As the run-up to Christmas really begins, for many, so does the present panic. What to get the loved one in your life? Forget battling it out with the crowds in the shops or waiting in for endless online deliveries – a winter weekend escape at a gorgeous spa hotel could be the answer. From pampering treatments to countryside strolls, fireside cocktails to candlelit dinners at Michelin-star restaurants, a couple's spa break in the UK ticks all the boxes. Here’s our pick of the best spa breaks for couples across the country right now.
South Lodge, West Sussex
A hot-cold spa circuit is always more fun when there are two of you, and here, at the oak-clad, stand-alone spa in the grounds of South Lodge hotel, the pools are the star of the show. The blissfully warm alfresco hydrotherapy pool (as well as the glass-fronted botanical sauna) offers views of the South Downs in the distance; heaters keep the outdoor wild swimming pool at a nippy 14 degrees. There’s also an indoor infinity-edge lap pool, a marble-lined steam room, and spoiling treatments that range from vinotherapy to a gold sugar scrub. Instead of staying in the traditional, neo-Jacobean mansion, opt for The Reeds: choose from lakeside or a spa lodge (the latter has an infrared halotherapy sauna). Don’t miss dinner at Michelin-starred The Pass or the morning breakfast hamper, delivered to the door so you can make the most of a lie-in.
Address: Brighton Road, Lower Beeding, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 6PS
Website: exclusive.co.uk
Scarlet Hotel, Cornwall
Everything about this adults-only cliff-top haven near Mawgan Porth is designed to instil a sense of calm – an ideal haven offering tranquil spa breaks for couples. The morning mindful movement classes. The outdoor cedar hot tub and barrel sauna with soul-lifting coastline views. The lantern-lit tented treatment rooms for warm, unwinding herbal poultice massages or the four-hour Couples Journey (it features a bathing ritual such as a hammam or rhassoul, guided meditation and a shared Epsom salts bath). Whatever the weather, watching the Atlantic roll in through the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows while you tuck into dishes such as crab linguine or hispi cabbage for lunch is mesmerising. Bond over activities such as surf lessons or wine tasting before falling asleep to the sound of the waves below.
Address: Tredragon Road, Mawgan Porth, Cornwall, TR8 4DQ
Website: scarlethotel.co.uk
Middleton Lodge, Yorkshire
This restored Georgian country estate is as renowned among foodies as it is for wellbeing, thanks to head chef Jake Jones, who was awarded Michelin Young Chef 2024. At fine-dining, Michelin-starred Forge, tasting menus riff off Yorkshire’s seasonal larder and what’s grown on site (think dry-aged Thirkleby duck with orchard plum, Musselburgh leeks in pumpkin seed miso), while at the Forest Spa, nourishment comes in the form of VOYA and Aromatherapy Associates treatments. Take time out for a solo, candle-lit rose-blend forest bath hut experience, or stick together for a steamy (quite literally) dip in the heated outdoor pool, spring-water hot tub, or sauna. Rooms are spread across a series of buildings, including a converted coach house and former dairy; the most romantic come with a modern four-poster and claw-foot tub under the window.
Address: Kneeton Lane, Middleton Tyas, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 6NJ
Website: middletonlodge.co.uk
Estelle Manor, Oxfordshire
So much has been written about this uber-chic country crash pad and private members’ club – the opulent interiors, the 25-metre pool and bar on the terrace, the sushi bar at The Armoury restaurant – that you could be forgiven for thinking that the spa is a sideshow to having a good time. It is not. Housed in a neoclassical building, the Roman-inspired Eynsham Baths has a huge Tepidarium at its heart. Around this, a series of thermal pools, a hammam, botanical steam room and hay sauna are arranged (hotel guests pay an additional fee for the Thermal Journey, which also includes access to The Hideaway, an open-air oasis with a waterfall). The Ceremony for the Soul ritual is tailored to couples: think a shared hammam, bespoke side-by-side treatments and a soak in a marble-clad bath.
Address: Eynsham Park, Oxfordshire, OX29 6PN
Website: estellemanor.com
The Newt in Somerset
From the apple orchards and cyder press to the vegetable patch that supplies the restaurants and deer that roam the estate, The Newt has always been a hotel intrinsically rooted in its landscape. The same goes for The Spa at Hadspen House, where treatments take their cues from the medieval herb garden – think an orange, honey and olive exfoliating ritual in the hammam, or a rose-infused facial. There’s also an indoor-outdoor pool, couples' rasul mud therapy and classes that include breathwork and barre. All rooms here are different, but a garden view in the main Hadspen House is especially lovely. This is somewhere meant for indulging, whether you fancy afternoon tea for two or dinner in the modern British Botanical Rooms.
Address: Hadspen, Somerset, BA7 7NG
Website: thenewtinsomerset.com
Saltmoore, North Yorkshire
There’s something special about off-season coastal escapes, and Saltmoore, a five-minute walk from Sandsend Beach, is no exception (blow off the cobwebs with a romantic stroll along the sand to Whitby or head inland for a stomp across the wild North York moors). Set on a woodland estate with its own lake, this spa hotel opened its doors a year ago, but The Sanctuary has already garnered a reputation as a go-to destination for wellness. Highlights include the light-filled indoor pool that looks out onto the garden, the cryotherapy chamber and invigorating Brass Monkey ice bath (for the brave) – all of which complement Wildsmith treatments inspired by the principles of circadian rhythm. Inviting interiors nod to both sea and country, as does the food at Michelin guide restaurant The Brasserie, where you can sit down for suppers of venison haunch and smoked mash, perhaps, or cider-battered fish and chips, before cosying up together by the roaring fire in the bar for a nightcap.
Address: Sandsend Road, Whitby, YO21 3ST
Website: saltmoore.co.uk
Cowley Manor Experimental, Gloucestershire
Having been reimagined and taken over by Experimental three years ago, this is a spa hotel that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Playful interiors nod to Alice in Wonderland (it’s thought that Lewis Carroll partly based the fairytale here); there are weekend DJ sets in the bar (the founders' first opening was a Parisian cocktail bar), and the wood-panelled restaurant is delightfully unpretentious. One area that hardly changed in the revamp is the much-loved C-Side Spa, with its slate-lined indoor pool and outdoor pool. Plus, there’s a steam room and sauna, and a menu of treatments using Biologique Recherche and Oskia products. After a day of pampering, round the evening off with a Horlicks milk punch, featuring Cotswolds single malt, before bed.
Address: Cowley, Cheltenham, GL53 9NL
Website: cowleymanorexperimental.com
Heckfield Place, Hampshire
Detail-driven craftsmanship and quiet, understated style are threaded through Heckfield Place. At The Bothy by Wildsmith, that means disconnecting from distracting devices, therapies guided by the rhythms of nature and spaces for slowing down together, such as the wow-factor pool with floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing the fields. Produce from the biodynamic market garden feeds into fireside suppers at Hearth and cocktails at Moon Bar. If the weather is fine, choose from outdoor experiences such as falconry or boating on the lake, but no matter if it’s not: simply sign up for a cocktail masterclass, watch a film in the screening room or sweat it out in the sauna instead.
Address: Heckfield, Hampshire RG27 0LD
Website: heckfieldplace.com