If you are feeling more like a workhorse than a racehorse, then there's a new place to trot along to for a rub-down and some soothing grooming.

It's Sylvia's Secrets, a day spa at Turf Club Road that is housed in a former stable.

Spa director Sylvia Chew Haughey was struck by the tranquillity of the lush, green surroundings - on the site of what was once Singapore's horseracing hub before activities hoofed it to Kranji - when she was scoping out a location for her first spa.

'A spa should be in a location that is peaceful and close to nature,' says the 40-something Haughey, who also owns two beauty salons, also called Sylvia's Secrets.

Peaceful it is, being an oasis of fields and trees in urban Singapore. In fact, spa customers who want to be at one with nature can ask for their massage to be done on a private outdoor patio where they can also enjoy an open-sky shower.

Check out the signature treatment, the 90-minute Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage which is going for $98 (usual price: $140) till the end of the month.

On the other hand, if you are a spa visitor for whom uber-exclusivity is more your thing than a stable relationship, head over to the long-awaited Remede Spa, which is finally opening at six-star hotel St Regis.

There are only three other Remede Spas in the world and they are all located at St Regis Hotels and Resorts in the United States.

Besides the spa's ultra-luxurious signature warm Vichy shower massage ($220 for 60 minutes) and warm jade stone massage ($280 for 90 minutes), spa guests must try their incomparable wet lounge.

The lounge is chock full of wonderful pampering facilities, including a heated whirlpool, heated marble slabs and loungers to recline on, a cedar wood sauna and steam chambers with three varying temperatures.

Best of all, this lounge is free for the use of all spa visitors. There are separate lounges for men and women.

Guests are allowed to luxuriate in the wet lounge for as long as they like before their treatments.

But for busy Singaporeans, time is probably the greatest luxury of all.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Apr 10, 2008.