Maldives Traveller's Neil Merret ventures into a brave new world of spas for the first time - and finds plenty to please the "Rugged Man" and seasoned "metrosexuals" alike at the Mandara Spa at Island Hideaway at Dhonakulhi Maldives, Spa Resort and Marina.

When it comes to resort life in the Maldives, the spa sits pretty well alongside the whole notion of unwinding on an island paradise; where cocktail preference and which shirt to wear to dinner should form the bulk of your most demanding decisions.

Yet the prospect of being doused in therapeutic oils that moisturise and refresh pores, or having your pressure points slowly eased with warm pebbles, may not necessarily top every man's essential itinerary for their perfect getaway. A man, after all, is rugged of skin, just as he is stout of heart - well at least that's what it says in the instruction manual anyway.

However, among a menu full of lavish treatments, men are not excluded from special pampering, with a growing number of facilities across the country offering massages and facials to keep male travellers relaxed as they are rugged. One such operator is the Mandara Spa group, which operates at a number of Maldives resorts including Island Hideaway at Dhonakulhi Maldives, Spa Resort and Marina, as well as on an international basis. The spa has a variety of special treatments such as "Hot Stone Massages" and an "Elemis Skin IQ facial for men"; services its staff claim are regularly used by both male guests and couples.

Perhaps then, while amidst the secluded Maldivian seas, there may not be a better time for guys to let down their hair, put aside fears of a sarong and relax to blissful incoherence before returning to real life smelling of ginger and exotic herbs. Thankfully, the spa operator is prepared to overcome these perhaps illegitimate fears, with a number of appealing treatments.

To begin the adventure, guests are invited to pick their treatments and choice of herbal oils over a relaxing green tea. From here you are taken to a personal treatment room that is designed to accommodate both individuals and couples for shared treatments. By oneself though, the request to get comfortable in disposable underwear and a sarong can seem a tough call, even for the most steely-determined gentleman. However, the challenge of conquering the logistics of skirts is soon put aside with the prospect of a signature Mandara massage.

Lasting 80 minutes, the treatment targets both your front, back and little toes, while the design of the Mandara treatment rooms allows guests to stare through glass floors and let thoughts wander to the fish in the clear water below. However, even the natural beauty of the wooden stilt villa becomes secondary to feelings of such relaxation, to such an extent that even concerns about disposable underwear become an irrelevance.

With time moving all too quickly to the end of your treatment, guests are then whisked away to sauna and shower rooms, where they are free to take their time to readjust to normality once more. Heading back with a large smile on your face, visitors are once again set free, still assuredly rugged and stout of heart - only smelling like a high-end cosmetics store to boot.