Editor's Choice Spas 2022
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Congham Hall
King's Lynn
Renowned for its extensive herb garden, Congham makes use of home-grown herbs and flowers in its signature treatments, such as a Herbal Facial or Rosemary Muscle Melt Massage. There is also a
12-metre indoor pool and a bio sauna.
Bodysgallen Hall and Spa
Llandudno
Restore mind and body at this 17th- century country house with over 200 acres of gardens and parkland. The spa has a 15-metre pool, gym, sun garden and treatments ranging from an Aching Foot Relaxer to a ‘non-surgical facelift’.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
Seaham’s superlative Asian-themed spa has swish, spacious facilities, including a 20-metre pool, hammam, salt sauna, eucalyptus steam room, herbal sanarium and Zen lounge. Celebrate peace of mind with a manicure and bubbly in the nail bar.
Homewood
Bath
A pretty outdoor pool and cosy, sheltered divans to lounge on are a highlight of the spa at this stylish hotel. Refresh tired limbs in the hydrotherapy pool or steam room, and have a Tibetan ‘five elements’ massage.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Windermere
Not only do the garden suites have their own cedarwood hot tubs, but there are lodges with steam rooms and saunas, and even more pampering spa suites, with bedrooms ‘floating’ over a pond. The private Lake House has its own swimming pool.
The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth
This chic, eco-friendly hotel spa on the Cornish coast keeps ‘getting things right’, say readers. Enjoy the clifftop wooden sauna, lounge in a hot tub to the sound of crashing waves and really relax in a cosy, suspended cocoon pod.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
Swanky, in a hippy-chic sort of way, and inspired by its forested, flowered and scented setting, the Herb House Spa has a glamorous pool overlooking the garden, an outdoor hot pool, a mud house, and a high-tech rooftop gym and yoga deck.
The Newt in Somerset
Castle Cary
Spas sometimes look like clumsy add-ons, but the half-indoor, half-outdoor pool here, with its timber roof and stone walls, complements the aesthetics of this Palladian manor. After a treatment, meditate in the medieval herb garden.
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury
Combine a Cotswold break at this 16th- century house with some me-time in the heated indoor pool and courtyard hot tub. In addition to the sauna, steam rooms and treatments, there are tennis courts and bike rides through the 220-acre estate.
Mullion Cove Hotel
Helston
There is plenty to rejuvenate you here, from the outdoor pool and appealing range of treatments – Organic Seaweed Leaf Wrap or Jade Wave Stone massage – to the spectacular clifftop views. There is a dedicated vegan menu in the restaurant.
Editor's Choice Spas 2021
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Hartwell House
Aylesbury
The terracotta walls, arches and statues lend a Roman vibe to this spa set in the garden orangery. And after your pick from a range of Aromatherapy Associates therapies, you should feel like a Roman god or goddess.
From £200 per night
Chewton Glen
New Milton
If you feel a twinge after using the hotel’s golf course, you can book a massage using golf balls. There is something for everyone, with dance classes and kids’ treatments. There’s also an ozone-treated pool, hydrotherapy pool and hot tub.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
A destination spa with a boutique hotel attached, Seaham has at its heart a toasty 20-metre hydrotherapy pool. Designed according to feng shui principles, the spa comes with outdoor hot tubs, a variety of sauna and steam cabins and a modern gym.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
What could be better for the soul than swimming in the pool as shards of light penetrate the church-style windows of this boutique spa? A door opens on to a
walled garden for more relaxation after an Elemental Herbology treatment.
Summer Lodge
Evershot
Other spas embrace the darkness, but Summer Lodge is true to its name, with its pool and gym in an impressive light-filled conservatory. There are mindfulness classes, and both reiki and reflexology as well as Elemis treatments.
From £60 per night
Whatley Manor
Easton Grey
For extra effect, you can book a treatment in the Natura Bissé Bubble Suite, where filtered air is 99.95 per cent pure. As
well as an impressive inside/outside hydrotherapy pool, the spa has heated recliners in the tepidarium and thermal suite.
