Andreas here, your London-based connoisseur of luxury wellness. Living in the UK, I’ve had the pleasure of exploring some of the finest spa destinations this country has to offer. From historic manor houses to modern retreats, the UK boasts a diverse range of luxury spa hotels and wellness resorts that cater to every taste. Let’s dive into some of my favorites:
Grantley Hall, Ripon, Yorkshire
This meticulously restored Palladian manor is a testament to five-star luxury. The Grantley Hall spa, known as the Three Graces Spa, is a sprawling wellness haven. The colonnaded lap pool, bathed in natural light, offers a serene swimming experience. The indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy pool, with its bubbling jets and warm waters, is perfect for easing tired muscles. The new Nordic spa garden, featuring ice baths and an outdoor sauna, provides a refreshing contrast and a unique Scandinavian touch. Their treatment menu is extensive, ranging from deeply relaxing holistic massages with sound healing and marma point therapy to results-driven Natura Bissé facials that leave your skin glowing. The Michelin-starred dining adds another layer of indulgence to your stay.
The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Bath, Somerset
As the only spa with direct access to Bath’s naturally thermal waters, The Gainsborough offers a truly unique and historically rich experience. The Romanesque Spa Village is a masterpiece of design, featuring three pools filled with the mineral-rich thermal waters, each at different temperatures, allowing for a personalized bathing ritual. The largest pool, set under a glass-roofed atrium, creates a stunning ambiance. They offer a wide range of treatments, including invigorating mud detoxes using Omorovicza products, known for their healing properties. Its central location also allows you to explore the historic city of Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its Roman Baths and Georgian architecture.
Cliveden, Taplow, Berkshire
This iconic National Trust property seamlessly blends history and luxury. The spa, nestled within the estate’s vast grounds, is centered around a listed, heated outdoor swimming pool, where the infamous Profumo Affair began, adding a touch of intrigue. Inside, you’ll find a beautifully designed columned pool, seven treatment rooms offering Oskia facials and body therapies, and an orangery-style relaxation space filled with natural light. The vast tree-lined parterre, a formal garden at the rear of the house, offers a truly peaceful retreat, perfect for a leisurely stroll or quiet contemplation.
Heckfield Place, Hook, Hampshire
Heckfield Place’s The Bothy spa embraces a deeply rooted nature-centric philosophy. Surrounded by rolling hills, ancient woodlands, and serene lakes, the spa focuses on movement and holistic treatments using their own Wildsmith skincare, crafted from botanicals grown on the estate. There’s a stunning swimming pool with panoramic woodland views, a plant-based restaurant by Skye Gyngell, showcasing the best of seasonal produce, and outdoor hydrotherapy pools for a truly immersive experience.
Lime Wood, New Forest, Hampshire
For a restful weekend, Lime Wood’s Herb House Spa is the epitome of tranquility. In summer, the glass doors by the outdoor pool open onto a sun-drenched deck lined with plush sun loungers, creating a seamless connection with nature. In winter, the thermal room, with its crackling fireplace and warm hues, is the place to be, featuring a sauna with forest views, a steam room, a tepidarium, and a jetted pool. A rooftop herb garden, where many of the botanicals used in treatments are grown, provides a serene space for quiet contemplation. Treatments feature Voya, Bamford, and Sarah Chapman products, each chosen for their natural ingredients and efficacy.
The Scarlet, Mawgan Porth, England
This adults-only Cornish classic offers stunning clifftop views of the Atlantic Ocean and a focus on complete restoration. The eco-friendly spa features outdoor cedarwood hot tubs perched on the cliff edge, a natural outdoor pool filtered by reeds, a sauna cabin with beach-view portholes, an indoor pool, and a steam room. Daily wellness classes, including invigorating morning yoga and tai chi, are held in a studio overlooking the ocean. The coastal garden, filled with native plants, spills down to a path that leads to the silky beach in minutes, perfect for a barefoot stroll.
Cowley Manor Experimental, Cowley, Cotswolds, England
The C-Side Spa, housed in a striking modernist building with glass walls, offers breathtaking views of the Cowley Manor estate’s grounds, studded with majestic sequoia trees. Along with a slate-lined indoor pool and an outdoor pool flanked by cheery parasols, they offer excellent treatments using Biologique Recherche, Oskia, and Monuskin products, each chosen for their natural ingredients and results-driven approach.
