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The Best Spa Hotels in the UK
A comprehensive list of the finest places to regain your sanity (without having to find your passport)
If the words 'spa day' conjure images of mainlining warm prosecco in a mildly warmer hot tub while trying to avoid eye contact with a half dozen strangers, you're not up to date with the new school of UK spa hotels.
No longer a Groupon deal you get that distant relative as a panicked wedding gift, the best spa bookings now serve to sort our both your frazzled mind and muscles.
For fitness fans, outposts such as London's Bulgari hotel break up all the reclining with a host of personal trainers and high-intensity workouts, while plenty boast properly sized pools for lapping as well as relaxing in. Many also showcase the very best of the British isle, set in spectacularly green locations that'll have you working out whether you could realistically commute from Hertfordshire.
Treatment-wise, you're spoilt for choice. Forget the realm of middling massages and faffy facials: the UK's very best hotels have pivoted into serious treatment territory. Bamford's potent essential-oil blends are behind many of the most invigorating massages, while Cotswolds favourite Thyme is producing its own spectacularly fragrant products inspired by the surrounding grounds. And for a facial that boasts real results? Consider the presence of 111 Skin – who are installing themselves into a growing number of spa locations – a very good thing.
Here, see the very best UK spa hotels to book yourself into now. Bring your trainers, or don't – we aren't here to judge.
1 Hotel Mayfair, London
The old-money glitz of Berkeley Square may not be the most obvious setting for London's first actually sustainable hotel, but it's where you'll find the 1 Hotels group's first UK outpost.
Definitive proof that luxury can be done in a way that doesn't batter the planet, this slick and serene hideout is eco-conscious in earnest, from the repurposed wood furniture to the completely plastic-free bedrooms.
This month, the hotel's Bamford Wellness Spa has opened its doors. There are no 'wet' facilities here (so you can't swim or steam), but you will find what has to be the best body massage in the entire city. The 1 Hotel Mayfair Signature Experience starts with a ritualistic sage burning, but that's where the woo-woo ends: what follows is 90 minutes of targeted deep-tissue relief and Thai-style stretching with an efficacy rarely found in a hotel spa.
1 Hotel Mayfair, 3 Berkeley St, London W1J 8DJ
The Grove, Hertfordshire
The Grove, former home of the Earl of Clarendon, might only be an hour's drive from the centre of London, but this grand, meticulously landscaped estate is green enough to make you feel as though you've really, properly escaped the city.
Many come for the world-championship gold course – which is where Tiger Woods claimed victory in 2006 – but this family-friendly escape boasts an endless list of attractions that'll keep you busy for days.
The Walled Garden features a (heated!) outdoor pool and genuinely not naff artificial beach - while those who prefer more action can try everything from archery to horse riding. Even the Everyman cinema has popped up on the lawn for a series of summer screenings.
As for the spa? It's where you'll find the most hunchbacked London office folk, releasing weeks of professional stress in the full-size pool, or retreating for a thoroughly reliable massage by spa favourites Bamford.
The Grove, Chandler's Cross, Watford WD3 4TG
Bulgari, London
From the second you walk into the perfumed foyer of Bulgari's London outpost, it's clear you're in one of the capital's most luxurious hideaways.
The spa itself is truly in a league of its own: from the properly sized, cabana-flanked pool (which sits five floors underground and is blissfully silent) to the gilded jacuzzi and multiple (multiple!) steam rooms, there is no better place to while away an entire evening than here.
The treatments are, of course, outrageously decadent: in-house brands include the formidable 111 Skin (try the Celestial Black Diamond Facial) and the Ayurvedic Mauli Rituals, which will deliver a massage so good you'll likely shed a tear.
So far so appealing, but for a real special-occasion booking it's resident aesthetician Adeela Crown you need – in fact, she's usually booked up by the actual Hollywood elite, so be sure to claim your spot swiftly.
For something more specific, there's a physiotherapist, osteopath and and a reformer pilates instructor at your service. Essentially, your every whim – no matter how indulgent – is well and truly catered for.
Bulgari Hotel London, 171 Knightsbridge, London SW7 1DW
The Ned, London
The former Midland Bank headquarters – a Grade 1 listed architectural masterpiece in the very heart of London – required a hospitality behemoth to transform it into a successful hotel, and obviously Soho House was the only contender.
A significant departure from the House code of cosy and covert hideaways, The Ned is a grand, high-ceilinged masterpiece that combines old-world glamour (the live jazz in the bar starts at 11am) with founder Nick Jones' precise eye for modern detail.
Of course, there's one of the group's famous rooftop pools waiting for you up high, but the real wellness happens in the basement – the bank's former vault. Here, you'll find everything from Europe's biggest hammam (the best booking to make after touring the city in summer), a marble-lined 65ft pool, sauna and steam and a barber.
Treatments range from the performance-driven – Is Clinical's renowned 'fire and ice' treatment – to the soporific, via de Mamiel's mood-altering aromatherapy massages.
The Ned, 27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ
Beaverbrook, Leatherhead
The home of former tabloid patriarch Lord Beaverbrook is now one of the country's most precisely pruned country estates.
Really, it doesn't come grander than 400-acre Surrey Hills enclave, where the mansion's grand architecture is offset with cosy, genuinely very tasteful decor. Each room (most of which are larger than a central-London home) is named after a former guest, from Elizabeth Taylor to Ian Fleming, while the Garden House restaurant – a short buggy ride away from the main house – marries views of the rolling landscape with an outstanding modern Mediterranean menu.
Of course, the acclaimed Coach House Spa is one of the main reasons to visit. The glinting cobalt-blue tiled entrance may be perfect social-media fodder, but it's the less-Instagrammed spaces that'll really appeal. Spend a sunny afternoon by the shimmering outdoor pool – a quiet spot for book-reading, not knocking back rosé – or book a Biodynamic Bodywork massage to "encourage energic flow". For the serious wellness-seeker, NAD infusions and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber are on the menu.
Beaverbrook, Reigate Rd, Leatherhead KT22 8QX
Carden Park, Chester
Not all couples have the same idea of a fun weekend. When one of you prefers marinating in a hot tub while the other would rather fly along a zipline, finding the staycation to keep you both happy can induce passive aggression of a nuclear level.
If this sounds familiar, keep the 'let's just do what you want then' to a minimum and book yourselves in at Cheshire's Carden Park, which offers both a gargantuan spa, complete with outdoor pool and hot tub, alongside an arial adventure course aptly called 'Vertigo'. And the bit to unite you both? Dinner at the double-rosette restaurant, The Vines.
Carden Park, Tilston, CH3 9DQ
Claridge's, London
Despite being one of the most iconic hotels in London for over two centuries, Claridge's has only just opened its first ever spa.
Clearly, it was worth the wait. Hidden in an excavated space five floors below the hotel itself is a cavernous 7,000 square-foot retreat imagined by architect Andre Fu, where Japanese-inspired treatment rooms surround the tranquil centrepiece pool.
Of course, the treatments here are the best in the business. The resident brands are Augustinus Bader – the man behind The Cream – and the techy FaceGym, which can take your cheekbones an inch higher in just 60 minutes. For the eternally worn-out, acupuncturist Ross J. Barr can be summoned on request.
But for that chronically hunched back, it's the hotel's own Bamboo & Silk Ritual you need. Deemed a 'total mind and body immersion', this 90-minute holistic treatment begins with a foot scrub and ends with a facial that involves miniature hand-made poultices that will be perched on your pressure points. The bit in-between? Expect an hour of outstandingly good massage, boosted with herbal compresses and warm bamboo sticks for deeper fascia work. (Whether or not you can stay awake to experience it is another story.)
Claridge's Brook Street, London W1K 4HR
The Berkeley, London
While most of London's most luxurious spa hotels follow the formula of deep, dark spaces lined in marble and chrome, the Berkeley's Bamford Spa is refreshing different. It's a bright, oak-lined escape, strewn with light and perfumed with soothing lavender oil.