The Devonshire Arms
Skipton
There’s no need to venture into the Yorkshire Dales to get muddy when you can do so in the rasul temple, with different muds to treat the face, body and hair. The spa, in an ancient, adjacent barn, features a pool beneath a high beamed ceiling.
Ilsington Country House
Newton Abbot
Wine isn’t just for dinner at this Dartmoor hotel: spa treatments use vinotherapy, based on the antioxidant qualities of grapes. You can enjoy a premier cru facial or a crushed cabernet body treatment and toast the healthy side of wine.
Lake Country House Hotel & Spa
Llangammarch Wells
Indulge in champagne and truffles – as a facial, rather than at dinner, although you do get a complimentary glass of bubbles too, putting the treat into this Temple Spa treatment. There is a hot tub overlooking the lake as well as a pool.
Mullion Cove Hotel
Helston
Forget whale music: at this cliff-top spa hotel, the lapping sea provides the relaxation soundtrack. With an outdoor pool and hot tub, seaweed treatments and a wall of windows to show off the view, it makes the most of the seaside setting.
Editor's Choice Spas 2020
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Mallory Court
Leamington Spa
A country house built in 1914 in Lutyensesque romantic vernacular style, in pleasure grounds and parkland, is today part of the Eden Hotel Collection (see Brockencote Hall in Chaddesley Corbett) with Relais & Châteaux kudos.
Chewton Glen
New Milton
Imagine a luxurious resort with spa, pools, tennis, kids’ club – even a cookery school – at a quintessentially English country house, and you’ve captured the enduring appeal of Chewton Glen.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
A striking sculptural fountain in front of a white classical porticoed facade is a clue that this spa hotel offers luxury with a contemporary edge.
Dart Marina -
Dartmouth
If there is nothing so nice as messing about on the river, there are few nicer places to do so than at Richard Seton’s dog-friendly spa hotel on the Dart estuary, ever popular with our readers.
Whatley Manor
Easton Grey
Once you have navigated the joys of this 'rambling building' in honey Cotswold stone, with its 'superb spa', cinema and choice of dining, there are the 26 different 'rooms' in the 'beautiful, well-tended gardens' to explore.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Windermere
By many standards, Gilpin is the Lake District’s most luxurious hotel with no-expense-spared rooms, Michelin-starred dining, numerous staff, and acres of space.
Bingham Riverhouse
Richmond-upon-Thames
A stroll from Richmond Park, with Thameside garden and terrace, this Georgian mansion is today an innovative hotel, wedding venue and members’ club, run by mother-and-daughter team Ruth and Samantha Trinder.
The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth
Serenity and space are the two words that crop up most in the wealth of praise we receive for this 'utterly relaxing' adults-only spa hotel with sublime views over beach and sea.
St Brides Spa Hotel
Saundersfoot
Seaside splendour comes to the fore at this modern hotel above Carmarthen Bay.
Longueville Manor
St Saviour
A fountain plays before the magnificent arched entrance to Malcolm and Patricia Lewis's luxury spa hotel (Relais & Châteaux), occupying an ancient, much-altered manor house in landscaped grounds.
Editor's Choice Spas 2019
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Congham Hall
King's Lynn
Fragrant herbs and flowers from the renowned herb garden infuse signature treatments in the Secret Garden Spa at this Georgian mansion. There’s a pool with floor-to-ceiling windows, a thermal suite, an outdoor hot tub.
Cliveden House
Taplow
Surely one of Britain’s most beautiful spas lies within old brick walls in the gardens of this Italianate mansion. Facilities include an indoor and (notorious) outdoor pool, a gym, hot tubs – an easy drive from London.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
A dramatic swimming pool with massage stations and a floor-to-ceiling glass wall overlooking the verdant grounds, an Asian herbal sanarium and an Indian steam room with amethyst crystals lie at the heart of this Georgian mansion’s award-winning spa.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
Guests don robes and flip-flops to relax and sip champagne with lunch at this luxury hotel’s spa garden. The bath house has a relaxation pool, vitality pool, salt- infused sauna and a blossom steam room.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Windermere
Cedar-clad spa lodges at Gilpin Hotel have a treatment area, steam room, outdoor sauna and hot tub. Lake House guests can book treatments in the Jetty Spa, in a tree canopy overlooking a lake.
Ilsington Country House
Newton Abbot
ILSINGTON
This Dartmoor country house hotel’s spa draws inspiration from Tibet, with soothing sounds, scents and music. There’s a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna, and poolside ‘kubel dusche’ – a bucket of ice water to tip over yourself.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
Spa days and holidays are spent in luxury at this New Forest hotel. There is a mud house, an outdoor hot pool, sauna and rooftop gym, with healthy food in Raw & Cured, all in a tranquil forest setting.
St Brides Spa Hotel
Saundersfoot
A warm, salt-water infinity pool overlooking the bay is a highlight of this coastal hotel’s spa. Double treatment rooms have full-height sliding windows to let in the sea breezes and soothing sound of the waves.
Park House, Hotel & Spa
Midhurst
Day guests, members and hotel residents pass through a marble shower before dipping in a mother-of-pearl indoor pool at this Edwardian country house’s spa. They can also bathe in the outdoor pool, use sauna or steam rooms.
Barnsley House
Cirencester
Cotswold stone and beams create indoor– outdoor harmony at the spa in the garden of this manor house. There is a choice of music in treatment rooms, a herbaceous sauna, a lounge overlooking the outdoor, heated hydrotherapy pool.
Spas 2018
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Congham Hall
King's Lynn
A garden of more than 400 herb varieties gives plant fanciers and pollinators a buzz at Nicholas Dickinson’s Georgian country house hotel. Interiors are a well-judged blend of traditional and modish style.
Cliveden House
Taplow
Standing grandly above the Thames, in National Trust gardens and pleasure grounds, an Italianate mansion built by Charles Barry for the Duke of Sutherland 'seems to have hosted everyone who is anyone', from Winston Churchill to Lawrence of Arabia.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
A striking sculptural fountain in front of a white classical porticoed facade is a clue that this spa hotel offers luxury with a contemporary edge.
Cary Arms & Spa
Babbacombe
Perched above pebbly Babbacombe beach and bay, in the lee of tree-covered cliffs, this family-friendly hotel mixes traditional seaside inn with New England chic.
The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth
Serenity and space are the two words that crop up most in the wealth of praise we receive for this 'utterly relaxing' adults-only spa hotel with sublime views over beach and sea.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
There's plenty of laid-back glamour at this Georgian lodge in the heart of the New Forest, with a relaxed, family-friendly vibe and well-regarded spa.
St Brides Spa Hotel
Saundersfoot
Seaside splendour comes to the fore at this modern hotel above Carmarthen Bay.
Longueville Manor
St Saviour
A fountain plays before the magnificent arched entrance to Malcolm and Patricia Lewis's luxury spa hotel (Relais & Châteaux), occupying an ancient, much-altered manor house in landscaped grounds.
Park House, Hotel & Spa
Midhurst
Recreation and relaxation are at the heart of Seamus O’Brien’s spa hotel in the South Downs national park, with tennis, croquet, bowls, golf, swimming pools and all-day dining.
Dormy House
BROADWAY
Countryside chic fills this 17th-century farmhouse on a ridge above vast fields beyond the Cotswold village.
2017 Editor's Choice Spas
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Hartwell House
Aylesbury
The French king Louis XVIII set up his court in exile here in the 19th century, signing his accession to the throne in the library, and today, staff do indeed 'make you feel like royalty'.
