Tatler UK - 07.2019

VANITY CASE

S PA

BE AUT Y

Lily Worcester goes

off-grid at tropical

island spa Jalakara

TREATMENT

MENU

Deep-tissue massage,

£94 for two hours

Balinese massage,

£66 for two hours

Acupressure foot treatment,

£28 for two hours

Mineral facial,

£61 for one hour

Havelock Island is not the easiest

place to get to, but it’s one of the

world’s most special hideaways. Not

only does it boast what TripAdvisor

has called ‘the best beach in Asia’, it’s

also got Jalakara, a  former betel-nut

and banana plantation turned ultra-

exclusive, under-the-radar, boutique

eco-hotel. It’s so under-the-radar it

has no Wi-Fi or 3G, and so intimate

it has only seven rooms. And best of

all, it’s got Rossy, a diminutive masseuse

whose powerful fingers make any 17-

hour journey from London to the

Bay of Bengal’s Andaman Islands

completely worthwhile.

Shrouded in luscious jungle,

Jalakara feels more like a private

villa than a hotel. The decor is a cool

rustica-deluxe, complete with South

Indian-style plastered rooms, local

1. Terracotta Route Des Indes, £56, by
   GUERLAIN. 2. Bikini, £245, by ADRIANA
   DEGREAS at Browns. 3. Les Eaux de Chanel le
   Voyage travel set, £195, by CHANEL. 4. Basket
   bag, £248, by GLORIA PARANAGUA at
   Matches Fashion. 5. Choker, £160, by ISABEL
   MARANT. 6. Earrings, £160, by DOLCE &
   GABBANA. 7. Denim mules, £300, by BY FAR

antiques and tropical prints. But

the bathroom is the highlight: a

gorgeous open-air shower looking

out across a private garden to a huge

pillow-laden daybed and a plunge-

pool-sized bath that opens on to a

water lily-covered pond. The main

pool isn’t too shabby either; my

mother, sister and I sprawled con-

tentedly poolside on comfortable

banquettes, sipping from fresh

coconuts delivered by extravagantly

moustachioed staff.

As Tatler’s Beauty Editor and a

long-standing massage addict, the

spa is always my first port of call –

and Rossy is exceptional. Small

though she is, her Balinese massage

is incredibly strong. The two-hour

treatment starts with intense aided

stretching, followed by 90 minutes

of wonderfully firm pummelling,

and ends invigoratingly with coconut

oil being massaged into my head

and hair. That took place in the

hotel’s villa; the following day’s

equally terrific deep-tissue massage

was in the Wellness Studio Space.

Both locations are open air and

are wonderfully tranquil.

But there’s even more magic to

Jalakara. As darkness falls, we

polish off our tandoori lobster,

buckets of dhal and bottles of

Kingfisher beer (the alcohol on

the island is limited), change into

our beach gear, and head to the

coast, where along with the in-

house ranger, Kirti, we clamber

into two kayaks. We are on the

hunt for illuminating phosphorus,

an elusive, single-celled organism

that lives in the sea. As we paddle

along, the light from the shore

begins to disappear and the water

starts to glitter. Once it’s pitch

black, the show really begins:

thousands of plankton light up

like swarms of fireflies each time

our oars disturb the water. It’s

like being transported to Avatar’s

luminescent Pandora – totally

otherworldly. And almost as

amazing as Rossy.

Book it: Stay at Jalakara from £198

per night. jalakara.info

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Havelock Island

Jalakara Hotel

Lily Worcester at

The Taj Palace,

Mumbai, en route

to the Andamans

a massage

to india

tatler.com Tatler July 2019 105

PHOTOGRAPH: POPPY WORCESTER

07-19BEAUTY-SPA.indd 105 03/05/2019 13:24