A spa day in this historic British city isn't so much an indulgence as a necessity. Visitors have flocked to Bath's mineral-rich thermal springs for eons, thousands of years before even the Romans showed up in 60 AD and began to build their famous baths in Aquae Sulis. London society camped out here in the city's Georgian heyday and crowds returned anew when the public Thermae spa was opened in 2006.
What's been missing through all these years, however, was an opportunity to luxuriate in the waters, instead of simply "take the waters." The five-star Gainsborough Bath Spa has changed all that. Three heritage buildings of gorgeous, butter-coloured Bath stone have been restored and joined together to form the hotel and its opulent spa – complete with borehole to pipe in the thermal water bubbling directly underneath.
The hotel joins three restored heritage buildings together.
Nadler Hotels
A soak here is a true social experience. The 1,300-square-metre bath circuit offers lots of nooks and crannies to cuddle in or catch up with a friend, but it's open design encourages interaction with fellow guests. Top-notch body treatments and an exquisite restoration are drawing London's weekend elite, and put the hotel on this year's list of Condé Nast's best new hotels in the world.
The hotel is just minutes from Bath Abbey.
Nadler Hotels
Location, location
Located smack in the midst of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Gainsborough's address is one of its great assets and headaches. If you drive, know that the Old Town is a maze of picturesque but byzantine one-way streets, your GPS will tell you many times that "this is a restricted area!" and you'll require prebooked valet parking (£35 a day) at the hotel. Luckily, the Gainsborough is also a five-minute walk from the train station and staff can meet you and transport your luggage, leaving guests free to stroll and explore.
Once you're settled in, Beau Street is just steps from the Roman Baths (where you'll notice how closely the hotel's own spa has followed this classic architectural form), Bath Abbey and pedestrian-only shopping lanes. Walk a little farther and you'll find the Jane Austen Centre and the impressive homes along the Circus and Royal Crescent. And make time for the nearby Bath Fashion Museum – a mind-boggling collection of gowns from the 1600s to the present, where you can also try on hoop skirts, bustles and hats of days gone by.
A courtyard room at the Gainsborough Bath Spa.
Nadler Hotels
Room with a view
Most rooms overlook the limestone beauty of Bath, or the nearby park, but instead of a view, you might just want those warm, mineral-rich waters flowing right into your room's bathtub. If you'd like to "take the waters" in private, book a Bath spa room where tubs come with two taps – town water and thermal water.
The Spa Village by night.
Nadler Hotels
Best amenity
Adult guests have access to the Spa Village bath circuit every morning and evening. Book a treatment or a spa suite and you can loll about the hot pools, wet and dry saunas and lavender ice alcove all day long. With a nod to the city's Georgian heyday, music of the era provides a soothing aural backdrop and a spiced warm chocolate drink (a period recipe) offers a welcome sugar shot between hot soaks and waterfall massages. That said, the staff will also do anything for you, including cutting short a smoke break to hop into your car's back seat and direct you through Bath's one-way streets to the hotel's front door.
The hotel lobby at the Gainsborough Bath Spa.
Nadler Hotels
If I could change one thing
There I was, blissed out on a spa treatment table in the healing hands of Kabir, a true Moroccan massage artist, when I heard a truck backing up, then a car horn, then voices and footsteps as people passed by on the cobblestone street outside. The noise was jarring and disruptive, and likely due to the thin window panes this heritage building is stuck with, which I understand, but the spa treatment room needs to be a silent sanctuary. My other pet peeve? My room contained no USB plugs to recharge my gadgets.
A plate at the Gainsborough Bath Spa.
Nadler Hotels
Eat in or eat out?
A meal at the Gainsborough restaurant is one you won't soon forget. Service is five-star attentive and dramatic: Silver domes are pulled off simultaneously to reveal each course – make sure the succulent wild-mushroom risotto is one of them. And even if you can't eat another bite you'll wish you could when you see the Valrhona chocolate dome for dessert, an orange-sized chocolate shell filled with orange mousse, ginger gel and baby basil. You'll be pleasantly full, maybe even too full, so head back to the spa circuit for a therapeutic cleansing of body and soul.
The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Beau Street, thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk; 99 rooms from £285 ($475).