USP Cyprus’s first boutique hotel backs onto the beach in the heart of Limassol’s bustling tourist area, meaning days of undisturbed spa treatments and sunbathing away from package holiday goers or all the advantages of shopping in Limassol’s surprisingly upmarket boutiques.

AMBIENCE The Londa’s staff are enthusiastically helpful and impeccably efficient - not the intimidating Calvin Klein type models often found in boutique hotels. With over 60 treatments to choose from, including an Ayurvedic and Marma Points Massage, the "Prelude to Seduction" and the five-hour "Full Day of Sweet Sensation", it would be difficult to leave the Londa feeling stressed. Therapists tailor treatments to individual requirements in keeping with the bespoke qualities the hotel strives for. The spa has a sauna, steam bath, plunge pool, Jacuzzi and jet shower. The health and fitness centre aims to balance the body and mind through anti-stress, anti-ageing and weight-control programmes.

Views of the sea from the glass entrance to the reception area, lounge and outside terrace make the hotel bar a fashionable hangout for locals. My executive suite with a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was more like a Manhattan studio flat than a holiday apartment. The large wooden pillar in the centre of the room, which housed the television and fridge, swivelled round to face either direction – perfect if you want an early night when your travel companion doesn’t. The Jacuzzi bath was big enough to lie down in.

EXPERIENCE The spa offers aromatherapy based massages and facials by the Paris based Darphin Spa range. I needed an energising massage after a meze overload at traditional Cypriot restaurant Karatello near the old town and a cocktail binge until 4am. My therapist, Maria from Moscow, used a toning balm containing ginger and grapefruit to relax the muscles on my back and prepare them for some rejuvenating movements. She decided a treatment that stretched my spine and muscles would be a good tonic to get rid of my hangover.

Maria used her fingers on specific pressure points on my back to increase oxygen supply, help my breathing and wake me up, avoiding the area around my heart. She told me that once you get past the ripe old age of 30, water retention can become a problem because our metabolism slows done. Thirty-something bodies don’t process excessive alcohol as quickly and efficiently as they did in our twenties. Maria moved down my body to my legs applying a firm touch and finished off with light hand chopping on my back to increase blood circulation and soften my muscles so that “everything will be in place when you get up”. I then went to the relaxation room where peppermint tea was provided and fell into a bed so large I instantly felt as if I’d lost two dress sizes. Lovely as the massage was my heavy head needed complete nothingness and after a snooze the Jacuzzi was exactly where I headed and would have stayed until I’d turned into a prune if my schedule had allowed it.

FOOD Whereas local restaurants specialise in traditional Cypriot dishes, the Caprice, run by a Swedish chef, has created a menu to reflect the Londa’s international clientele. I had chicken covered in marmalade filled with carob and roasted vegetables with parsnip mash, grated carrot, broccoli and grapes on the side. Other dishes included sautéed calamari with spinach, baked cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes and anchovies to start, and orecchiette with fresh salmon, shrimps, chilli and red pepper oil or brandy braised rack of lamb with aubergine compote, grilled olives, blueberry sauce and fingerling potatoes as a main course.

IN CROWD Stylish UK, Cypriot and Italian tourists, as well as businessmen with an eye on a dip in the pool before a breakfast meeting. You won’t see any children as the Londa is unapologetically family unfriendly. They are female-friendly, though, with the winner of 2006 Funny Women Awards performing there last year and this year’s Funny Women finalist Karen Bayley performing there on April 28th as part of a four-event showcase.

WALLET WATCH Rooms from CYP 127,00 (£150) for a superior side-view room overlooking Limassol town and the Troodos Mountains to CYP 495,00 (£582) Presidential Suite with a sea view. A Total Well-Being Package for him and her includes face and body treatments, accommodation in a side-view suite, breakfast, welcome drink and late check-out for CYP 189.00 (£220) per room/night.

NEED TO KNOW The Londa, PO Box 52000, 3509 Limassol, Cyprus (+357 25865555; www.londahotel.com)
BA and Cyprus Airways fly from Heathrow to Larnaca airport, which is less than half an hour from Limassol.

Classic Collections provide an incoming welcoming service, flights, accommodation and private transfer to the Londa. There’s a 24-hour low-key rep service that can organise tours to nearby cultural sites, such as the medieval castle or the Roman ruins at Kourion where our rep performed an impromptu aria to illustrate the ampitheatre’s superb acoustics.
Classic Collection Holidays Limited, Wiston House, Wiston Avenue, Worthing, West Sussex BN14 7QL (0870 402 0126; www.classic-collection.co.uk)

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