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Spas and spa hotels (39 posts found)

Luxury spa and spa hotels reviewed on travel reviews website ALadyofLeisure.com by travel journalist Sarah Bridge

by Sarah Bridge
added February 12, 2020

There are probably many historic hotels in Birmingham with a spa and swimming pool but I can't imagine that many of them come with a moat. In fact, I was trying to think of any hotels with a moat which I've reviewed for ALadyofLeisure.com and I'm not...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 9, 2020

While everyone's idea of a romantic hotel break is different, I think it's fair to assume there are some things which you have to expect: sumptuous, immaculate bedrooms, a top restaurant serving great food, gorgeous grounds for a romantic pre-dinner ...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 21, 2019

If you're looking for luxury hotels in the Cotswolds The Lygon Arms will be high on your wish-list, and in fact it was on mine for ages. This historic hotel has been a main fixture in the beautiful Cotswolds village of Broadway since its days as a ...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 3, 2019

It was only when I heard the receptionist answer the phone at Stapleford Park hotel in Leicestershire that I realised I'd been saying its name all wrong and it was actually pronounced Stappleford, rather than Stapleford - but the friendly staff at th...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 31, 2019

Not having had the luxury of a clifftop spa hotel on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall before, I didn't have much to compare Mullion Cove hotel with, but judging on my first visit I think it will be hard to beat. The location of Mullion Cove ho...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 15, 2019

Reaching Thurlestone hotel in south Devon is like going down Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole. You plunge off the main road along one of those high-hedged, single-track lanes which Devon specialises in and can do nothing but blindly follow its windi...

by Sarah Bridge
added August 8, 2019

There are some hotels with spas and there are some hotels which ARE spas. Ragdale Hall health spa in Leicestershire most definitely falls into the latter camp, making a spa break at Ragdale Hall a must for any spa fans. The moment you arrive you are ...

by Sarah Bridge
added July 9, 2019

Fans of Germaine de Capuccini who are wondering where to get Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments in the UK, will be delighted to hear that award-winning hotel Park House hotel and spa in West Sussex is the latest hotel to offer the skin care special...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 21, 2019

It's where James Bond beat Goldfinger in possibly the most famous golf match in cinema history, where Bridget Jones ditched singleton life for a weekend away with boss Daniel Cleaver and where Teri Hatcher and Pierce Brosnan (as another Bond) danced ...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 21, 2019

Guest post from the best-selling Good Hotel Guide - their top 10 luxury hotels with pools for the summer Summer’s here and with any luck we’ve all got summer holidays booked in. Come rain or shine, no holiday would be complete without a little swimm...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 4, 2019

The first thing that struck me about the five-star Corinthia Hotel in London when I stayed there was how utterly huge everything is. From the vast central lobby lounge with its soaring dome and chandelier made of 1,001 crystal baubles, to the high-ce...

by Sarah Bridge
added May 29, 2019

Returning to The Swan hotel at Lavenham in Suffolk several years after my original stay, I was relieved to find that it was just as lovely as I remembered it. This time it also had the added attraction of its new (to me) Weavers' House Spa which had ...

by Sarah Bridge
added March 13, 2019

It shares its name with a famous motor racing circuit but guests at the Brandshatch Place hotel and spa will enjoy a relaxing stay away from the fast lane. As befits a hotel named after a racing circuit, guests to the Brandshatch Pla...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 27, 2019

It isn't often I embrace a hotel gym so wholeheartedly but there was something about the brand spanking new spa Mallory Court luxury hotel Warwickshire which made it irresistible. As we'd just come from feasting at sister hotel Brockencote Hall in...

by Sarah Bridge
added May 21, 2018

It goes without saying that anyone doing battle with the traffic on either the M25, A2 or A20 routes is probably in need of some serious relaxation, but they might be surprised to learn that there is an oasis of calm just moments away. Thankfully due...

by Sarah Bridge
added March 20, 2018

Halfway through our meal at The Vineyard hotel and spa, Newbury, I was beginning to wonder if I knew as much about wine as I thought I did. Not only could I not guess what grape variety I was drinking or what country it came from, I couldn't even wor...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 9, 2018

