There are a lot of elements that go into creating a luxury hotel experience, but spa facilities and treatments always add something extra special. From country house hotels with holistic treatments to eco-friendly coastal retreats with state-of-the-art fitness facilities, champagne in the hot tub to detox retreats, here the Good Hotel Guide shares 10 of their top UK luxury spa hotels that you should consider heading to for a rejuvenating trip away.
Congham Hall, Norfolk
This popular spa hotel sits amongst carefully tended gardens, and has an international reputation for beautiful food, with many ingredients grown on site. Congham Hall is a country house hotel, and from the moment you arrive, the setting creates a sense of rest. The décor is elegant but welcoming, and the spa provides all the facilities and experiences to create the perfect balance between a sense of occasion and relaxation. The spa provide treatments using the Elemental Herbology product line, and they even incorporate some of their own seasonal herbs and fresh blossoming flowers into their signature treatments.
Chewton Glen, Hampshire
Chewton Glen is known for excellence, especially when it comes to its spa. The country house hotel is surrounded by manicured gardens and the New Forest beyond, which sets the scene for a truly relaxing getaway. Its award-winning spa has a wealth of facilities for rest and relaxation, including a hydrotherapy pool, a 17-metre ozone treated pool, multiple saunas, and steam rooms, and more than 50 different therapies available using Natural Bisse and Ila skincare lines.
Seaham Hall, Co. Durham
Once home to Lord Byron, Seaham Hall is a wonderful combination of modern design and history. A sensory feast, it enjoys dramatic natural landscapes, as well as impressive interiors, artwork and superb customer service. The spa is a destination in its own right, taking inspiration from Far Eastern healing and wellness rituals in design and the treatments they offer.
Facilities include a 20-metre pool with massage stations, a Hammam with snail showers and a Jacuzzi, an Asian herbal sanarium and a Zen Garden with relaxation beds and infinity hydrotherapy pool, amongst many other highlights. They also offer a range of therapies using a combination of Ytsara, Ishga and Sundari products.
Gilpin Hotel and Lake House, Windermere
A glamorous country house hotel and estate in the Lake District, when it comes to spa experiences, Gilpin Hotel and Lake House offers guests something totally unique. Stay in one of five spa lodges for a private spa experience. Each one has rainmaker showers and steam rooms, as well as hydrotherapy hot tubs and saunas outside, and comes complete with lake views.
There are also three larger spa suites, each with a lounge and dining area, cocktail bar and wine fridge, huge circular stone bath, cedar wood double walk-in shower, spa room with steam room, sauna, infrared lounge bed, and a state-of-the-art automated massage chair, and a bedroom ‘floating’ over the pond with views to the mountains. Beyond that, guests can enjoy the Michelin-starred restaurant, Victorian flower gardens and 100 acres of grounds to stroll in.
The Scarlet, Cornwall
This eco-friendly, low-tech hotel and spa, has a reputation that precedes it. A trip to The Scarlet is inextricably linked with its spa. It’s an adult only hotel, making it a favourite for romantic holidays, and the spectacular cliff top location is very much a feature of every experience. Views overlooking Mawgan Porth Bay, and an appreciation for the local wildlife is integral to the hotel’s way of operating. It’s the sort of place people travel miles to visit, with its luxury tented treatment rooms lit by lanterns, quiet contemplative silence, and holistic wellbeing combining the wisdom of Ayurveda with a distinct Cornish twist.
Lime Wood, Hampshire
The New Forest’s Lime Wood hotel is sophisticated, rustic, and stylish all at once. Somewhere that welly boots are as welcome as cocktail dresses, the Regency townhouse welcomes families and couples alike. Food is a central feature thanks to chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder; the grounds are beautiful, and then there’s the spa. The Herb House Spa is inspired by its forest surroundings, and includes facilities such as a huge sauna, an indoor hydro pool with forest views, a mud house, an outdoor pool, eight spacious treatment rooms products from Bamford, VOYA, Tri-Dosha, Pai and Bamford Grooming Department.
The Newt, Somerset
This Palladian property has gone from being a family home from 1785 to 1979 to a celebrated country house hotel today. It might be historic on the outside, but inside it’s the height of contemporary hospitality. Rooms and suites look out over the estate’s orchards, gardens, and deer park, and are decorated with a fusion of antique furniture and modern features such as a wood-burning stove or a roll-top copper bath.
In the restaurant, the Botanical Rooms, chef Ben Abercrombie composes the menu based on items picked that day, while the Garden Café focuses on plant-based dishes. The spa continues this combination of reverence for the natural world alongside beautifully executed modern design. Set in a barn-style building, it has a medieval herb garden, an indoor-outdoor pool, a steam room, sauna and treatment rooms. Guests can enjoy everything from mud therapy to a workout, and then tuck into superbly nourishing food for total feel good factor.
Calcot and Spa, Gloucestershire
Calcot Manor is a 14th century farmhouse turned hotel, complete with white glove service. It is the ideal combination of warm welcomes and luxury details. The food is a big part of the experience, drawing on ingredients from the gardens as well as local produce. Meanwhile, it’s famous for its spa, which is beautifully designed with carefully planned details such as a lavender-lined outdoor hot tub and Elemis treatments.
Hartwell House, Aylesbury
Once home to the exiled King Louis XVIII of France in the 19th century, Hartwell House is owned by the National Trust and retains the luxury feel you might expect from a former royal abode. Decadent and luxurious from the food to the opulent bedrooms, the spa is the cherry on top. The pool is a real treat, in a room fit for a ball and surrounded by arches and sculpture. It is in a separate building, just a short walk from the main house, is adult only and offers a collection of luxurious spa treatments from Aromatherapy Associates. It even has its own spa cafe, so you don’t have to change out of your robe and slippers all day.
Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa, Bath
In one of the original spa towns of the UK, Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa sits inside one of the most iconic buildings in the city. Very much a luxury experience, the five-star hotel offers historic architecture, timeless style, and a really good afternoon tea. The Spa and Bath House is a must while you’re here, built into the impressive architecture with finesse, it includes a relaxation pool, massage jets, saunas, and steam rooms as well as treatments from British brand Elemental Herbology.
