19 of the best spas in Scotland for 2026
With its misty mountains, tranquil lochs and untouched coastline, the rural Scottish landscape is a natural tonic for anyone looking to decompress and unwind, and that’s before you’ve even checked into one of its many pampering spas. From Baronial castles to windswept coastal landmarks, Scotland’s countryside is home to some of the UK’s best spa hotels.
But it’s not only sweet rural escapes that have something to offer. The span of offerings is Scotland is remarkable, with Glasgow and Edinburgh both holding a clutch of peaceful retreats each. Each one is a perfect escape from the frenetic pace of the world outside, offering a quick fix to anyone who needs relaxation without a lengthy commute into the wilderness. Expect bang-up-to-date facilities and contemporary interiors that mimic the vibes of their neighbourhoods, and offer a totally different experience to their countryside counterparts.
Whether you are after a bespoke facial in the Highlands or an immersive retreat in the city, there’ll be a Scottish sanctuary ready to revive and restore. Here’s our pick of the best spas in Scotland, the perfect holistic havens found north of the border.
How we choose the best spas in Scotland
Each of our spas has been hand-picked by our editors who are destination experts. They’ve personally visited the below to be able to recommend them authentically to our readers, with many having been revisited multiple times to evaluate consistency.
Another Place The Machrie, Islay
Best for: a spa stay with a difference
The Machrie isn’t your typical spa hotel. It doesn’t have an elaborate indoor thermal journey or expansive relaxation spaces, but instead it’s home to an altogether more refreshing scene that sits out in the elements, to be enjoyed in all weathers. While there is a single treatment room and a succinct menu of massages and facials, the draw here is really the addictive hot-and-cold station at the start of the sand dunes where the hotel calls home. Guests here have complimentary access to two wooden-clad hot tubs, a glass-fronted sauna and a heart-thumping cold plunge that’s chilled sufficiently enough to rewire your nervous system. It’s a place to watch the world go by as golfers meander in and out, or walkers wander down the sandy paths to the beach, which is a stone’s throw away.
Aside from the obvious spa-shaped draw, this is a special place with a particularly warm welcome and a cosy, comforting vibe. It feels instantly familiar, with a crowd of locals running front of house with a pride hard to replicate. Even in the grey misty rain, as you approach it, the hotel glows, a homely beacon in amongst the rippling seagrasses.
There’s a large lounge where you can rifle through books or take on the challenge of a board game (with desserts and drinks ferried to your spot to boot), there are fat bikes well-equipped to take on the miles of sandy beach, a championship golf course, an in-house cinema and whispers of a whisky bar to come. There’s also a restaurant which does a decent run of classic comfort food by night and familiar pub favourites by day.
Just a short half an hour flight from Glasgow, The Machrie feels a world away from the mundane routines of city life, yet so perfectly positioned as to be possible for an ordinary weekend. If you ever feel like you’d like to spread your wings further than the hotel, there’s a whole island of distilleries and wild swimming spots to explore, as well as a very good cafe called the Oyster Shed. This specialises – unsurprisingly – in oysters but also towering crab sandwiches, all served with unrivalled views of the ocean.
Address: Isle of Islay PA42 7AN
Price: From around £150/night
Website: another.place
Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
Best for: a top-spec spa offering
St Andrews may be synonymous with golf – the Old Course is practically a place of pilgrimage – but this storied seaside town has charms far beyond its fairways. Visitors come for the ancient architecture, windswept beaches and a food scene that quietly rivals some of Scotland’s best. The Old Course Hotel mirrors this mix of history and refinement, standing proudly beside the famous first tee, its tartan-accented interiors channelling a sense of Scottish tradition with a good measure of modern polish.
The Kohler Waters Spa is the crown jewel: a sleek sanctuary away from the crowds of visitors outside. Expect hydrotherapy pools, steam rooms scented with native botanicals and a menu of massages and rituals grounded in water-based wellness. A highlight from our perspective is the ‘snow and sauna cabin’, which allows you to experience the intoxicating rush from going between hot and cold. There’s even a first-of-its-kind-in-Scotland offering in the Espuro foam steam room, which imparts a gently moisturising mass of bubbles as you sit in childlike delight, getting covered in scented clouds. Whether you’re here post-round, post-walk or just in need of a full-body reset, it’s a place that makes your shoulders drop immediately, helping you to restore a little bit of calm.
Dining spans from elevated comfort food to refined seasonal dishes, while many bedrooms and suites look straight onto the legendary links. Add in the coastal trails, charming lanes and wide sandy beaches on the hotel’s doorstep, and you have the ideal spot for a Scottish weekend of recalibration.
Address: Old Station Road, St Andrews KY16 9SP
Price: From around £250/night
Website: oldcoursehotel.co.uk
Marine, North Berwick
Best for: a coastal retreat
There’s something irresistibly alluring about a hotel with history, one that comes with all the quirks of an old building and a layered reputation built over decades. The Marine is of such an ilk, statuesquely sitting above the sea in North Berwick in all its Victorian grandeur. Built in 1875, its facade is a muddle of crenellations, turrets and towers with an interior that embraces maximalism in all its pattern-clashing glory. Bedrooms are of grand proportions, with original features including deep, detailed cornicing and curved glass windows that frame the waves rolling in from the dramatic North Sea.
