There’s nothing quite like a spa break to help the body and mind recover. Whether you’re looking for an ultra-modern stay offering longevity-focused treatments, or a more traditional stint in a bubbling hydrotherapy pool followed by a deep tissue massage, the UK has plenty of stunning spa hotels to choose from.
Spas have come a long way in recent years. No longer simply offering a singular jacuzzi and a lap pool, wellness spaces are now equipped with the latest tech that focuses as much on relaxing the body as it does rapid healing. Think hyperbaric chambers, vitamin IV drips, and infrared saunas. Of course, there’s still a place for relaxation hubs offering lavender-scented thermal suites and relaxing facials. Plus, at the best spa hotels you’ll find fine dining options, healthy spreads and local and seasonal produce on offer – some hotels even have a Michelin star or two.
From blow-the-budget country house breaks to eco-friendly finds and slick urban retreats, our wellbeing and travel experts have rounded up the best UK spa hotels. If cosy is what you crave, Dormy House is the place for you. This handsome 17th-century farmhouse-turned-39-room-boutique hotel just outside Broadway village sits inside the 400-acre Farncombe Estate. At the House Spa, there’s a candlelit indoor infinity pool, a hydrotherapy hot tub, a gym, thermal suite, salt sauna and experience shower. A raft of treatments using Temple Spa and Proverb products range from a sugar buff scrub and warm oil massage combo to body massages.
As famed for its honey-hued Georgian buildings as the ancient thermal waters it was founded on, Bath makes for a brilliant wellness break. The place to bed down is the Gainsborough Bath Spa, which has 99 bedrooms with monochrome palettes, with a spa directly fed by Bath’s mineral-rich spring water. The Spa Village’s centrepiece is a dramatic mosaic-tiled thermal pool set underneath a glass atrium and surrounded by Romanesque columns. For unknotting, choose from treatments such as an aromatherapy essential oil or hydralifting facials, or plump for a rejuvenating Hungarian mud detox.
Set in the New Forest National Park, where wild ponies meander through woodland and violet-tinged heather scrub, Lime Wood is the ultimate rural retreat. The 13th-century lodge turned country house hotel has glorious grounds, lounges with roaring fires, an Italian restaurant helmed by Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder, and 33 rooms with botanical artwork and antique furniture. The calming, three-level Herb House spa nails serenity, with a 16-metre indoor lap pool, a hydropool, an outdoor hot pool set underneath olive trees and eight treatment rooms. The spa menu includes treatments using Bamford or Sarah Chapman products, reflexology sessions and couples massages. Plus, Lime Wood is the first spa in Britain to offer Ground Wellbeing treatments, created by wellness expert Peigin Crowley.
