7 sensational spa-breaks in Britain
Forget flowers, show Mum you really love her, with a visit to one of these fabulous spas…
I don’t know about you, but I would give anything for a weekend/day/five minutes at a luxury spa, at the moment. This winter feels very long. If you are in need of pampering, want to treat your loved-one, or yourself, check out these seven sensational spas in the UK. Well, we can dream, can’t we…
1. Chewton Glen, Hampshire
Top of my list is lovely Chewton Glen, in Hampshire. This five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel sits on the edge of the New Forest and you can stay in its manor house, or one of its luxury treehouses. The spa is beautiful – I was lucky enough to try it out with my sister. You can choose from a range of massages and body rituals, including new ones, using OTO CBD oils. Spa day and evening packages are available. Also special mention goes to the spa at sister hotel Cliveden House, Berkshire, which I also visited and highly recommend for its beautiful indoor pool and historic outdoor one.
For more information, visit chewtonglen.com
2. Ragdale Hall Spa, Leicestershire
If you are looking for an old-school spa, where you check out feeling better in yourself, one of the longest-running is Ragdale Hall, near Melton Mowbray, which was one of the first spas I visited. This enormous spa hotel has six pools, including a rooftop infinity pool, 20 exercise classes and 130 beauty therapists. You will come away from a day, weekend, or week, feeling like a new person. I’m wondering if I could move in.
For more information, visit ragdalehall.co.uk
3. The Newt, Somerset
For a luxury weekend away, with added spa, the hip country estate The Newt, is very much the place to be seen. The sprawling estate in Bruton has several parts to it, with accommodation in its manor house, stable block and farmyard. The spa has an indoor-outdoor pool and a huge range of high-end treatments, including an haute couture facial with oxygen. I haven’t been to this spa, but it’s on my wish-list.
For more information, visit thenewtinsomerset.com
4. Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland
Another hotel I’d like to visit is Gleneagles, which The Telegraph reckons is “possibly the best spa hotel in Scotland”, offering “a sublime haven of sybaritic delights with an added health dimension.” The famous hotel, spa and golf course in Perthshire, has a huge spa with 20 treatment rooms and pools. It offers a range of treatments including the beautifully-named signature treatment The Long Exhale. There’s also the new Gleneagles Townhouse, in Edinburgh, with a spa and wellness centre.
For more information, visit gleneagles.com
5. Mandarin Oriental, London
There are many, many spas in London to choose from, but one of my favourites, is the spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park. This beautiful underground spa, is cocoon-like and super-indulgent. With a huge range of treatments such as its Water Wellness two-and-a-half-hour bathing experience, you emerge feeling like a new person. For those wanting the latest thing, check in to the new Mandarin Oriental, opening imminently, in Mayfair – with a fabulous spa and indoor pool area.
Visit mandarinoriental.com
6. Gilpin Hotel and Lake House, Lake District
I’m ashamed to say I have not yet been to the Lake District. I don’t know why. But when I do get there, I’m going to check in to the fabulous Gilpin Hotel and nearby Lake House, two parts of a deluxe country house estate with chauffeur service between them. A luxe weekend spa-break in Windermere, you can stay in a Spa Suite, with its own lounge and dining area, steam room, sauna, infrared lounge bed, and massage chair. The Lake House has its own lake, boat house, hot tubs, saunas, and swimming pool and the main Gilpin Hotel has a Michelin-starred restaurant. Bliss.
For more information, visit thegilpin.co.uk
7. Gainsborough Bath Spa
If you’ve ever wondered what it would have been like to wallow in the Roman baths at Bath, this is as close as you can come. The Gainsborough Bath Spa is the only British hotel to access natural thermal waters. You can “take the waters” in a series of natural thermal pools of differing temperatures, saunas, steam room and ice alcove, as well as a huge range of treatments, before retiring to the Georgian-esque rooms of the hotel and feeling like Jane Austen, in the beautiful city. Yes, please, that will do nicely.
For more information, visit thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk