By The Telegraph (World News) | Created at 2024-10-29 18:11:43 | Updated at 2024-10-30 19:27:35
1 week ago
Take time to unwind at these standout spots offering everything from forest bathing and cold water immersions to infra-red saunas
All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating.
Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review.
When you go on holiday, it often takes the first three days to wind down and settle into a new rhythm. Then on day four, you can exhale and relax. It is worth remembering this for a spa weekend as your mind whirrs and refuses to calm during that first massage. Of course you can whizz in for a day to any of these hotel spas, and the experience, be it short and sweet, will give you a gentle polish and boost. But allow at least a weekend to slow down and then you will start to see significant shifts.
The spas listed here do not just nod to wellbeing. These spaces celebrate a proper grounded wellness proposition, where next-level treatments and deeply knowledgeable therapists are complemented by considered design and everything from forest bathing and cold water immersions to infra-red sauna sessions and results-driven facials. Anything wishy-washy has had its day. Which means you can dive in and emerge, not just feeling good, but really feeling better. From the countryside to the capital, here's our pick of the best spa hotels in the UK.
How we review
Every hotel in this curated list has been visited by one of our expert reviewers, who are usually hosted on a complimentary basis. They stay for a minimum of one night, test at least one meal and trial other experiences that the hotel might have to offer (in this instance, the spa). We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating.
At a glance, the best spa hotels in the UK
- Best romantic spa hotel – Thyme, Gloucestershire
- Best spa hotel for families – Beaverbrook, Surrey
- Best spa hotel with an outdoor pool – The Newt, Somerset
- Best dog-friendly spa hotel – Middleton Lodge, Yorkshire
- Best boutique spa hotel – The Falcon, Northamptonshire
- Best coastal spa hotel – The Scarlet, Cornwall
- Best for winter spa breaks – Heckfield Place, Hampshire
Every corner of this mansion, that was the former home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook, offers up grandeur. Interiors are elegant, with notable artworks and poems lining walls, while the Brian Clarke-designed spa, by contrast, is a riot of colour. With six treatment rooms, experiences range from the classic to the more “out-there” choices, including a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, and intravenous infusions. There’s also a checkerboard-bottomed outdoor pool, an indoor pool and a thermal suite with a whirlpool, steam room and sauna inside.
Conversations about the spa here have flown slightly under the radar. This is not surprising given that the reopening of Cowley Manor, the Italianate beauty near Cheltenham, was all anyone in the Cotswolds could talk about last summer. But it is surprising given what a great wellness space the C-Side Spa is and has always been. The bones – that gorgeous glass-sided, low-slung modernist building, the sun-trap swimming pool, excellent therapists – only needed a little spruce, a light touch by brilliant designer Dorothée Meilichzon. A few smart sofas, locally made and natural Monu Skin products lining the shelves and cheery parasols on the terrace have given it a frisky new lease of life.
From
£
199
per night
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Scottish baronial meets French château with a light dusting of jazz-age glamour at this grand dame Highlands hotel. The spa – a haven of sybaritic delights with an added health dimension – offers complementary and alternative therapies delivered by top-notch practitioners. For all-over wellbeing, indulge in one of the signature Glen Spa therapies, Dr Barbara Sturm facials or Tata Harper treatments. With a thermal suite, hydrotherapy pool, superb relaxation areas and beauty lodge, you may never wish to venture outdoors (but with so much around you should).
From
£
1,700
per night
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If you’re looking for a restful weekend, Lime Wood’s Herb House Spa is the ultimate retreat for zen-induced downtime. In summer, the glass doors by the outdoor pool unfold, opening out onto a deck with lime-green sun loungers. In autumn and winter, the place to be is the thermal room. Here you’ll find the sauna (with forest views) and steam room, a tepidarium and a jetted pool. A beautiful rooftop herb garden – many of its botanicals are used in treatments – offers quiet contemplation. Brands that feature are Voya and Bamford.
This is a Cornish classic for adults seeking utter restoration in a spectacular setting. With its clifftop hot tubs, natural outdoor pool, sauna cabin with beach-view portholes, indoor pool and steam room, the spa is what you really come here for. The lounge overlooking the ocean beyond is a supremely serene space for a snooze and daily wellness classes include morning yoga and tai chi. Outside, the coastal garden spills down to a path that leads to the silky beach in minutes.
From
£
340
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There are country-house hotels – and then there’s Cliveden. The National Trust property’s spa is set around its listed, heated outdoor pool (where the infamous Profumo Affair started), edged by lawn and surrounded by loungers and two hot tubs. Inside, the spa includes an indoor pool, infrared sauna and steam room, an orangery-style room for relaxing, and seven treatment rooms. Once the day's visitors have departed, you'll have the vast, magnificent tree-lined parterre at the rear of the house all to yourself. It feels like the true meaning of peaceful.
From
£
705
per night
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The Romanesque Spa Village ─ the only spa with access to the city’s thermal waters ─ is The Gainsborough’s unique selling point, and it’s quite something. There are three pools filled with thermal water in which to wallow, the largest set under a glass-roofed atrium, as well as saunas and a steam room. A wide range of massages and treatments are on offer; some, such as a mud detox, use the Hungarian skin care brand Omorovicza. Other perks include the hotel’s central location (Thermae Bath Spa is right across the street if you really want to make a weekend of it) and the extremely comfy bedrooms.
From
£
281
per night
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A long-awaited full spa opened at this Georgian house hotel in 2023. The surroundings – 400 acres of verdant grounds with walled gardens and lakes you can swim in – immediately set the tone for the spa’s nature-filled, slow philosophy, which places attention on movement (there’s a cardiovascular fitness room), reconnection in the form of retreats, and natural treatments by Wildsmith. Named the Bothy, the spa features a pool and thermal area, as well as a restaurant with a simple plant-based menu.
The Newt is where you go for a refined weekend in the West Country. The gardens are a joy, and beautifully designed interiors range from periodic to modern farmhouse. The spa is equally striking; all rough-hewn walls, exposed stone, and beams. There’s the usual steam room and sauna, plus indoor-outdoor pool, and treatment rooms where you can indulge in the likes of warm candle massages, floral facials and traditional Turkish Hammam therapies. Classes include breathwork, meditation and cold-water dips.
In postcard-pretty Southrop, this profoundly peaceful spot is a delight for spa-lovers. Facilities are first-class, from the Meadow Spa to the heated springwater swimming pool, tennis court and topiary-filled garden. But for a truly restful hub, the Botanical Bothy is where you want to be. The blissful rituals performed in this dedicated space incorporate guided breathwork, body brushing, head massages and a herbal soak in one of the private garden’s outdoor tubs (with a nearby fireplace), sending guests into a state of trance-like relaxation.
From
£
400
per night
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Wellness is taken seriously at this rambling Georgian estate near the market town of Richmond, especially in the rustic Forest Spa, which opened in 2023. There’s a pool house – wooden beams, exposed stone, sink-into sofas and a log-burning fire – with folding doors that open out onto a heated pool. Here, guests can be found padding between the plunge pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room and wooden treatment cabins. Therapies of note include seaweed bath rituals and massages inspired by forest bathing. Round the day off with a 10-course tasting menu at The Forge.
The original country outpost of Soho House remains very alluring to those seeking peace in the Somerset countryside, in fact, it has a kind of old school insider elegance to it that few places can match. Two pools to pick from include one overlooking a lake, and one inside a cavernous stone barn. Both are heated and back onto a pool house in which you’ll find steam and sauna rooms, high-end changing facilities, and a cinema that hosts free screenings every day. Elsewhere there are tennis courts, a football pitch, gym, bikes, and the Cowshed Spa, housed in a former (you guessed it) cow shed, delivering its signature treatments and backing onto a pretty walled kitchen garden.
With a fine-dining restaurant, range of country pursuits, nine-hole golf course, cookery school and more besides, you won’t be bored at this ivy-cloaked baronial pile. If that all sounds too much like hard work, there’s a sleek and airy spa in which to enjoy some quality downtime. Here, enticements include an indoor pool and thermal experience, plus a freshwater outdoor pool and sauna set in a spa garden. Spa treatments use Bamford and Oskia products; the signature facial is outrageously good; expect to leave with a fully unclenched jaw and a proper glow.
From
£
285
per night
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Located in 300 acres of glorious grounds, not too far from London, the Grove makes for an attractive country escape with its impressive array of facilities and things to do. People quietly flock here for its award-winning spa, statement black-mosaic pool, and its choice of house, Natura Bissé and Bamford treatments. It really is excellent – whether you’re there for the weekend or just the day. The spa has its own dining space, Sequoia Kitchen, for nourishing light bites, juices and smoothies.
From
£
580
per night
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With shimmering lakes, wild woodland and forgotten follies overgrown with flora, grounds at the Tawny are the stuff of holistic dreams. Rooms are spread across boathouses, treehouses, shepherd’s huts and more, so you can wake up to the views. Ways to find your zen here include a dip in the heated outdoor pool, which benefits from sweeping valley views; a private yoga session in the grounds; forest bathing; a Gaia spa treatment in a sweet thatched cottage; or even a kombucha-making class.
This former coaching inn set among historic Castle Ashby’s 10,000 acres of elegant gardens, woodland, lakes and meadows, makes it easy for travellers to unwind with stylish, nature-themed interior design, comfy, quiet rooms, and a fine-dining addition to Northamptonshire’s food scene. A focus on wellbeing is realised in activities such as wild swimming, yoga, gong baths, guided meditation and tours around the estate, including massage treatments that encompass Swedish and Thai techniques.
From
£
224
per night
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From its Palladian good looks and elegant bedrooms to the swish spa and Michelin-starred dining, Grantley Hall fires on five-star cylinders that make every guest feel like important. This is a place to be pampered. The vast spa – with treatments ranging from holistic rituals and oxygen therapy to Swedish massage and reiki – includes a thermal suite, igloo room, indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy pool and lap pool, plus Nordic spa garden with ice baths and an outdoor sauna.
From
£
517
per night
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Formerly Barnsley House and now The Pig in the Cotswolds, this glorious hotel is set in a handsome manor house that was once home to the seminal garden designer Rosemary Verey. From the exterior, the property is a classic Cotswold manor house, with golden stonework, gables and mullion windows. Step through the front door and you’re in a boho-chic venue with an instantly relaxing vibe. The Fieldhouse spa is then tucked away in a garden dell, with a sauna, steam room and outdoor hydrotherapy pool among its facilities and a treatment menu based on natural Tribe517 products.
It’s hard to say if this is a spa with suites or suites with a spa, but either way it’s a class act. The splendidly stylish, rustic Scandi retreat soothes from the moment you step through the door. Flooded with light, it overlooks an enchanting walled garden (with garden bath huts). Inside, a log burner keeps things cosy while you sink into pale sofas sipping a glass of sherry, champagne or a fresh smoothie, or indulge in tea and cakes. No swimming pool but you won’t miss it with a salt steam room and lavender sauna as a warming prelude to the very thorough treatments.
In glorious rural surroundings among mature woodland, time in Galgorm’s sprawling spa village is well spent. There are countless private hot tubs in the Walled, Alpine and Riverside gardens (some dotted along the tumbling River Maine), as well as several saunas and steam rooms; multiple pools ─ hydrotherapy, plunge, whirlpool, outdoor lap and vitality ─ plus a sanarium (like a low-temperature sauna), snow cabin and salt cave; and lounges, including an orangery-style room with swinging chairs. There’s something for everyone here.
From
£
37
per night
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Frequently asked questions
What is a spa hotel?
A spa hotel is usually an upscale property that has a dedicated 'destination' spa within its grounds and not only offers traditional treatments but also facilities including – but not limited to – a swimming pool (or a small plunge pool), sauna, steam room and relaxation area. However, it is now not unusual for these high-end hotels to offer an enormous range of treatments and wellness experiences including fitness classes such as yoga and Pilates. Some even have extra special additions like cryotherapy chambers, Himalayan crystal salt rooms, private Hammams or Watsu pools. Many hotel spas are branded in conjunction with top beauty companies (such as ELEMIS or ESPA) but some operate under their own locally sourced products.
How do spa hotels work?
These properties work in exactly the same way as hotels without spas, so a portion of their clientele will simply be booking to stay regardless of its spa status. But many people check in for 'spa weekends' and they will offer special packages for this, usually including a nights stay, access to all spa facilities, a treatment or two and dining either in the spa restaurant or the main restaurant. These hotels also offer 'spa days' where people can book to experience all of the above without the overnight accommodation.
What does a spa weekend include?
Each hotel will advertise individually curated packages for a spa weekend, but generally speaking a weekend should include an overnight stay, access to all spa facilities and at least one treatment (usually 60 mins) as a minimum. Treatments on offer in the packages are normally a basic full body massage or a facial, however, many of these top spa hotels offer options to add on other treatments such as beauty services (manicures, pedicures, hair salons, waxing, threading) or alternative therapies such as reiki, acupuncture or ayurveda.
Contributions by Emma Beaumont, Harriet O'Brien, Linda Macdonald, Jade Conroy, Rachel Cranshaw, Fred Mawer, Fiona Duncan, Charlotte Eggleston-Johnstone, Natalie Paris, Helen Pickles, Emma Love, Penny Walker, Graeme Green & Geoff Hill
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