Beaverbrook, Surrey, England
This 19th-century manor, the former home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook, exudes grandeur in every corner. The Brian Clarke-designed spa, a riot of color and light, provides a striking contrast to the manor’s elegant interiors. The spa features six treatment rooms, offering everything from classic massages and facials to decidedly more “out-there” experiences, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy and intravenous infusions. There’s also a checkerboard-tiled outdoor pool, an indoor pool, and a low-lit thermal space with a sauna, steam chamber, and whirlpool.
The Newt in Somerset, Castle Cary, Somerset, England
The Newt offers a refined West Country experience, combining historic charm with modern luxury. The spa, housed in a beautifully restored barn, features a salt infusion chamber, an indoor-outdoor pool that seamlessly blends with the surrounding countryside, and treatments using The Organic Pharmacy products, known for their organic and ethical approach. Wellbeing classes include immersive forest bathing, breathwork, and meditation, allowing guests to reconnect with nature.
Thyme, Southrop, Cotswolds, England
This postcard-pretty village retreat offers first-class facilities, including the Meadow Spa, housed in a restored medieval barn, and a heated springwater pool surrounded by lush gardens. The Botanical Bothy, a dedicated space for blissful rituals, offers guided breathwork, body brushing, head massages, and a herbal soak in one of the private garden’s outdoor tubs, complete with a nearby fireplace for added warmth and ambiance.
Middleton Lodge, North Yorkshire, Yorkshire, England
The rustic Forest Spa at this rambling Georgian estate offers a tranquil escape into nature. The pool house, with its wooden beams, exposed stone, sink-into sofas, and log-burning fire, provides a cozy atmosphere. Folding doors open onto a heated pool, creating a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. Guests can enjoy a plunge pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, and wooden treatment cabins. Therapies of note include VOYA seaweed bath rituals, harnessing the power of the ocean, and massages inspired by the calming practice of forest bathing.
Babington House, Somerset, England
This original country outpost of Soho House retains its allure with its old-school insider elegance. There are two heated pools to choose from: one overlooking a serene lake and one inside a cavernous stone barn, creating a dramatic setting. Both pools back onto a pool house featuring steam and sauna rooms, high-end changing facilities, and a cinema that hosts free screenings every day. The Cowshed Spa, housed in a former cow shed, delivers its signature treatments using natural ingredients and backs onto a pretty walled kitchen garden, filled with fragrant herbs and flowers.
Swinton Park Hotel, Ripon, Yorkshire, England
This ivy-cloaked baronial pile offers a plethora of activities, from fine dining to country pursuits, but also provides a sleek and airy spa for those seeking quality downtime. The spa features an indoor pool and thermal experience, as well as a freshwater outdoor pool and sauna set in a spa garden, creating a harmonious blend of indoor and outdoor relaxation. Spa treatments use Bamford and Oskia products, known for their natural ingredients and luxurious textures.
The Grove, Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire, England
Set in 300 acres of rambling grounds, not too far from London, The Grove offers an accessible and attractive country escape. The award-winning spa features a striking black-mosaic pool set beneath vaulted ceilings, creating a dramatic and elegant ambiance. A choice of treatments from Natura Bissé and Bamford, known for their scientifically advanced formulations and natural ingredients, are available. A light-filled cafe serves nourishing light bites, juices, and smoothies, perfect for a post-treatment refreshment.
The Tawny, Staffordshire, England
Home to lakes, wild woodland, and forgotten follies entangled in greenery, the grounds at The Tawny are the stuff of holistic dreams. Rooms are spread across boathouses, treehouses, and shepherd’s huts, allowing guests to wake up to breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. Ways to find zen here include swimming a few lazy lengths in the heated outdoor pool, which benefits from sweeping valley views, immersive forest bathing experiences, private yoga sessions in the grounds, and Gaia treatment journeys in a sweet thatched cottage, creating a truly enchanting spa experience.
Brimstone, Lake District, Cumbria, England
A chalet-style woodland retreat nestled in the Langdale Valley, Brimstone is one of the Lake District’s most coveted addresses. Bedrooms are outfitted in muted tones, creating a calming atmosphere, and feature crackling fireplaces and rolltop baths positioned to peer out over the treetops.
Summary
The UK offers a wealth of exceptional spa destinations, each with its unique charm and offerings. Whether you’re seeking a historic retreat, a nature-inspired escape, or a modern wellness experience, you’ll find it in this diverse country. I hope this guide inspires you to embark on your own rejuvenating spa journey. And of course, if you are visiting the UK for the first time, you should really plan for a few days in London with all that it has to offer.
