The Best Spa Hotels to Book in the Cotswolds, UK

However long you spend at this Cotswolds hotel with a spa, you’re sure to leave feeling clean and fresh. Not just thanks to its Garden Spa – with its rock sauna, aroma steam room and ESPA treatment list – but also to its crisp, modern Scandi-style decor and healthy high-end dishes at three AA rosette Mill Restaurant and Bar. Located on the banks of the River Windrush in Minster Lovell, this hotel is also an excellent base for exploring the delights of Oxford, just a half-hour away.

While the name of this spa hotel in the Cotswolds sounds like it might be the title of a Jane Austen novel, the experience of it would render even the most ballsy of her heroines speechless. Its sprawling 15th-century building is located on 90 acres (36ha) of rolling countryside around Cheltenham and filled with antiques, four-poster beds and an air of general opulence. Revel in the sauna, hydro pool and relaxation zone of the top-notch spa, undo all your good work with a hearty afternoon tea, cocktails on the Taittinger Terrace or Chateaubriand and triple-cooked chips at the incredible restaurant.

Make a weekend of it when you sample the exquisite spa at this 16th-century Elizabethan manor house, just outside Cheltenham. Exposed brickwork and rustic beams give the spa a distinctly rural feel, but the outdoor hot tub, Champagne Nail Bar, ESPA treatments and hydrotherapy pool up the glamour quota. Book a plush room at the hotel to fall straight into bed afterwards.

If you peek through the tumbling wisteria enveloping the famous gardens of Barnsley House, you might spot its hideaway spa. Dreamily romantic, it draws inspiration from the outdoor sanctuary it calls home, with tables crafted from tree trunks and fresh lavender placed on treatment beds. Recharge in the spa lounge or outdoor hydrotherapy pool where, in summer, sunshine-yellow flowers burst into bloom amid topiary hedges.

Fresh air, sumptuous dinners and views across the Windrush Valley are bonus extras when you visit the spa at the four-star Wyck Hill House Hotel. Just outside Stow-on-the-Wold, this 18th-century property has 50 acres (20ha) of spectacular grounds to explore, plus a spa with a steam room, a sauna and six treatment rooms – including one for couples. Choose an Elemis or Voya treatment; alternatively, book a full spa day, including full afternoon tea or lunch with wine.

The Lygon Arms is considered a historic British inn, having welcomed the likes of King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell and featuring a 17th-century etching of John Trevis’s name above its entrance. The hotel and luxury spa are set within 3 acres (1ha) of tranquil gardens. Relax in its 14m (45ft) indoor pool – where grand pillars supporting a raised walkway give it the feel of a Victorian bathhouse – or book an all-out spa day, complete with a nutrient-rich lunch at the Spa Kitchen & Bar.

Escape from it all at the extraordinary spa within this popular 14th-century inn in the centre of Cirencester. The spa is in a series of vaulted rooms which once made up the cellars in the building, and its candlelit tranquillity is the perfect antidote to a busy life. Unwind in the infrared sauna, hot tub, steam room and experience shower, splurge on a Decléor treatment for a well-deserved pampering.

At the end of the garden of a Grade II-listed regency townhouse, the Cotswold House Hotel, a tranquil spa, occupies its former coach house. Here, you can indulge in aromatic Decléor treatments before relaxing in a hydrotherapy pool and steam room. As the daylight fades, relax away the hours on the serene terrace with your pick of a spectacularly well-stocked collection of gins – including one exclusive to the hotel.

Looking for a spa hotel in Cheltenham? At the upscale but unpretentious Cowley Manor, you can benefit from facials and massages exclusive to its award-winning C-Side spa, including its original Cloud 9 treatment, which combines aromatherapy qi energy balancing, reflexology and acupressure. Take a dip in the 17m (56ft), slate-lined indoor pool or the elegant outdoor pool – both are heated year-round. Outside where the lush meadows stretch into the distance, relax with a drink on your pick of sleek sun loungers.

Close to the well-heeled region of Cheltenham, you’ll find this attractive 17th-century manor – the colour of copper and flanked by a walled garden and lush orchard. The Spa at Hatherley Manor is inspired by the Cotswolds’ heritage and takes full advantage of its rural setting in the heart of the rolling Gloucestershire countryside, with an indoor swimming pool sporting floor-to-ceiling windows. A thermal suite with experience showers, an ice fountain and a tepidarium add to the peacefulness of the spa.

Wander through the honey-hued facade of Dormy House to discover a perfect rural retreat full of homely corners. Big, stone fireplaces, flagstone floors and, in keeping with the Nordic origins of its owners, Scandi-chic furnishings dot the interiors of the hotel. The luxury spa has several rooms and suites, where neat rows of massage oils infused with ginger, bergamot and geranium line the shelves. Adding to the pamper quotient is a sleek 16m (52ft) infinity-edged pool lit by candles encased in glass, a thermal suite and a terrace hot tub.

Despite its grandeur, Lucknam Park is no stuffy hotel. Thanks to country house-style interiors and snug dog-friendly rooms, it possesses a relaxed elegance and feels more like a home away from home than a Palladian mansion. Luxury comes in the form of the award-winning spa, cut from polished cream stone and housing a Japanese salt room and heated outdoor therapy pool, which is accessible via an avenue of lime and beech trees.