If you're going to spend the night in a castle, then it's appropriate to look the part, which is why it felt very fitting arriving at the luxury hotel Bovey Castle in the heart of Dartmoor in a £150,000 Aston Martin DB11. A trio of valets clad...

by Sarah Bridge
added February 6, 2018

I've been lucky to stay in some of the best hotel rooms in the country but for sheer romance it's hard to beat a Beach Suite at the delightful Cary Arms and Spa on Babbacombe Bay, Devon - in the heart of the 'English Riviera'. With a private terrace ...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 16, 2018

It isn't often you plan on spending the night at a rather grand country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But the treehouses at Chewton Glen, the five-star hotel and spa located deep in the hea...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 15, 2018

Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay - but in a good way. I arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and by the time I left 24 hours later I'd had a 90 minute massage, swam, sauna'd, steamed and lounged in the spa,...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 13, 2018

Walking into a really gorgeous hotel room can be such a bittersweet moment. There is the initial reaction of 'Wow! This is really, really nice....!' and delight that this is actually all yours for the next 20 hours or so. Then there is the sudden rea...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 12, 2018

If the holiday season left you feeling in serious need of a relaxing break with country walks, a first-class spa and restaurant and cosy rooms to hide away in, then Bailiffscourt hotel and spa is the place for you. Tucked away down a little countr...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 17, 2017

It's been receiving guests for more than 60 years but Park House hotel and spa is only now making the transition from well-kept local secret to firm fixture on the British country house hotel scene. With a new general manager - Mark Yates, formerly o...

by Sarah Bridge
added September 27, 2017

There is always a worry when it comes to revisiting a hotel which you totally adored on the first visit - what if it's not going to be as good as you remembered it? I know people who won't go to the same place twice for that very reason, and others w...

by Sarah Bridge
added September 25, 2017

If you like visiting beautiful English stately homes but hate the queues, the drive, the parking and the general hassle which usually goes with such visits, then Bowood hotel, spa and golf in Wiltshire has the perfect solution: its own fleet of golf ...

by Sarah Bridge
added August 21, 2017

I hadn't meant to embark on an impromptu Champagne cocktail-tasting session just after breakfast, but in keeping with the overall spirit of relaxation and pampering at The Greenway hotel and spa Cheltenham it seemed the right thing to do. It was m...

by Sarah Bridge
added April 4, 2017

If the England rugby team need somewhere to recharge their batteries after this year's bruising contest in which they finished a lowly fifth, then they needn't travel very far: their training ground at Pennyhill Park luxury hotel in Surrey is just a ...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 31, 2017

There is something rather special about a rooftop bar in London. The views might not be spectacular - we're not taking Rio or Hong Kong harbour here - but to rise above the traffic and gaze down at the crowds from on high feels incredibly luxurious. ...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 2, 2016

You have to be deeply relaxed to nod off during a massage, so falling completely asleep, not once, but twice, during my treatment at the Lime Wood hotel spa shows how totally unstressed I was. This was quite an achievement considering that on the...

by Sarah Bridge
added July 27, 2016

It's where Donald Trump and his family are staying during the Presidential visit to London and fittingly, the first thing that struck me about the five-star Corinthia Hotel in London when I stayed there was how utterly huge everything is. From the va...

by Sarah Bridge
added January 29, 2016

It isn't easy to stand out among such a competitive field - I'm talking about the 'best hotels in the Cotswolds' category, of which there are many - but the award-winning boutique hotel Dormy House more than meets the challenge. From the moment I wal...

by Sarah Bridge
added December 31, 2015

For those who love the idea of staying in a luxury spa hotel in the Cotswolds (and who doesn't?) and are travelling with children in tow, its sister hotel Calcot Manor luxury hotel, just the other side of Circencester, is a great choice - a Cotwold...

by Sarah Bridge
added October 14, 2015

Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales was the starting point for my week exploring Wales and it was a great place to begin. One of the top luxury hotels in Wales, its location just outside Llandudno on the north coast is right at the top of Wales and ye...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 16, 2015

Note: my review of Ashdown Park hotel East Sussex was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date As beautiful settings go, Ashdown Park hotel East Sussex certainly has the 'wow' factor. It's easily one of the best hote...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 13, 2015

