Romantic retreats: The best spa breaks for couples in the UK
Romance is a glass of champagne at the edge of an infinity pool with your loved one as the sun sets. It's a seven-course tasting menu in a candle-lit dining room with white tablecloths and gleaming silverware after a soothing couples' massage. Or a day simply spent pottering about the thermal suites, half an hour in a Rhassoul mud chamber or even just a couple of hours relaxing by the pool, à deux. In the UK, couples are spoilt for choice when it comes to luxury stays, with sprawling country house hotels complete with beautifully tended spa gardens, elegant town houses with ancient thermae waters tucked into the depths of the building, and lakeside lodges where one can watch the evening take over from the comfort of a private hot tub.
However you choose to spend time with your other half, whether it's a Valentine's Day treat, a special occasion or one of those rare weekends that you're both free, here's our guide to the most romantic spa breaks for couples in the UK, featuring the top places to stay for massages, couples' spa suites, hot tubs, hammams, saunas, steam rooms and swimming pools, along with Michelin-starred restaurants and luxurious rooms. Enjoy...
Lime Wood
New Forest, Hampshire, England
9Telegraph expert rating
The sybaritic Herb House Spa – airy, encased in glass and surrounded by greenery – is perfect for a weekend spa break for two. There are private bathrooms with deep copper baths in the changing rooms, sensuous swimming, hydrotherapy and steam pools, and a beautiful rooftop garden, all with sylvan views. Couples can enjoy a private session in the mud house followed by a 90-minute full-body massage and a 30-minute facial with organic, oil-rich Pai skincare products. Guests then unwind in a romantic relaxation suite for two, complete with bath tub and steam room. A nutritious lunch in Raw & Cured concludes the experience. Read expert review From £1,250 per night Check availability Rates provided by Mr & Mrs Smith
The House at Beaverbrook
Surrey, England
9Telegraph expert rating
This country house hotel doesn’t do things by halves. The Coach House, designed by renowned stained-glass artist Brian Clarke, is a work of art, with flower-themed glass panels and ceramic tiles and mosaics that reflect the hotel’s nature-filled surrounds (the house is set among 400 acres of grounds and woodlands). There are six treatment rooms, each with a garden, and a wet spa, including an ‘English Bath House’ (hammam), three pools (two of them outdoors). Lovers will want for nothing with massages à deux in the Couples Rose Suite. The fun doesn’t stop there – all rooms come with luxurious bathrooms, fluffy robes, aromatic Bamford toiletries, turn-down service and a bottle of Sipsmith sloe gin – the Dowager suite has standalone roll-top baths with gorgeous views. Read expert review From £320 per night Check availability Rates provided by Mr & Mrs Smith
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Lucknam Park
Wiltshire, England
8Telegraph expert rating
Couples seeking peace and pampering pass through a mile-long avenue of lime and beech trees to reach this Palladian mansion. Inside, a dignified quiet presides, in rooms where portraits look out from gold wallpaper and in the library, stocked with crinkly 19th-century books. A gravel courtyard at the back – once the staff quarters – leads onto ponds and the modern brasserie and spa cut from polished cream stone. Its heated outdoor therapy pool overlooks trees, plus there are saunas, steam rooms and a Japanese salt room. Massages use ESPA products. Read expert review From £225 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Monkey Island Estate
Bray, Berkshire, England
8Telegraph expert rating
The Floating Spa, housed in a specially built riverboat moored along the bank, couldn’t be a more appropriate setting for a romantic spa escape, a feeling of seclusion immediately descends once on to the pastoral, private island with its gentle river views. Treatment rooms are in cabins, the therapists wear nautical outfits and the whole ‘spa journey’ – using tinctures and liqueurs once made by monks – is a soothing, unusual and unpretentious delight. Try the Monks’ Elixir massage for restorative bliss. A cruise in the vintage-style launch, Kingfisher, manned by delightful skipper Tom, is a must, especially with wine and canapés at sunset. Read expert review From £149 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Cliveden
Taplow, Berkshire, England
9Telegraph expert rating
There are country house hotels – and then there’s Cliveden. This National Trust property, dating back to the late 17th century and set among 376 verdant acres on the banks of the Thames in Berkshire, is truly something special and has an intriguing romantic history involving scandalous political affairs and pre-wedding stays from former Royals. For couples, the setting is ideal for a weekend break, with state-of-the-art treatments in the glamorous rooms, stress-busting water-mattress treatments (good for a giggle) and its centrepiece – the swimming pool beside which Keeler first met John Profumo. Read expert review From £500 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Gainsborough Bath Spa
Bath, Somerset, England
9Telegraph expert rating
This is the only hotel in Britain to have access to natural thermal waters. Couples can enjoy a one-hour Swedish-style massage with neroli water, rosemary and pine essences, and lavender-infused towels in a private room for two. The wellness centre is staggering, complete with fourth-century original Roman mosaics, three thermal pools, a sauna and steam room. Guests are encouraged to partake in the 'Bath House Circuit', spending around an hour soaking in the three pools of varying temperatures, rubbing the body with crushed lavender ice and having a sauna. Dinner here is a must: Dan Moon at The Gainsborough Restaurant has three AA Rosettes and combines flavour with sophisticated flair. Read expert review From £183 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Gilpin Hotel & Lake House
Lake Windermere, Lake District, England
9Telegraph expert rating
How about a private spa for two? The five cedar lodges at Gilpin Lodge have their own personal en-suite spas with outdoor saunas, a hydrotherapy hot tub hemmed in by Eden-like walled gardens, a steam room, stone bath, crackling fires and views of the Lake District moors. Try a hot stone massage in the early evening, as the mists roll in. This is a warm, relaxing place: Everyone smiles, everyone says hello — yet it’s not overbearing. Fishing, shooting, horse riding, mountain biking, paintballing and treasure hunts can be organised on-site. In the evenings, expect fine dining with white linen but zero pretentiousness. Read expert review From £245 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Isle of Eriska Hotel
Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
Book one of the spa suites in this Scottish Baronial mansion on a private island accessible by a bridge, amid glorious scenery in the west highlands. These rooms have their own hot tubs and private gardens looking out to sea. The spa is set in the property’s old stables, and offers ishga and ESPA treatments. Throughout the Big House, the trappings of Victorian wealth and privilege pervade drawing rooms filled with deep sofas, fireplaces and books in the imposing granite and red sandstone. The Michelin-starred restaurant, which offers fish, game and vegetarian dishes made from the finest local produce, and eight-course tasting menus is popular for romantic celebratory dinners. Read expert review From £161 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Swinton Park
Ripon, Yorkshire, England
8Telegraph expert rating
You’ll need a whole weekend to do justice to the multi-million-pound spa in this staggering country pile once owned by a Bradfordian mill owner. Come in summer for the outdoor sauna fire pit. The dipping pond is fabulous on sunny days – though relaxation beds topped with heated canopies, and furnished with sheepskin rugs and gloves allow guests to enjoy these spaces in winter too. An 18-metre lap pool, smaller hydrotherapy pool, and nature-scented and salt steam rooms provide further pampering. Opt for a 60-minute therapy in one of the couple suites. Highly recommended is the Elemis Garden of England Rose Restore Wrap with poppy seeds; the deep tissue massages also hit the spot. Read expert review From £99 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Dormy House
Broadway, Cotswolds, England
9Telegraph expert rating
Dormy House is complete treat of a hotel with very stylish and deeply relaxing décor, terrific food and impeccable service. Its state-of-the-art spa has also won armloads of awards. The private suite for couples is adjoined to the rassoul mud room, so guest can book a hot mineral mud bathing session before or after a treatment for two. Spa facilities include a lavender sauna, salt-infusion steam room, infinity pool and more. The Pure Massage facials are said to have a better effect than Botox. Rose Cottage is the best room in the house for romantics and has its own hot tub. Read expert review From £215 per night Check availability Rates provided by Mr & Mrs Smith
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Brimstone
Lake District, Cumbria, England
9Telegraph expert rating
Standing boldly among the conifers and pines, Brimstone is intentionally reminiscent of a large ski chalet, constructed using beautiful blue-grey Lakeland stone. It has a Bubble Private Spa for two, complete with heat and steam cabin and spa bath. Treatments on offer include a Full Body Bubble Cleansing with hot perfumed bubbles and the Ghassala Cocoon with healing volcanic clay. From the glowing, glass-fronted stove (lit to be toasty just as you arrive and replete with log stack) to the double shower, enormous spa bath and bi-fold doors opening out to Lakeland views – it’s impossible to find fault with bedrooms. Dinner at The Stove, which specialises in smoked meats, is a treat. Read expert review From £350 per night
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Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane
Hyde Park, London, England
8Telegraph expert rating
No spa in London can rival the views from this rooftop fixture, which overlooks the copper beeches of Hyde Park. The skyline vistas from the 10th-floor Sky Suite for couples, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, is quite a backdrop to an aromatherapy scrub for two or an Eastern Elements Ritual. Packages can also include champagne, fresh fruit and lunch. The sauna, which has a window, boasts particularly magnificent vistas, and there's a vitality pool. It's quite an experience to book in overnight here. The blaring red colour scheme and flaunting furnishings are an intriguing lesson in décor designed to titillate the super rich, while service is brilliantly fine-tuned. Read expert review From £523 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Scarlet
Mawgan Porth, England
9Telegraph expert rating
Imagine taking in views of the Atlantic while enjoying a scented bath in the clifftop hot tub, glass of champagne in hand. The 'Rediscover Each Other' package for couples also includes private time in the rhassoul or in the hammam slathering on mineral-rich mud or salt scrub, followed by a massage lesson for two in the couple’s suite. The Ayurvedic spa has proved a big success and there are wide outdoor terraces on each level with designer loungers, log-fired hot tubs, and a reed-filtered natural swimming pool. Glorious sea and sunset views make this the ideal hotel for honeymooners, and there is a child-free policy. Read expert review From £200 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Corinthia Hotel London
Charing Cross, London, England
8Telegraph expert rating
The Corinthia is home to one of the most luxurious spa suites in the country: it comprises two treatment pods, a rasul steam shower tiled with vampish black mosaics, private changing area and bathroom, and relaxation bed surrounded by purple orchids. Those who book out the couple's treatment area also enjoy a rasul healing mud ritual before a two and a half hour ESPA treatment of their choice. A light lunch or afternoon tea is included, as is all-day access to the main spa area with its amphitheatre sauna, thermal pools and ice fountain. You also get a gift to take home. Afterwards, book into one of the luxurious rooms with restful beige and olive tones, and dreamy Hypnos beds. Read expert review From £504 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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St Brides Spa Hotel
Pembrokeshire, Wales
9Telegraph expert rating
Couples who book into this hotel are lured by the charming seaside setting, tucked into the south-easternmost fringe of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The spa has a cliff-edge treatment room for two with French windows that, weather permitting, stay open so guests can breathe in the sea air and listen to the heaving waves during their facial or massage. There is also an infinity pool and a thermal bathing experience that includes a salt infusion room, herbal rock sauna and ice fountain. The hotel has its own gallery, showcasing works by local artists, and the restaurant offers fresh, colourful cuisine with a nod to local seafood. Read expert review From £175 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
