Spa Hotels

A Regency mansion in parkland, once home to Percy Shelley’s mother, has been reimagined as a contemporary country house hotel infused with a blithe spirit.

This Tudor Gothic-style Elizabethan mansion, extended over centuries, overlooks parkland with a rare 17th-century parterre, walled rose garden, cascade, lily pond and follies.

While some of us bring home a fridge magnet or a Cornishware mug, businessman Andrew Long has gone one better and bought a hotel.

First-time visitors can’t help but stand and stare at this exquisite country house, with its William and Mary symmetry and 20 acres of gardens and parkland.

Day guests, members and hotel residents pass through a marble shower before dipping in a mother-of-pearl indoor pool at this Edwardian country house’s spa. They can also bathe in the outdoor pool, use sauna or steam rooms.

Fragrant herbs and flowers from the renowned herb garden infuse signature treatments in the Secret Garden Spa at this Georgian mansion. There’s a pool with floor-to-ceiling windows, a thermal suite, an outdoor hot tub.

The real charm of this grand country house, with sweeping gardens, terraces, oak panelling and swish spa, lies in its warm and informal atmosphere.

From the ozone-treated pool and outdoor hot tubs, to crystal steam rooms and aromatherapy saunas, this spa sets the standard. There are top-to-toe beauty treatments, yoga and Tai Chi, all in a lovely New Forest setting.

In the grounds of an Arts and Crafts country house, the Elan Spa has a fitness room with static bikes, treadmills and exercise pool – or facials and massage for those who simply want to unwind. Perhaps a hot stone massage, or a chakra well-being ritual.

‘It’s like going back in time to more gracious living,’ writes a reader after an annual visit to the Ashworth family's hotel in sub-tropical gardens above Carne Beach.

A tunnel leads from the hotel to the Serenity Spa, creating a heightened sense of escape. Extensive facilities include a hammam, an Indian steam room, outdoor hot tubs, an ice fountain and a Zen garden with infinity hydrotherapy pool.

Glamorous ocean vistas are on show through the floor-to-ceiling windows of this hotel, which sits on a headland above St Ouen’s Bay.

Surely one of Britain’s most beautiful spas lies within old brick walls in the gardens of this Italianate mansion. Facilities include an indoor and (notorious) outdoor pool, a gym, hot tubs – an easy drive from London.

The Cave-Browne-Cave family have kept a welcome in the hillside at their big, white hotel above Cardigan Bay since the days of silent film, when men wore bowler hats to the beach.

The luxury spa and salon at The Beaumont in Mayfair is a calm white-marble Art Deco space including a range of massage, facial and hammam treatments as well as a salon for hairdressing and grooming.

This former 17th-century inn, which is part of the Duke of Devonshire’s 30,000-acre estate at Bolton Abbey, is today an impressive country house hotel, with fine dining and a spa.

A contemplative, adults-only space, this Ayurvedic-inspired spa has an inside- outside feel, with cliff-top hot tubs, an indoor pool with sea views, a reed-filtered outdoor pool. Herbs and heat, salt and seaweed are all deployed for your well- being.

In a ‘beautiful’ setting, Jan and Adam Moore’s dog-friendly country hotel in an 18th-century sporting lodge looks out over the hills and is surrounded by trees.

On a cliff-side above a secluded south Devon cove, this stylish hotel is just the place for seaside de-stressing. A sun terrace at the spa looks over Babbacombe Bay; inside, there’s an aromatherapy shower, a hydrotherapy pool, a sauna and steam rooms. Algae-based beauty and well-being treatments are available for face and body – and a duo massage room means double the repose.

Seen through walls of windows, the sea is a huge presence at this family-run hotel ‘in a fabulous location’ on the cliffs above a surfers’ beach.

Once a youth hostel, this hotel at the corner of a late Georgian terrace has definitely waved away any thoughts of backpackers' basics, swapping them for boutique chic.

An equestrian statue of Frederick, Prince of Wales, marks your arrival at this glorious Jacobean-cum-Georgian mansion, a hotel since the late 1980s.

This single-storey hotel enfolded in a gorse-clad valley with views of the sea has been in the Makepeace family for three generations.

Behind the ‘pretty façade’ of a Georgian town house in an affluent market town, this hotel is a perfect retreat, with small spa, oasis garden and croquet lawn.

A Georgian manor house above Chesil Beach, this is a dog- and people-friendly hotel designed for holidays and fun, catering to everyone from tinies to grown-ups with sophisticated tastes.

A Victorian mock-Tudor fishing lodge in wooded grounds on the River Irfon is today a spa hotel and foodie destination with a country house ambience and views to the Cambrian mountains.

Launched in summer 2021 after a multimillion-pound-makeover, this youthful hotel has a Balearics vibe, with outdoor spa, lakeside heated-sand beach, beach bar and sunken lounge.

In a ‘fabulous’ position, this large hotel in lush subtropical gardens overlooks a ‘magnificent’ sandy bay. It is run by ‘extremely friendly, helpful and well organised’ staff.

Pack your Schiaparelli gowns, beach pants and playsuits, and board the 'sea tractor' for a trip back to the 1930s at this Art Deco hotel on a tidal island where the beau monde came to play.

All the bases are covered for a fun, relaxing family escape at this Jacobean manor house, which has a crèche, cinema, spa, pools, comfortable country house-style bedrooms, and formal and informal dining.

Avowedly family-friendly and fun yet stylish, this hotel with spa occupies a Baroque Victorian mansion in five acres above the Fowey estuary.

'It's ‘fiercely expensive’, but this Relais & Châteaux hotel in a chocolate-box village doesn’t stint on the traditional country house luxuries, drapes, stripes, sofas and chandeliers, florals, antiques, paintings.

A superb base for exploring the surrounding Norfolk Broads, this country-house hotel in a ‘beautiful Georgian building’ has a private lake and gardens on the River Bure.

The Gloriana of Robin Hutson’s Pig hotel collection (see other entries), this Grade I-listed Elizabethan beauty stands in ‘wonderful grounds in a special location’ in the peaceful Otter valley.

In 19 acres of sub-tropical gardens, this family-owned 65-room spa hotel is a happy marriage of the traditional and informal, with well-equipped rooms, fine dining in the smart Trevilder, and a gastropub menu in the 16th-century village inn.

In the buzzy Georgian quarter, a Victorian carriage works has been reimagined as a hotel, with industrial-chic style, spa, minimalist bedrooms and modern British menus.

The Milsom family’s Victorian country house hotel in Dedham Vale, in the heart of Constable country, has been subtly rebranded with the addition of a spa by the pool house.

Perched in the tree canopy, the Swedish- style Jetty Spa offers treatments for Lake House guests. Or stay in a Spa Lodge with steam room, outdoor sauna and hydrotherapy tub, and book in-room treatments. Gilpin guests have use of nearby Choices Health Club.

With golf, tennis, kayaking and powerboating, indoor pool and outdoor hot tub, this spa hotel in 65 acres of garden and woodland on the Helford river is a holiday resort in its own right.