The Best Spa and Wellness Retreats to Book in Scotland

The conservatory-lined mansion housing this ravishing Scotland spa hotel sits amid manicured lawns. Amidst the wild, colour-rich beauty of the hotel grounds, you can choose from activities such as clay pigeon shooting and off-road driving. Rooms are stylishly contemporary with rich leather headboards, whilst colours throughout echo the gorse and heather of the landscape. There are views over the grounds from the large indoor pool, a hot tub, and treatments using Highland products from seaweed wraps to sea-salt exfoliation.

There’s an otherworldly beauty to the landscapes of Highland Perthshire, and Fonab Castle Hotel & Spa is a glorious five-star hotel and spa in Scotland. This red-brick turreted castle has sumptuous rooms, some with balconies overlooking loch views and featuring freestanding bathtubs. The Woodland Spa, in a separate building, includes a pool, a spa pool, a sauna and a scented aroma relaxation room, a steam room, an outdoor resistance pool and an outdoor hot tub.

This five-star landmark hotel occupies an opulent Georgian building, but the star of the show is its award-winning spa, where subtle lighting illuminates a world of serenity that feels far from Glasgow’s streets. The hot-cold, wet-dry experience takes you between a laconium, saunarium, tepidarium and hydrotherapy pools, while the treatment menu brings bathing to a new level – try the Hebridean seaweed bath, or pain-relieving CBD oils for the water and your temples.

Overlooking West Sands Beach on one of the world’s most famous golf courses, the 144-room Old Course had already made a name for itself before it became the first Kohler spa experience outside the USA. It’s centred around the healing power of water, and you can hop between hot and cold pools or simply breathe in fresh air from the rooftop garden hot tub. Spa treatments include Catch the Breath, in which tui na Chinese massage techniques are used to calm and rebalance you.

It’s easy to see why Nairn, a popular spa town in Victorian times, located on the Moray coast of the Highlands, has long been prized for its fresh air and healing qualities. The calming coastal setting is fully embraced here, and as well as an indoor pool and outdoor hot tub overlooking the Moray Firth, the spa uses products sourced from the Western Isles.

Dundee’s most lavish spa lies in this cool quayside hotel, which comes with views of the River Tay from the swimming pool windows. Rotate between the herbal-infused steam room, sauna and warm hydrotherapy spa pool, before pondering which treatment you’ll have in the Japanese-themed Yu Spa. Top-quality Elemis products deliver luxury massages and facials, and the natural healing art of reiki is also on offer, to help you feel rebalanced and revived.

With a rooftop pool from which you can watch the sun go down over the city, a series of hot and cold spa rooms and a state-of-the-art fitness studio, the Sheraton takes wellness seriously. Treatments in the One Spa are designed with the rejuvenation of body and mind. If you enjoy getting down and dirty, you’ll have fun with the Serail Mud Chamber, which involves applying mud to your own body and face and letting it dry before the chamber then fills with gentle steam.

City sightseeing can be hard work, but the Balmoral, located on the capital’s thoroughfare of Princes Street, can help you recuperate. It has a relaxing pool area complete with Finnish sauna and Turkish steam room, but the real magic happens at its spa treatments, such as the Forte Body Ritual, in which oils from Sicilian botanicals help to restore physical and emotional balance. Embrace the hotel’s glamorous vibe by combining a spa visit with a champagne afternoon tea.

The relaxation space at this sleek Scandi-inspired hotel works in harmony with its environment, thanks to floor-to-ceiling views across Loch Fyne to the Isle of Arran. Spa treatments use either Outer-Hebrides-developed Ishga products, which harness healing qualities of Scottish seaweed and spring water from the Isle of Lewis, or Decléor’s powerful essential oils. Outside, the infinity pool is the perfect place to inhale the fresh West Highlands air.

At this pretty honey-hued house in the woods, there’s a secret at the bottom of the garden. It’s what the hotel describes as a boutique micro-spa – a private space where you can relax in nature, featuring a wood-fired Swedish hot tub and a Finnish sauna cabin with views of the rolling Nithsdale valley. A secluded treatment room offering massages, facials and reiki completes this miniature world of wellness.