EXPERIENCE SPA SHANGRI-LA IN... ZURICH

WHERE? The Dolder Grand, Zurich WHY? For the ultimate in Swiss pampering HOW MUCH? Double rooms from £435 per night; thedoldergrand.com

Just 24 hours won’t be enough to skim the surface of this sensory spa-in-the-city experience, so be sure to book in for at least a weekend. This is not your run of the mill ‘we’ll slap a few treatment rooms in the basement and call it a hotel spa’ experience – the Dolder Grand’s 2008 renovation added a super-modern arena of luxe tranquillity to the original 1899 fairytale building overlooking this ancient Swiss city. Inspired by its urban home, which is hailed as the cleanest city in Europe, the whole place is gleaming – from the glass lifts that deliver you to the spa reception, to the Zen-like pool (unless you decide to ruin it by thrashing out a new front crawl PB, of course). Not to mention the so-called Snow Paradise room, where the rugged walls are capped with real snow and the spotlit ceiling drips with icicles. There are few things more invigorating for your body than such a temperature drop, especially if you’ve spent the previous hour in a steaming hot jacuzzi admiring the cityscape and taking in the fresh mountain air. Because why wouldn’t you? If this all sounds a bit, well, strenuous, there’s no shame in camping out on the treatment bed. The Grand Body Ritual incorporates a custom massage and a detoxifying, body-buffing Eco Chic wrap, containing... spirulina. Yes, that superfood ingredient more commonly imbibed in a green juice is actually exceptionally nourishing when slathered over your bod. As the snowflakes fall outside (which is highly likely if you visit in winter), you’ll feel cocooned in a blissful warmth, thanks in part to the small fire burning in each treatment room. We recommend deepening the euphoric relaxation even further by embarking on one of the spa’s meditation walks. Yes, you’re required to remain upright for this, but the programme you’ll be guided through is a pretty effective shortcut to inner harmony. Ideal. Take it from us, when it comes to the Dolder Grand, one day just won’t do – whether you end up stepping out and exploring any of the rest of Zurich is entirely up to you.