These are unusual times, and the state of affairs can change quickly. Please check the latest travel guidance before making your journey. Our writers visited these hotels pre-pandemic.
Even before the pandemic the spa-scape was constantly evolving. It wasn’t long ago that a spa meant a couple of pokey treatment rooms doing overpriced, mediocre massages and facials. The UK once lagged way behind the likes of Austria, Germany, Italy and Hungary – countries where spa-going is part of the culture, and a steam, sauna and cold dip (often in the nude, men and women alike) is the natural thing to do before a pre-dinner G&T.
But as our insatiable interest (and need) for wellness, fitness and, increasingly, mindfulness continues to grow, especially in a new world where home-working desk-bent bodies and Wi-Fi (should that be Wi-Fried?) minds have pushed spa bookings up considerably, so has the offering in spa hotels across the UK. Here’s our pick of the best, from year-round rooftop spas in Yorkshire and natural pools overlooking the Cornish coastline, to the thermal spa waters of Bath.
The House at Beaverbrook
Surrey, England
Beaverbrook might date back to 1866 but it certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously – as evidenced in its spa which was designed by Brian Clarke in a refreshing riot of colour. There are six treatment rooms all designed by Clarke and based on a different flower found on the estate, with experiences ranging from the classic (the Relaxation massage delivers exactly what it promises) to the more ‘out-there’ choices including a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, and intravenous ‘infusions’. If weather permits, the checkerboard-bottomed outdoor pool is the place to be; overlooking this is the indoor pool. The thermal suite has a whirlpool, steam room and sauna.
From
£
560
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
The Gainsborough Bath Spa
Bath, Somerset, England
Thermal waters are the draw at The Gainsborough (it’s the only hotel spa in Bath with direct access to them) and its Romanesque Spa Village is quite something. There are three substantial pools in which to wallow – the largest set under a glass-roofed atrium – as well as saunas and a steam room and 11 treatment rooms offering a wide range of massages and Asian‑influenced therapies. Other treatments include ‘freedom’ – controlled submerging with a therapist, which is liberating both mentally and physically – ginger exfoliation, and magnesium wraps. All hotel guests have free access to the spa from 7am-9am and 8pm-10pm. Otherwise, it’s reserved for those with treatments booked.
From
£
202
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury, Cotswolds, England
The sprawling and spacious spa complements this extensive country house retreat – all dreamy cream furnishings, soft sofas and crackling fires – with its seven relaxing treatment rooms, heated outdoor hot tub, indoor slate-lined pool (with separate swimming times for children) and large outdoor pool. Treatments include an Aromatherapy Associates Immune Support boost massage which uses a blend of essential oils of tea tree, eucalyptus and pine to provide relief and support a healthy immune system; ELEMIS facials and massages; and CACI cosmetic experiences. Reiki is also on the menu; a good option for those who prefer a more hands off treatment.
From
£
239
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Gilpin Hotel & Lake House
Lake Windermere, Lake District, England
Gilpin Hotel & Lake House is firmly in the indulgent break category. Set beside a wooded private lake, its swanky private Spa Suites offer cosseting boutique hotel luxury combined with stress-busting seclusion. Each cedar-clad cabin is 6ft above ground for show-stopping views across the Lake District fells. There are log fires, state-of-the-art music systems and sitting rooms that convert into treatment rooms for massages à deux. Upping the spa game are the five new Spa Lodges which feature private walled gardens with a hot tub, steam room, sauna and separate treatment room equipped with infrared lounge beds and a massage chair. Gilpin Lake House, for groups of up to 12, has spa facilities and an indoor pool.
From
£
255
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Soho Farmhouse
Chipping Norton, Cotswolds, England
Created by the Soho House group, this is not your standard rural retreat: a boutique hotel meets Canadian wilderness cabin meets American country club. What was once a derelict farm has been transformed with some 40 reclaimed timber cabins flanking four man-made lakes and the original 18th-century farmhouse buildings. The facilities are without peer – from the Cowshed spa with sauna, hammam, hot tubs and a broad range of treatments, to the luxurious cinema, cookery school and spacious gym and spinning studio. Add to this an indoor and outdoor pool, boating lake, tennis courts, football pitch, horse riding and the outstanding “Teeny Barn” kids’ club.
From
£
350
per night
Cliveden
Taplow, Berkshire, England
There are country house hotels – and then there’s Cliveden. The National Trust property’s spa is set around its listed, heated outdoor pool – the spot where John Profumo notoriously first met Christine Keeler – which is edged by lawn, lined by sun loungers and overlooked by two hot tubs. Yet more loungers look out into the garden from behind glass, with every other day bed separated by a floor-to-ceiling curtain. Past that, a collonaded, marble room is home to the heated indoor pool, whirlpool tub, steam room and infrared sauna. The spa is one of just three in the UK that offers treatments by celebrity facialists – and one of Meghan’s favourites – Sarah Chapman.
