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Our favourite day spas
Our favourite stay spas
Other Good Spa Guide favourites
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Hotly-debated, and regularly updated, here's our current Top 5 places to go for the day.
Eastthorpe Hall, YorkshireIf you're looking for nurture in the midst of nature, pack your robe and head to Mirfield.
This small, welcoming day retreat offers holistic treatments with an emphasis on well-being and relaxation. Eastthorpe Hall is the perfect place to chill and relax, and return to the world invigorated. Many of the visitors -- all women on the day we were there -- seem to have therapy rather than beautification in mind. They come to the twinkly rooms and the garden for me-time, for curling up in a chair in the garden with a book time, for emotional strengthening, and for time out from their busy lives.
We loved the Eastthorpe holistic facial: it contained more gentle massage than we had ever experienced in a facial before.
Read our full review of Eastthorpe Hall
Special spa offer: Book a £115 Little Miss Sunshine package at Eastthorpe Hall
KuBu Spa, Henley on ThamesThis beautifully calm, cool treatment-room spa in Henley on Thames is a Balinese temple to spa-ing, and takes a whole lifestyle approach to beauty and wellbeing. KuBu use 100% organic massage oils made specially for them in Bali, and the organic Lavera product range, so it's a perfect place for anyone looking for safe, natural treatments.
Faultlessly clean, spacious, luxurious and welcoming, KuBu's attention to detail is what really makes your experience extra special -- from the perfect rose petals strewn in your footbath to the handmade chocolates and delicious, natural herbal tea.
We recommend the KuBu Signature Ritual: over two hours of total indulgence. From the flower petal foot soak, to the expertly delivered full-body massage, scrub and bath -- different phases that make three hours feel like a whole spa day.
Read our full review of KuBu Spa
The Treatment Rooms, BrightonInside this modest-looking Brighton townhouse, you'll find ten calming treatment rooms.
If muted, soft atmospheres, woody fragrances, and slow, deep, soothing massages are your cup of tea, then The Treatment Rooms is next door to heaven.
Couches are so luxuriously made up with bedding that even a princess on a handful of peas would be able to lie back and enjoy her Eve Lom facial.
Our Spa Spy was very, very reluctant to leave the fluffy cloud of bliss that The Treatment Rooms created for her.
Read our full review of The Treatment Rooms, Brighton
Thermae, BathA very popular, very affordable spa, built around the natural hot springs in Bath.
You can't beat the heritage of the Thermae site, the wonderful natural spring waters and the dramatic modern spa building that now houses the thermal springs.
Many treatments at Thermae make use of the natural thermal waters, including Vichy Showers and Watsu -- a relaxing combination of water-based exercise, floatation and massage.
Don't miss lounging in the rooftop pool while gazing out over the city of Bath.
Read our full review of Thermae
One Spa, EdinburghOh, this place is transcendental in its pleasure fields. In the relaxation room, no-one will speak to you in anything other than a whisper, and you will be guided to and from your treatments as though you are ancient royalty.
One Spa's three hour Vakruti Balancing treatment is an extraordinary massage, using Ayurvedic influences, some reflexology, plus hot stones and the use of shiatsu pressure points. Quite a combination. Purists may well throw their hands up in horror -- but don't knock it until you have tried it.
Glide out in the evening to beautiful Edinburgh, and the "mmmm" of your day will last for weeks.
Read our full review of One Spa
Gleneagles, PerthshireGleneagles is one of the most perfect spas we have visited. The serene atmosphere and excellent facilities at this ESPA spa can unwind you to the point of being horizontal.
From the changing rooms to the vitality pool, every detail has been carefully thought through in this elegant and luxurious spa. On entering, you are greeted with a definite barrier between the real world and the spa: a set of heavy wooden doors with a silver circle in the middle. This barrier keeps out even hotel guests, who are only allowed entrance if they have booked a treatment as their ticket of admission. This keeps the spa as a peaceful haven, and you sense the serene atmosphere as soon as you are inside.
Signature treatments include a Purva Karma Four-Handed Massage, and an Ama Releasing Abhanga. The Abhanga is one of several treatments on offer which are ayurvedic-inspired, so if you enjoy having your chakras unblocked or your marma points massaged, you'll find plenty on the Gleneagles spa menu to keep you happy.
Read our full review of Gleneagles
Like the sound of this? You're in luck. Follow this link to book a great hotel offer at Gleneagles with our partners lastminute.com
New Park Manor, HampshireOur Spa Spies visited New Park Manor Hotel and Bath House Spa ("The Spa in the Forest") on a cold February day. The perfect sort of day, in fact, to sit in an outdoor hot tub looking at some deer and New Forest ponies. But it's a pretty perfect spa that will look after you no matter what the season.
New Park Manor is a rather grand and elegant country house with a modern, purpose-built spa on the side. You could have a different kind of massage here every day for a month -- try a signature Herb and Hay Detox treatment, followed by a smoothing Comfort Zone facial.
A great choice for mums and daughters, or a spa break to catch up with a friend.
Read our full review of New Park Manor
Like the sound of this? You're in luck. Follow this link to book a great hotel offer at New Park Manor with our partners lastminute.com
St Brides Spa Hotel, WalesNever heard of Saundersfoot? You soon will. The St Brides Spa Hotel is putting this Welsh seaside town firmly on the spa destination map.
The beautifully designed thermal suite, the high quality treatments, and the stylish but friendly hotel are all worth a journey, if you're not lucky enough to already live in Pembrokeshire.
St Brides makes the most of its stunning cliffside location; the sea theme reverberates from the beach views in the relaxation room to the marine-based Algotherm treatments.
Don't miss the outdoor heated vitality pool with its views over Carmarthen Bay.
Read our full review of St Brides
Royal Crescent Hotel, BathA serene, natural-feeling spa attached to a beautiful period hotel in Bath's most exclusive Georgian crescent. This very unusual spa is set in a stone coach-house building with huge arched windows that let in the light. It feels part Roman bath house, and part monastic retreat.
Almost half of the building is taken up with a 12-metre pool, heated to body temperature. Relax in hot and cold wooden plunge tubs, a sauna and a steam room. The key ingredients at The Bath House are tranquility and quiet.
Our Spa Spy (a confirmed massage junkie) had one of the best massages ever here. The food in the Royal Crescent Hotel is exceptionally good -- interesting modern English cooking with plenty of choice on the menu. Perfect for a foodie spa break.
Read our full review of The Bath House -- including the best massage ever
Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa, CheshireAn attractive country house in plenty of grounds with a stud farm next door. How much more county set can you get?
Rookery Hall is a romantic destination offering comfortable rooms, very good food and a light, airy, delightfully spacious spa.
There's a large, glass-roofed pool, a gym, and huge hydrotherapy pool, sauna and crystal steam room, too.
Enjoy a good range of ESPA and Clarins facials, massages and wraps and then take time for a long country stroll in the 38 acres of parkland. The perfect way to work up an appetite before dinner.
Read our full review of Rookery Hall
Like the sound of this? You're in luck. Follow this link to book a special spa offer at Rookery Hall with our partners lastminute.com
Good Spa Guide Favourites - Products
Good Spa Guide Favourites - Treatments
Anti-ageing creams: what works and how much is it?
Anti-ageing treatments: see what we've tried
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