THE WEST AUSTRALIAN - SEPTEMBER 2003
Travel Extra - Elliott's Extreme Living
 
Jim Elliott is dodging his way through a Bali building site.  His hands are covered in gold paint and dust.  He stops every few steps to tweak a light fitting or to adjust a silk painting.  Elliott has harnessed the creative energy of 120 Balinese artists and craftsmen to replicate the intricacies of a 16th century Mogul palace.  The spa is the crowning glory of one of the most striking resort developments on Bali.  It is part of Prana Spa and Villas, a sprawling luxury accommodation complex Elliott has built in what are now the back streets of Seminyak. Elliott doesn't do anything by halves and Prana Spa shows his passion for taking something to the extreme.  He wanted Prana to provide an alternative to what he sees as the clinical regime-like atmosphere of many of Asia's spas.  "I believe going to a spa should be both a mind and body altering experience.  We are creating an event that appeals to all of the senses and envelops you from the moment you walk through the door.  So in a way it is part theatre and part therapy" he says.