USP Located on the second prong of the Halkidiki peninsulae, an hour’s drive from Greece’s second biggest city, Thessaloniki, Danai Beach Resort is just off the well-trodden path of the European tourist. It offers cliff-side luxury for upper-crust Greeks who’d rather be sun worshipping than visiting Apollo’s Temple.

AMBIENCE The hotel recently underwent boutique-isation. That is, they reduced the number of rooms and upped the luxury factor. Stone pathways lead to seaside terraces where pianists serenade couples leaning serenely over the balustrades.

The spa is down one of these paths and just received a “facelift” this year. It’s a cool white enclave with Moroccan touches in bejewelled mosaic tile. Highlights are a cobalt blue water and colour therapy chamber and the gold-toned “laconium” or “mild sauna”. Though it’s festooned with miniature Greek statues it somehow avoids naffness. Just.

Post treatment, check into the solarium and nibble fresh fruit symposium style as you rest prone on curvaceous tiled beds (surprisingly comfortable for lying on stone).

10 classic lifestyle holidays

We've sifted through our archive to dig out the most spiritually uplifting breaks to help you feel good

• The Good Spa Guide: Budget

Top 10 breaks to get you out of a rut

Tired of listless beach holidays? From a soulful retreat in a Californian canyon to Wildfitness in Kenya, we select the best holidays to reboot your life

Related Links

• In:spa Ksar Massa Hotel, Morocco

EXPERIENCE The gorgeous spa girls have an uncanny commitment to their trade. The earnest way in which my masseuse advised me on exactly which oils and scrubs my skin and body needed would not have been out of place at the signing of the Kyoto Accords.

I eventually decided on a parfait of fresh Greek yoghurt, coral-bright pulped papaya and sand from the resort’s own beach which my therapist whisked with St. Barth’s brand oils tableside. Her passion for her craft translated into her excellent touch and several counter-productive admonishments for me to “relax more!”

In a stupor post-treatment, I was transfixed by the LED display in the cool confines of the stunning lapis-tiled colour therapy chamber as differing pulses of water sluiced away the grit and dairy products.

From the Elysian Fields to Hades: I made the big mistake of embarking on a session “The Belle Epoque”, an automated water and light therapy bed, largely enticed because it was shaped like a giant periwinkle. Here was my chance to be Bottecelli’s Venus on the Half Shell! Inside it was as claustrophobic as an MRI scan chamber, water gushed under the clingy membrane I lay on as lights blinked like the neon of Piccadilly Circus above me. Mildly seasick, I felt like I’d just experienced the inside of a Ladbrokes slot machine, and craved the human touch of my gentle therapist to calm me once again.

FOOD There are four dining options in this small resort, from casual snacks ferried to you as you lounge on the sand to ultra-gourmet “The Squirrel” which takes a page from Heston Blumenthal. According to Danai, it’s the first Greek restaurant to feature molecular gastronomy and rated among the top in all of Greece. Their take on the taverna, "The Seahorse Grill", serves classic Mediterranean fare kicked up a notch with luxury ingredients like fresh caught King Crab whose meaty legs are as thick as your wrist, opulent mezze and hand shaped dumplings in the very yoghurt you’ve just had slathered on your body.

IN CROWD Young Greek models with much older men, the Hellenic world’s most stylish couples and international celebrities on hush-hush getaways.

WALLET WATCH My “St Barth’s Softness” treatment with yoghurt, fresh fruit and sand was 50 minutes and cost €105 (£82). Treatments range from €80 up to €390 for a four-handed hot-stone massage. The “Bell Epoque”, the seashell-shaped massage contraption costs €37 for a 20-minute session – if you dare. Treatments can also be arranged to take place on the beach, price upon request.

NEED TO KNOW Danai Beach Resort, Nikiti, Sithonia – Halkidiki, Greece. Rooms start at €295 (£230) for a double, all the way up to €10,900 for an entire seafront villa (+30 23750 20400; www.dbr.com) E-mail: info@dbr.gr

Stay seven nights in a double room, including breakfast, from £1,480per person, based on two sharing. Includes flights with British Airways from London and private transfers (01244 202 000, www.seasonsinstyle.com)

BA has direct flights from Gatwick to Thessaloniki for about £100 each way. It is an hour’s taxi ride from Thessaloniki to the Danai Beach Resort. www.ba.com

Times recommends

• Brits in Bangkok furious at lack of rescue
• Britain's 12 best winter walks
• The insiders' guide to bohemian Paris