From
£
500
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Gleneagles Hotel
Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
Set in one of the Highlands’ prettiest locations, Gleneagles’ spa is known for its crack team of practitioners who nudge you back into wellness via tailored diet, fitness and lifestyle programmes. The range of ESPA offerings cover every conceivable face and body treatment; go for the two-hour Serenity Package, blending body and facial massage with shirodhara (warm oil drizzled over the forehead to relax and still the mind). With saunas, steam rooms, hydrotherapy ‘vitality’ pool and superb relaxation areas, you may never want to leave. Feeling energetic? There are indoor and outdoor tennis courts, as well as croquet, archery and bike hire.
From
£
244
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Lucknam Park
Wiltshire, England
The state-of-the-art spa, cut from polished cream stone, complements the elegant Georgian mansion and its extensive surroundings. You can easily spend a whole day there, luxuriating in an indoor pool embellished by a panel of flickering fire, an array of thermal suites (including a Japanese salt steam room, jasmine-scented amethyst room, a eucalyptus-infused steam room, a tepidarium and a sauna); and 12 treatment rooms. The indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy pool allows dippers to swim through to an open-air infinity pool with views onto the surrounding parkland and arboretum. There’s also a private outdoor area with saltwater plunge pool for those having treatments.
From
£
375
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Kimpton Blythswood Square
Glasgow, Scotland
You will find this modern, funky, and oh-so quiet spa deep below the hotel, which is located in a prime, tranquil site overlooking a leafy square in Glasgow city centre. Many of the marvellous treatments are based around mineral-rich Scottish seaweed – you can steam, swim or relax in a bath of the stuff flown in daily from the Hebrides. Other treatments use Ila or ishga (Gaelic for ‘water’) skincare, the latter of which makes its products using antioxidant-rich organic seaweed and natural spring water from the Isle of Lewis. Hotel guests get complimentary access to the Thermal Experience; a circuit of wet and dry, warm and cold rooms.
From
£
153
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Galgorm Resort & Spa
Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
During Galgorm’s Celtic Sauna Ritual (spa circuit) there’s a choice of things to admire – from the picturesque grounds through the sauna window, to the staff wafting oil-infused steam around the room with a towel – while participants simply sit and inhale. The outdoor thermal Spa Village is a watery wonderland (do pack your swimming gear). It has a large pool (with a polished pebble floor to massage pressure points in your feet), indoor and outdoor thermal spa pools, an ice room where you can slather shards of ice over yourself post-sauna, or soak in one of five log-fired hot tubs dotted along the riverside.
From
£
210
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Dormy House
Broadway, Cotswolds, England
This handsome haven of comfort and wellbeing is above pretty Broadway on the north western edge of the Cotswolds. Sprawling over several floors, the Scandinavian-chic House Spa leads directly off the reception lobby, so you are in no doubt that it’s centre stage at this ‘reinvented rustic’ country house hotel. Facilities are glorious, with a lavender sauna, salt-infusion steam room, infinity pool, hot tub outside and a gym for workouts, classes and personal training sessions. Treatments are from cutting-edge brand Natura Bisse, Temple Spa and Pure Massage whose facials are said to have a better effect than botox.
From
£
399
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
Lime Wood
New Forest, Hampshire, England
This is the kind of place you go to feel pampered, and you won’t be disappointed. The sybaritic spa at this refined country house in the heart of the New Forest is encased in glass and surrounded by greenery. There’s an outdoor hot pool, indoor lap pool and hydrotherapy suite. An impressive treatment list includes relaxing Bamford massages and facials alongside improving Sarah Chapman skincare treatments (think microneedling and LED light therapy). Enjoy the spa, take a core class on the roof terrace, try aerial yoga in the studio, ramble through woodland, and then indulge in unfussy hearty fare at Hartnett Holder & Co.
From
£
1,250
per night
Rates provided by
Mr & Mrs Smith
Coworth Park
Ascot, Berkshire, England
The spa at this classic but modern country house hotel located on the edge of Windsor Great Park sits in a timber-and-glass building, topped with a ‘living roof’ of thyme and lavender and set into the side of a hill by a vast and spectacular wildflower meadow. The curving, half-hidden spa has to be one of the most self-indulgent in the country. It has eight light-filled treatment rooms which offer a nicely edited treatment list by the likes of Carol Joy London, Kerstin Florian and Aromatherapy Associates; a Spatisserie serving light meals (and champagne, of course), a Technogym and a blue-lit, heated pool with underwater music.
From
£
480
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Pennyhill Park
Bagshot, Surrey, England
Daily life at this luxury country house hotel revolves around its exquisite Michelin-starred dining and an impressive spa featuring no fewer than eight indoor and outdoor pools (one even has soothing underwater music and fibre optic lighting) and a Roman-style suite of heat rooms. There are also several hot tubs, herbal saunas and steam rooms, plus myriad natural and organic treatments designed to detox, cleanse and relax. And the heated ceramic relaxation beds, shaped to the body’s contours, are almost impossible to leave. Champagne served in and around the pools adds a touch of luxury.
