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From country estates to tiny clifftop hideaways: these are the UK's 25 best spas
For National Spa Week, Lizzie Pook has rounded up the UK's best spas
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From sweeping country estates to tiny clifftop hideaways, these are the UK’s most sumptuous spas for every budget.
UK's best spas
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Wholesome offerings at this luxury Harrogate spa include a juniper log sauna and bracing bucket shower. There’s also a pretty rooftop garden with infinity pool and facials using of-the-moment ingredient, kombucha.
From £172 per night; Rudding Lane, Harrogate; ruddingpark.co.uk
This 100-acre boutique retreat is more hygge than high end. As well as salt therapy chambers and Japanese hot tubs, the Jetty spa has a couples’ treatment room immersed in a tree canopy above the private lake.
From £275 per night; Crook Road, Windermere; thegilpin.co.uk
The feng shui-inspired spa at this imposing Georgian mansion is seriously impressive. It has an ozone-cleansed pool, amethyst crystal steam room, ice fountain and salt sauna.
From £234 per night; Lord Byron’s Walk, Seaham; seaham-hall.co.uk
An afternoon is not enough at this staggering country-pile spa. Brave the waters of the dipping pond before warming up around the sauna fire pit (in winter, relaxation beds are topped with heated canopies and sheepskin rugs to warm chilly limbs).
From £109 per night; Swinton, Ripon; swintonestate.com
Midlands and East
Dormy House Hotel, Worcestershire
Rule one at the 17th century Dormy House spa is: “walk in, float out”. Easy, thanks to a messy “mud room” and an impressive thermal suite, which includes a lavender sauna, salt steam room and juniper-scented Finnish cabin.
From £269 per night; Farncombe Estate, Broadway; dormyhouse.co.uk
The listed outdoor pool at Cliveden House formed the backdrop for the infamous Profumo affair. Now, following a multi-million-pound refurbishment, its pretty spa, tucked away behind a walled garden, takes centre stage.
From £428 per night; Taplow, Berkshire; clivedenhouse.co.uk
Think of the 14th-century Calcot as ye olde worlde manor house meets state-of-the-art-spa, with an elegant indoor pool, steaming outdoor hot tub and a raft of Aromatherapy Associates treatments.
From £266 per night; Tetbury, Gloucestershire; calcot.co
If you live life in the fast lane (of the pool), Cowley Manor should impress. The 17m green slate-lined pool is perfect for a morning of peaceful lengths, before you lie back and enjoy spa treatments using locally foraged herbs.
From £198 per night; Cowley, Cheltenham; cowleymanor.com
South
Babington House, Somerset
Classy, secluded and surrounded by rolling fields, Babington House is the ideal anti-London escape. The Grade II-listed hotel, part of the Soho House group, has a wonderful Cowshed spa with a wide range of stress-busting treatments.
From £320 per night; Babington House, Somerset; babingtonhouse.co.uk
This Grade II-listed grand dame is the only hotel in Bath to have direct access to its famous thermal waters. The spa village is a behemoth of a structure, all towering columns and gleaming glass.
From £290 per night; Beau Street, Bath; thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk
Ensconced in glass and surrounded by forest, the setting at Herb House spa at Limewood takes some beating. Practise your asanas in the rooftop herb garden before descending to the spa for treatments using all-natural botanical products.
From £385 per night; Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst; limewoodhotel.co.uk
This adults-only eco-hotel offers relaxation in spades. Head to the clifftop spa for womb-like Ayurvedic “journeys” in lantern-lit tents, then venture out to the reed-flanked outdoor pool for a bracing dip.
From £300 per night; Tredragon Road, Mawgan Porth; scarlethotel.co.uk
London
This slick private members’ club is also home to an incredible spa. At the “Barber and Parlour” you can treat yourself to speedy manicures, celeb-style blowdries and, for the gutsy, anti-ageing VitaDrip infusions.
From £293 per night; 27 Poultry, EC2R; thened.com
A sultry subterranean haven, the gleaming polished-wood spa at The Bulgari offers world-class facial treatments including LED light therapy and cosmetic acupuncture. There’s also a huge pool to slosh about in.
From £639 per night; 171 Knightsbridge, SW7; bulgarihotels.com
Pootling distance from the Tate Modern, this Bankside hotel is all about location. It also looks pretty spectacular, too. Designed by Tom Dixon, it’s sleek, well-groomed and tastefully shiny.
From £174 per night; Upper Ground, SE1; mondrianlondonhotel.com
The COMO hotel brand is well-known for its wellness ethos. At the heavenly COMO Shambhala Urban Escape spa, luxurious treatments span luxurious massages, as well as specialist Guinot, Dr Hauschka and Dr Perricone facials, the latter uniquely available at this Mayfair institution.
From £272 per night; Old Park Lane, W1; comohotels.com/en/metropolitanlondon
This place is all about the rooftop pool (and secret rooftop garden). Sitting atop Knightsbridge’s Berkeley hotel, the Haybarn Spa offers Bamford treatments and Oskia facials, as well as spectacular views over Hyde Park.
From £509 per night; Wilton Place, SW1; the-berkeley.co.uk
Scotland
Archerfield House, North Berwick
Just 40 minutes from Edinburgh, this tucked-away hotel has a lot to offer weary souls, including Sisley treatments to suit every need and private bath huts filled with detoxifying hand-harvested seaweed.
From £195 per night; Archerfield Dirleton, East Lothian; archerfieldhouse.com
A dazzling multimillion-pound refurb has done wonders to restore this iconic hotel to its jazz-age glory. When you’re not riding or golfing, meander down to the world-class spa for a swim or an Ayuverdic spa treatment.
From £410 per night; Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross; gleneagles.com
The recently refurbished Kohler Waters spa is a veritable theme park when it comes to hydrotherapy, featuring a deluge spa, hydrotherapy whirlpool, plunge pool and rooftop Jacuzzi.
From £150 per night; Old Station Road, St Andrews; oldcoursehotel.co.uk
At the end of a single-track road, perched on the edge of a loch on the Cowal peninsula, you’ll find Portavadie – a remote, serene hideaway. Sweat it out in the sauna for panoramic views across Loch Fyne.
From £139 per night; Portavadie, Loch Fyne; portavadie.com
Wales and Northern Ireland
The Forest Spa at Finn Lough, Enniskillen
Finn Lough’s unique element spa trail is a series of salt rooms, lakeside saunas and aromatherapy rooms. Brave sorts can also descend the step ladder and plunge directly into chilly lough Erne.
From £195 per night; Leggs, Enniskillen; finnlough.com
Everything is saintly at the bijou Mermaid Spa at Hotel Portmeirion, including its treatment menu, which ranges from freshly made smoothie facials to deep sea aroma massages using only the purest vegan products.
From £164 per night; Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd; portmeirion.wales
This award-winning outdoor spa village is the first of its kind in Ireland. Sprawling across 163 acres, the thermal circuit includes a Celtic sauna and Jacuzzis dotted across the banks of the river Maine.
From £232 per night; 136 Fenaghy Rd, Ballymena; Galgorm.com
Standing sentinel above Cardiff’s trendy Bay area is the striking St David’s Hotel & Spa. Book in for a bespoke Décleor spa day or unwind in the pool before retiring to the relaxation suite for views across the water.
From £98 per night; Havannah Street, Cardiff; phcompany.com
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