Of course, many book their stay for the rooftop pool (the best in London, and exclusive to hotel guests), but there is also an entire menu of industry-leading treatments to indulge yourself in. Bamford's own signature treatments are a true fail-safe, whether you desire to be invigorated or sent to sleep – but for a bar-raising facial, try 111 Skin, who are currently in residency in the spa. The brand's Cryo De-Puffing Facial is legendary amongst the A-list, and involves a generous slathering of the brand's circulation-boosting skincare, all massaged in with a pair of extremely chilly cryo globes. It's considerably more pleasant than it sounds, and completely transforms tired skin.
Cliveden, Berkshire
Cliveden is a residence steeped in government scandal (the Profumo affair, not Boris' jingle and mingle), and boy does it dine out on it. The sprawling estate is about as traditionally trussed-up as it gets: think manicured lawns, four-poster beds, and a driveway that takes longer to traverse than your daily commute to the office.
Grandeur is Cliveden's speciality, and this extends seamlessly to the spa: facials and massages come courtesy of Brit brand Oskia, while the outdoor pool is flanked by more than one hot tub, so you don't need to squeeze in next to a stranger. From saunas to tennis courts via a full fitness studio, there's pretty much everything you could want for here.
As for the accommodation? The rooms, which come in varying degrees of decadence, are all remarkable, but we'd recommend pushing the boat out (literally – there's a mooring) for the Spring Cottage, which is nestled on the bank of the Thames and sleeps up to six.
Cliveden House, Berkshire
The Mandarin Oriental, London
The antithesis of quiet luxury, the spa menu at London's Mandarin Oriental hotel is as outrageously opulent as they come. Book yourself the Perfect Synergy, which involves a pedicure and foot massage being performed as the same time as a sculpting facial, or reserve the spa's top-tier Oriental Suite for an epic 3.5 hour long Tian Quan bathing ritual: a top-to-toe body reset, from facial to massage.
For those who don't want to navigate a dissertation-length spa menu, head straight to the two treatments designed specifically for men: the Oskia Gentleman's Facial, which utilises steaming and scrubbing for a particularly good deep-cleanse, and the Deep Muscle Massage with hot stones and hefty pressure.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London SW1X 7LA
Thyme, Cotswolds
More of a harmonious hamlet than a hotel, the family-run Thyme is a labour of love in the heart of the country's greenest region.
This is countryside luxury at its best: think characterful (not chintzy) rooms complete with roll-top baths and outlandishly big beds, and a restaurant with a menu that changes daily, depending on the crops of the farm.
Thyme's burgeoning beauty brand, Bertioli, is spotlit in the small yet precisely thought-out Botanical Bothy concept spa.
More than a massage, the Signature Ritual involves breathwork (don't laugh – it's genuinely transformative) pressure-point work and invigorating body brushing, before a hair wash and herbal bath to cap it all off. For something a little different, yet no less memorable, head here.
Thyme, Lechlade GL7 3NX
The Connaught, London
The Connaught is the first hotel outside of the Aman stable to boast one of the brand's world-renowned spas. A sleek city affair, it's the perfect counter to a busy weekend spent exploring the capital, where the pristine (and pleasingly quiet) pool makes a perfect precursor to a top-tier massage.
The Grounding Massage Ritual, which clocks in at an indulgent 90 minutes, is inspired by the traditional Tibetan Ku Nye techniques and involves undulating pressure alongside cupping to release all that stagnant energy.
The Corinthia, London
For those who want to jump in at the deep end when it comes to treating yourself, The Corinthia Hotel and its spa ESPA Life needs to be at the top of your staycation list. Located in the centre of London, steps away from Trafalgar Square and with views of the Southbank and the London Eye, it’s one of few hotels that offers next level luxury in the heart of the capital.
A subterranean sanctuary, the spa is floors of wall to wall white marble with soft lighting - it's impossible not to feel relaxed as you head to the main thermal spa which houses a number of pools, steam rooms and saunas. Napping next to the poolside fires is a Saturday afternoon well spent.
When it comes to the treatments, ESPA Life’s are fully immersive and sensory experiences. We recommend one of their Modern Alchemy therapies inspired by ancient global traditions.
Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2BD
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