The best spa hotels in the UK for a relaxing staycation – The Independent

With spas given the go-ahead to reopen their doors, relaxing spa hotel staycations are back on the travel agenda.

While the spa experience will look a little different you can expect increased cleaning frequency, therapists wearing PPE, and to book treatments, pool and relaxation area slots ahead of time a silver lining is that limited guest numbers to aid social distancing mean an even more peaceful atmosphere. Whether its a pampering countryside break or a city-slick urban recharge youre after, here are the best UK spa hotels to book...

Note: Steam rooms and saunas in England and Northern Ireland are allowed to re-open subject to social distancing measures Scotland and Wales are currently awaiting guidance on when theirs can open. At the moment, most hotel spas are only open to resident guests, some are implementing pre-treatment temperature checks, offering a stripped-back treatment list, and asking guests to change in-room and arrive robe-ready. Given that government guidance is liable to change quickly, wed recommend calling the hotel to double check the latest rules when you book.

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The Gainsborough has direct access to Baths ancient springs (The Gainsborough)

As famed for its pretty 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 restful monochrome palettes and is the only hotel with a spa directly fed by Baths mineral-rich spring water. A handful of spa bedrooms even have the thermal water piped straight into roll top bathtubs.

The Spa Villages centrepiece is a dramatic sapphire mosaic-tiled thermal pool surrounded by Romanesque columns. This, combined with two smaller soaking pools, an ice alcove and relaxation terrace, forms an invigorating self-guided bathing circuit. Unknotting aromatherapy and Swedish essential-oil massages are on offer in 10 treatment rooms, and the gym and complimentary weekend yoga classes will keep active types happy. For the moment, the spas signature watsu-style aqua therapies are on hold.

Doubles from 340, room-only, including spa access.

thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk

Lime Wood

Set in the New Forest National Park, where wild ponies meander through woodland and violet-tinged heather scrub, Lime Wood is perhaps the ultimate rural retreat. The 13th-century lodge, transformed into a country house hotel with glorious grounds, has cosy lounges with roaring fires, an Italian restaurant helmed by Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder and 33 rooms with botanical artwork, antique furniture and bloom-festooned cushions.

Facilities at the calming, three-level Herb House spa include a 16 metre indoor lap pool (floor-to-ceiling glass windows mean front crawl comes with a side of forest views), two hydropools and 10 treatment rooms for unknotting massages using seaweed-infused VOYA or Bamford products reflexology sessions and OPI mani-pedis. Matt Roberts personal trainers are on hand in the Technogym to ramp up workout regimes, there are al-fresco pilates and yoga classes in the herb-filled rooftop garden, and delicious, healthy meals think freshly-pressed greens and ginger juices and nori rolls at Raw and Cure restaurant.

Doubles from 395, room-only, including spa access. Book now

limewood.co.uk

Calcot's hot tub at twilight

Calcot

Mayfair's COMO Shambhala Urban Escape feels a world away from the busy capital

COMO Shambhala Urban Escape

The hot tub at The Scarlet, Cornwall

The Scarlet

Bikes outside Babington House's Cowshed spa

Soho House Babington House Cowshed

The outdoor hot pool at Herb House, Limewood

Herb House, Limewood

Dormy House's modern spa

Dormy House

Rudding Park's glam steam room

Rudding Park

Recover from a night out in nearby Cardiff at St David's Hotel & Spa

St David's Hotel & Spa

A treatment room at Cowley Manor

Cowley Manor

Brave the outdoor pool at Hotel Portmeirion

Hotel Portmeirion

The Cheeky Nail Bar at The Ned

The Ned

Finn Lough is on the banks of Lough Erne

Finn Lough

The Mondrian spa embraces the Hollywood glamour of the hotel itself

Mondrian

The clean white of Clivedon's spa

Clivedon

The Roman Bath-style pool at Gainsborough Bath Spa

Gainsborough Bath Spa

Calcot's hot tub at twilight

Calcot

Mayfair's COMO Shambhala Urban Escape feels a world away from the busy capital

COMO Shambhala Urban Escape

The hot tub at The Scarlet, Cornwall

The Scarlet

Bikes outside Babington House's Cowshed spa

Soho House Babington House Cowshed

The outdoor hot pool at Herb House, Limewood

Herb House, Limewood

Dormy House's modern spa

Dormy House

Rudding Park's glam steam room

Rudding Park

Recover from a night out in nearby Cardiff at St David's Hotel & Spa

St David's Hotel & Spa

A treatment room at Cowley Manor

Cowley Manor

Brave the outdoor pool at Hotel Portmeirion

Hotel Portmeirion

The Cheeky Nail Bar at The Ned

The Ned

Finn Lough is on the banks of Lough Erne

Finn Lough

The Mondrian spa embraces the Hollywood glamour of the hotel itself

Mondrian

The clean white of Clivedon's spa

Clivedon

The Roman Bath-style pool at Gainsborough Bath Spa

Gainsborough Bath Spa

Surrounded by 132 acres of parkland by the tranquil River Maine, 40 minutes from Belfast, the atmosphere at the 124-room Galgorm is refreshingly relaxed and jolly (it has a 400-strong gin library for one thing). Accommodation ranges from business-style bedrooms to Scandi-style cottages and rustic log cabins. There are five restaurants, including laid back Italian joint Fratellli and fancy 3 AA Rosette-awarded River Room, plus rousing live music each night at Gillies Pub.