From
£
455
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth, England
In the airy, multilevel, environmentally friendly Scarlet, the feeling is one of intense relaxation. The womblike spa specialises in Ayurvedic ‘journeys’, with tented treatment rooms and pods suspended in the dark for ‘deep relaxation’ and an all-glass sea-facing roof for ‘light relaxation’. There’s a reed-fringed, rock-strewn outdoor pool which extends from the indoor one, punctuated by two bright scarlet wood-fired hot tubs perched between boulders overlooking the sea. There are also numerous wide terraces with perfectly positioned loungers to soak up the views.
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Chewton Glen Hotel
New Forest, Hampshire, England
Combining old-school, classic elegance and impressive grandeur with a contemporary, holistic approach, Chewton Glen is a place of many parts, all of them wholeheartedly luxurious. Its world-class spa is said to have one of Europe’s largest hydrotherapy pools, near which guests will find an indoor pool lined with blue mosaic tiles and surrounded by Grecian columns, aromatherapy saunas, crystal steam rooms, a long menu of treatments with experienced therapists, plus an outdoor hot tub and swimming pool. The spa’s café serves a healthy buffet where guests can eat in robes and slippers.
From
£
395
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa
Cuckfield, West Sussex, England
The contemporary spa makes a startling contrast to the Elizabethan manor: an uncompromisingly modern building with a spectacular box-like exterior and an airy and natural interior. The pool has swim-through access to the outdoors; there are whirlpool tubs inside and out; plus a steam room, sauna, rainforest showers and a rather hot lounge area. Opt for a good de-stressing treatment combining a Thai herbal poultice massage and facial, rounded off with quality Sussex-made chocolates and sparkling wine. For the full overnight spa experience, book a modern spa suite above the pool.
From
£
219
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Whatley Manor
Malmesbury, Cotswolds, England
For a super-spoiling weekend, head to this restored 19th-century country manor with tranquil gardens, an ivy-clad entrance, wood panelling and Persian rugs. An extensive spa is open to all adult guests and offers a hydrotherapy pool with massaging jets overlooking fields, aromatic thermal suites, a sauna and a range of innovative treatments and facials that take place in an oxygen tent. Massages feature Ila products, using ingredients wild-harvested from remote, untainted regions far and wide (Morocco, the Himalayas) but blended and bottled 50 miles away.
From
£
329
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Rudding Park Hotel & Spa
Follifoot, Yorkshire, England
One of Harrogate’s health-giving natural springs feeds directly into Rudding Park’s award-winning rooftop spa and garden, which impresses with myriad facilities including herb-infused saunas and steam rooms, experience showers, and an outdoor hydrotherapy pool where couples and groups can be seen wallowing on hydro beds as they quaff generous amounts of sparkling wine. The relaxation rooms include a dark sleep room, a mindful room with colouring books, a screen room depicting scenes of dramatic landscapes, and an audio room with meditative soundtracks. Note that only bookings in a Suite or Spa Room get complimentary full access to the rooftop spa garden.
From
£
307
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
• The best hotels in England
Salcombe Harbour Hotel & Spa
Salcombe, Devon, England
The view from your balcony at this contemporary waterside spa hotel in Salcombe winds you down even before anyone has laid so much as a finger on your chakras. Treats usually include the blissful lava shell massage – hot shells that iron out tension – and ESPA facials (The Lift and Firm truly does!). Elsewhere there is a lap pool with private poolside cabanas and Breton-stripe loungers, hot tub, sauna, Eucalyptus-scented steam room, gym, chill-out room and five treatment rooms offering hot stone and bamboo massages, facials and men’s treatments. Aquacise, pilates and Zumba classes are held regularly.
From
£
158
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Monkey Island Estate
Bray, Berkshire, England
No more building is allowed on Monkey Island, a fish-shaped eyot (island) on the River Thames, so instead of a new spa building, an inspired addition is the creation of a Floating Spa, housed in a specially built riverboat moored along the bank. Treatment rooms are in cabins, the therapists wear nautical outfits and the whole ‘spa journey’ is a soothing, unusual and unpretentious delight. The former priory’s heritage is also brought into play: pastilles and homemade elixirs made with plants and herbs grown in the estate’s Experimental Teahouse take inspiration from ancient recipes brewed by monks who inhabited the island 800 years ago.
From
£
149
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Contributions by Gavin Bell, Suzy Bennett, Jade Conroy, Rachel Cranshaw, Fiona Duncan, Geoff Hill, Charlotte Johnstone, Linda Macdonald, Fred Mawer, Natalie Millar-Partridge, Harriet O’Brien, Natalie Paris, Helen Pickles, Charles Starmer-Smith & Antonia Windsor
This article was originally published by Telegraph.co.uk. Read the original article here.