manicured toes into the Caribbean.

My two-hour treatment was a Bajan synchronised massage performed by Roger and Lisa in one of the VIP treatment suites, which come complete with private terrace, Jacuzzi, airbed, outside shower room and inside bathroom. Beauty treatments today are frequently inspired by a mixture of different cultures. The Bajan, which starts with a foot bath, has elements of European, Far Eastern and Caribbean traditions. The Caribbean bit, as far as I could tell, being the therapists themselves and the relaxing and leisurely pace at which they caressed my feet, cleansed my face, exfoliated my body and generally pampered me before starting the actual massage. I expected to be blas? about the quality of the massage but Roger and Lisa were perfectly synchronised, so much so that when I closed my eyes (which was most of the time) I couldn't tell which pair of hands was which. Heavenly.

When I wasn't being lulled into a state of bliss, I was pondering the hotel laundry. You can judge a good spa by the recklessly generous amount of expensive towels that are used for every treatment. In this one there were towels for my feet, for drying the exfoliation balm, for wrapping me in and for laying discreetly on sensitive areas - not to mention the perfect towelling robe (from Frette, I'm sure, the most exclusive of all bedlinen manufacturers) which was draped around me at the beginning and end of the treatment.

I should not have been surprised at this luxurious attention to detail since the mastermind of the spa, Susan Harmsworth of E'spa, has already made her name with other world-class spa designs such as Chiva Som in Thailand and the impressive Mandarin Oriental in London.

Harmsworth is just the person to know that the latest "must have" bathrobe has the towelling on the inside and crisp, soft, exquisite cotton on the outside. She would insist on having them for the Sandy Lane - no expense spared. Sadly, expense is a subject we have to cover. The Sandy Lane Spa is very expensive, but there is nothing like it on the island and it is open to everyone, not just hotel guests. Jane, who runs the Frieda hair salon next to the Sandy Lane Spa, tells me that everyone who has visited the salon or the spa has booked again, which says it all.

Now that frying in the sun has lost its allure for many, more and more people want high-class pampering as part of their downtime. I'm told that Concorde still has seats available and the weather is wonderful.

For more information call the Sandy Lane Hotel (001 246 444 2000) or visit www.sandylane.com.

A Bajan Synchronised Massage costs £242.

For a similar treatment, try the Balinese Synchronised Massage, £215, at The Spa at Mandarin Oriental (020 7838 9888).

Kathy Phillips is associate editor of Vogue (Health and Beauty).