Note: this review of Luton Hoo luxury hotel in Bedfordshire was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now need updating It isn't often you get to share a sink with Hugh Grant but the sign in our bedroom at the five-star Luton Hoo hote...

by Sarah Bridge
added June 9, 2015

You would have to start pretty early and finish late to be able to squeeze in the maximum amount of relaxation possible at my Nirvana Spa day near Reading, the award-winning spa near London and one of the top day spas in the country. I spent the w...

by Sarah Bridge
added December 31, 2014

[Editor's note: I stayed at this boutique hotel in Piccadilly London a couple of years ago and since then the hotel has undergone a two-year revamp of its 135 bedrooms and 11 suites as well as opening Galvin at The Athenaeum restaurant led by Micheli...

by Sarah Bridge
added November 19, 2014

There was a lion right outside my hotel room which is unusual for one of the most central hotels in London. Well, to be more accurate, a Lion King. The Lyceum theatre in Covent Garden, which has been home to the hugely successful Lion King musical fo...

by Sarah Bridge
added July 8, 2014

[Editor's note: This review of the Swan at Lavenham was first published in 2014. For a more up to date review of this hotel click here or go to https://aladyofleisure.com/the-swan-at-lavenham-review/ ] The Swan at Lavenham is located in one of tho...

Spas and spa hotels (39 posts found)

New Hall historic hotel in Birmingham with a spa, pool and its very own moat

Top Ten romantic hotels for Valentine’s Day (and year-round romance)

Luxury in the Cotswolds at The Lygon Arms hotel, Broadway

A relaxing stay at Stapleford Park hotel, golf and spa in Leicestershire

Cornish spa delight at Mullion Cove hotel in Cornwall

A room with a seaside view at Thurlestone hotel in south Devon

A most relaxing spa break at Ragdale Hall in Leicestershire

Trying out Park House hotel’s new Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments

Bond, Bridget and me: my stay at Stoke Park luxury hotel

The Good Hotel Guide’s ten luxury hotels with swimming pools

A relaxing spa break at Corinthia London luxury hotel

Medieval magic with a modern twist at The Swan hotel and spa in Lavenham, Suffolk

Relaxing in the slow lane at Brandshatch Place hotel and spa

A relaxing stay at Mallory Court luxury hotel Warwickshire

Rowhill Grange luxury hotel and spa: a relaxing stay in the Kent countryside

14 wines at dinner and a spa to recover in: a memorable stay at The Vineyard, Newbury

Bovey Castle: a friendly, historic, luxury Dartmoor hotel stay

A romantic seaside stay in a beach suite at Cary Arms and Spa hotel, Devon

Chewton Glen hotel, New Forest – luxury from spa to treehouse

A relaxing stay at the historic Spread Eagle hotel, Midhurst

Time for some serious pampering at Ockenden Manor hotel and spa

A luxurious country escape at Bailiffscourt hotel and spa, West Sussex

Park House hotel and spa: a West Sussex secret (but not for much longer)

Whatley Manor review: a Cotswolds gem revisited (with added oxygen)

A classically English estate at Bowood hotel, spa and golf

Greenway hotel and spa, Cheltenham: a luxury hotel with the fizz factor

Pennyhill Park – a luxury hotel fit for the England rugby team

Rooftop cocktails and a spa make Montcalm Royal London House a top to toe destination

A deeply relaxing day at Lime Wood hotel spa in the New Forest

Corinthia Hotel London: luxury on a grand (even Presidential) scale

Dormy House hotel in the Cotswolds – so snug, you’ll never want to leave

Calcot Manor luxury hotel: a family-friendly hotel in the Cotswolds

Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales: a country house with impressive views

Ashdown Park hotel East Sussex: luxury hotel in beautiful grounds

Luton Hoo: a classic country house hotel (with Hollywood glamour)

Nirvana Spa: A hard day’s relaxing at this top day spa near London

The Athenaeum hotel London: a charming boutique hotel in Piccadilly London

One Aldwych hotel London: a Lion King-sized bite of luxury in a West End hotel

The Swan at Lavenham: a pub as charming as its location

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