From £200 per night
Chewton Glen
New Milton
Imagine a luxurious resort with spa, pools, tennis, kids’ club – even a cookery school – at a quintessentially English country house, and you’ve captured the enduring appeal of Chewton Glen.
Bodysgallen Hall and Spa
Llandudno
On the slopes of Pydew mountain, with views to Conwy Castle and the Snowdonia mountains, a 17th-century mansion in parkland and Arts and Crafts gardens, extended over centuries, is today a luxury hotel and spa.
Cliveden House
Taplow
Standing grandly above the Thames, in National Trust gardens and pleasure grounds, an Italianate mansion built by Charles Barry for the Duke of Sutherland 'seems to have hosted everyone who is anyone', from Winston Churchill to Lawrence of Arabia.
Seaham Hall
Seaham
A striking sculptural fountain in front of a white classical porticoed facade is a clue that this spa hotel offers luxury with a contemporary edge.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Bath
The sweep of honey-stone buildings that form Bath’s Georgian crescent is home to two majestic mansions which combine as one hotel, beyond which lie a leafy garden and atmospheric spa.
The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth
Serenity and space are the two words that crop up most in the wealth of praise we receive for this 'utterly relaxing' adults-only spa hotel with sublime views over beach and sea.
Lime Wood
Lyndhurst
There's plenty of laid-back glamour at this Georgian lodge in the heart of the New Forest, with a relaxed, family-friendly vibe and well-regarded spa.
Calcot & Spa
Tetbury
Country house luxury and child-friendliness are a happy combination at this spa hotel, occupying a 16th-century Cotswold manor house in ‘lovely, manicured grounds’.
Isle of Eriska Hotel, Spa and Island
ERISKA
Rumble across a bridge at the mouth of Loch Creran to reach this ‘simply faultless’ Victorian baronial mansion, a luxury spa hotel, with a Michelin-starred restaurant, on a private pleasure island. ‘A magical place,’ say guests in 2016.
Hotels chosen in 2016
Editor’s Choice: Best Spa Hotels
Park House, Hotel & Spa
Midhurst
Recreation and relaxation are at the heart of Seamus O’Brien’s spa hotel in the South Downs national park, with tennis, croquet, bowls, golf, swimming pools and all-day dining.
Barnsley House
Cirencester
Even hardened townies are seduced by the surrounds of 17th-century Barnsley House, created by visionary gardener Elizabeth Verey who moved here in the 1950s.
Dormy House
BROADWAY
Countryside chic fills this 17th-century farmhouse on a ridge above vast fields beyond the Cotswold village.
Find the right luxury spa hotel for you
.
. The likes of Chewton Glen take the crown for being amongst the most luxurious facilities in the country, complete not only with excellent spa treatments but a wide range of facilities and knowledge that are hard to come by.
Meanwhile, the likes of Seaham Hall blend a contemporary knowledge of wellbeing with artistic integrity across the whole venue, all surrounded by rich history and contrastingly rugged coastal surroundings that juxtapose beautifully with the perfectly presented hotel and spa.
The Scarlet has a wide reaching reputation for being a spectacularly romantic hotel to visit but is also Cornwall’s ultra eco friendly low-tech solution to wellbeing travel, managing to fuse style and green credentials with the most spectacular coastal views as you sip champagne in the hot tub overlooking the wild Atlantic below. It is the sister hotel to Bedruthan Hotel and Spa, which continues the stylistic credentials of The Scarlet, but adds to it a family friendliness that appeals to a wholly different market.
Then onto another genre of spa hotel in the form of Lime Wood in the New Forest, a spectacularly hip hotel that has a reputation for its decadent restaurant overseen by celebrity chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder, as well as The Herb House, its standalone spa amongst its awe-inspiring gardens, which has its own rooms to stay in, a dedication to its namesake - the herb garden and, and treatments that fuse efficacy with holistic credentials. It all comes together to make the rustic playground of the stylish set.