The propertys Spa Village is one of Europes largest thermal spas, and flashpoints include an outdoor infinity hydrotherapy pool, riverside hot tubs for leisurely soaks with a glass of fizz, an indoor pool, snow cabin, salt room, aroma grotto and herb caldarium. Massages use Aromatherapy Associates oil, and the Forest & Photo Therapy combines a massage with a no-touch Dermalux LED facial (where coloured lights are used to target concerns) and a mud mask. For post-relaxation fuel, order poke bowls and virgin watermelon margaritas at timber-dome restaurant Elements.

Doubles from 178, B&B, including spa access.

galgorm.com

Sink into a hot tub with unbeatable sea views at The Scarlet (The Scarlet)

A seaside break is an instant reviver, and the adults-only Scarlet, with its cliffside setting above Mawgan Porths butterscotch sands, eco-architecture and wonderful spa, is a breath of fresh air for the soul. The 39 rooms all pale wooden floorboards, decorated in mossy green and dusky blues each have a sea view, be it full-facing or from an upper-level sitting room.

The spa also has seascape panoramas from the indoor pool, outdoor natural pool (freshwater, filtered by a living reed bed filtration system) and two cliff top hot tubs. Hour-long ayurvedic treatments (tasters of the normal four-hour journeys), and hot herb and oat-filled poultice massages take place in six treatment rooms. Afterwards, laze in slumber-inducing hanging canvas pods, do outdoor yoga and tai chi, or head out surfing. A visit to the restaurant for a cream tea is a must (just be sure to layer jam before clotted cream, in keeping with the Cornish tradition).

Doubles from 210, B&B, including spa access.

scarlethotel.co.uk

Rudding Park has opened a spa roof garden (Rudding Park)

Historic Rudding Park, a quick drive from former spa town Harrogate, will suit spa junkies looking for a retreat with a modern, unstuffy vibe. The Georgian Hall turned 90-room property has comfortable rooms with colour-pop touches, 300 acres of gardens, a cinema, two golf courses and 3 AA Rosette Horto, where the likes of dainty Japanese seven-spice tempura courgettes and flower-strewn desserts are served.

Its the innovative spa, fed in part by natural spring waters, thats the real masterstroke. Alongside an indoor pool, juniper log sauna, rasul (for mud masks and scrubs), nail studio and gym, there are audio meditation pods, an AV relaxation room and Mandala colour therapy zone. Outside on the shrub-filled rooftop, theres even more: a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, glass-fronted sauna with astonishing panoramas of the Yorkshire countryside, sunlight therapy room and oxygen pod. Treatments run the gamut from Elemis and hot stone massages to flower wraps, and for something completely different, there are bolt-on CBD-experiences too.

Doubles from 348, B&B, including four hours spa access.

ruddingpark.co.uk

Go Grecian at Chewton Glen (Chewton Glen)

In 1990, long before it became de rigueur, Chewton Glen was one of the first country house hotels to create a purpose-built spa, and it has been winning accolades ever since. The straight-out-of-Austen hotel sits in 130 acres of grounds on the fringe of the New Forest National Park, and many ingredients used at the Dining Room come from the kitchen garden. Rooms range from traditional affairs with mallard-print cushions, mahogany furniture and rose colour palettes to kooky high-in-the-canopy tree house suites with hot tubs on the balconies.

Fresh from a revamp, the 1,350sqm spa has a 17-metre Roman-style indoor lap pool, a hydrotherapy pool and outdoor whirlpool. On the spa menu are Jessica mani-pedis, Mii make-up sessions and oil massages. Cant decide? Book a slot and the therapist will craft something bespoke. Junior spa treatments, a nine-hole par 3 golf course and tennis courts also make Chewton a good family pick.

Doubles from 370/tree houses from 1,150, B&B, including spa access.

chewtonglen.com

The indoor pool at Dormy House spa (Dormy House )

A real bucolic charmer, this 39-room hotel just outside Broadway village is about as cosy and convivial as it gets. There are lounges with deep leather armchairs and flickering fires to retreat to after yomps through the Cotswolds countryside, and slow-food Back Garden restaurant for comforting celeriac and truffle risotto and apple tarte tatin. Bedrooms blend clean-lined Scandi-style interiors with exposed wooden beams, which nod to Dormy Houses 17th-century farmhouse roots.

At the House Spa, theres a showstopper indoor infinity pool (candlelit for added zen), a bubbling hydrotherapy hot tub, well-equipped gym and thermal suite with Finnish cabin and salt steam room. The treatment menu includes Aaahhh! a sugar buff scrub and warm oil massage combo a soothing back cure massage (by Beata Aleksandrowicz), Gelish mani-pedis and from September a new flotation tank experience. Its hoped the full treatment list featuring Temple Spa and Natura Biss will be resumed soon.

Doubles from 269, B&B, including spa access.

dormyhouse.co.uk

South Lodge spa (Amy Murrell)

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The best spa hotels in the UK for a relaxing staycation - The Independent