The hotel’s location is reflected in the downstairs spa, which uses Ishga products rooted in the science of ingredients sourced along Scotland’s shoreline. There’s a neat, all-encompassing thermal suite that squeezes in a couple of saunas, a steam room, an outdoor pool, and ice baths. Once you’ve done a cycle or two of hot and cold, you’ll want to have a treatment lined up. The team offers all the usuals (body scrubs, deep tissue massages and facials, etc) but some slightly more atypical options too, including a heavenly hot poltice massage which sees your body buffed into a state of relaxation via oil and a couple of warmed salt and seaweed parcels that not only exfoliate and hydrate but also act to detoxify deeply. As these things go, the 55 minutes felt more like 15, and we left feeling rebalanced and rested. The spa offers specialist massages for oncology patients, too, in a place that feels wonderfully welcoming to all.
Additionally, as a bonus, the spa offers beauty treatments, allowing you to top up on waxing, tinting or your nail care too. At the same time, the comfortably sized lap pool and the fully furnished gym mean even the most active of guests can tire themselves out nicely (in addition to perhaps a bracing walk along the seashore to oggle the town’s picturebook-worthy houses or a potter in the lovely local shops). On-site, you’ll also find a bar serving all-day food, as well as the Lawn restaurant, which specialises in Italian dishes like an asparagus risotto or a tomato and seafood pasta.
Address: 18 Cromwell Road, North Berwick EH39 4LZ
Price: From around £200/night
Website: marineandlawn.com
Mar Hall, Renfrewshire
Best for: a friend’s weekend
Just ten minutes from Glasgow Airport, Mar Hall sits proudly overlooking the River Clyde, surrounded by rose beds, kitchen gardens and even a petanque patch. During our late summer stay, mist rose from the water and tumbled over the golf course as the sun stretched up and over the opposite hills. The scene was fittingly ethereal for a location that’s the gateway to so many of Scotland’s most romantic destinations, from Loch Lomond up to the wilds of Glencoe.
The property has recently undergone a multi-million-pound refurbishment, which includes a shiny new spa. Inside the spa, you’ll find a warren of treatment rooms where Ishga treatments are on offer. The products are made with organic and natural ingredients like thistle oil and seaweed, and are scientifically backed for an extra dose of credibility. The facilities here are modest, but up-to-date, with a sauna and steam room reserved for the adults and a large pool with loungers open to the whole gang. In the coming months, an outdoor element will be added, with extended spaces for overnight residents and day spa guests. There is also a row of small spa lodges that offer an ideal base for a couple of nights, allowing you to potter in and out of the space as and when you please throughout your stay.
The main hotel building (which is connected to the spa by a passageway) has had a tumultuous past that’s spanned a family home, a war hospital and a hotel, with a recent injection of Middle Eastern money taking it from feeling a little tired in its last iteration to something pretty polished in this new era. The glossy interiors enhance the building’s original, ornate Gothic style by gilding details across incredible panelled ceilings or colour-drenching, beautiful plasterwork around the walls in the public spaces, which range from a gallery bar and library to a new restaurant, a clubby cocktail bar, and a billiards room. There’s a spirit of excitement to the whole thing, with a particularly warm staff base on hand offering excellent service across the guest journey from warm welcome to fond farewell.
If you’re here to stay, then you’ll be well rewarded with beautifully appointed rooms that are generously sized and plushly provisioned. Original marble fireplaces, grand pianos and claw-foot baths are all present and correct in the sweeping suites, while bedrooms are cosy and – crucially – comfortable with beds layered with thick, crisp linens and stacks of plump feather pillows. The perfect retreat to sink into after a long day of doing nothing down at the spa.
Address: Mar Hall Avenue, Bishopton PA7 5PP
Price: From around £240 a night
Website: marhall.com
Taymouth Marina, Aberfeldy
Best for: a social media-worthy stay for sauna enthusiasts
On the banks of Loch Tay, framed by brooding hills and pine forests, Taymouth Marina has become one of Scotland’s most photogenic wellness escapes. This cluster of contemporary lodges and apartments is designed with lake life in mind: think floor-to-ceiling windows, private terraces, and the odd outdoor hot tub, plus interiors that are all clean lines and Scandi-leaning textures.
But the real magnet for guests is the Hot Box spa. This wood-clad lochside sanctuary could have been lifted straight from Pinterest. There’s a giant glass-fronted sauna with uninterrupted views over the water, a bubbling hydro pool perched above the shoreline, cold-water plunge options and even a slide that tips you straight into the loch for those who like their dopamine hits delivered with a splash.
Days are easily filled with paddleboarding, wild swims, woodland walks or simply retreating to your lodge to soak in a tub under starry skies. Evenings revolve around relaxed meals at the waterfront restaurant or fireside drinks with loch views that change by the minute.
Address: Taymouth Marina, Kenmore, Aberfeldy PH15 2HW
Price: From around £250/night
Website: taymouthmarina.com
W Hotel, Edinburgh
Best for: a city-centre spa hotel
City centre hotels aren’t exactly famous for their tranquil spas, but the W Edinburgh has managed to squeeze in a little serenity above the chaos of the city below. This isn’t your traditional spa, but something altogether more exclusive with a bookable private suite. A dreamy treatment room opens up onto a neat run of facilities that includes a jacuzzi, sauna and experience showers. Small but perfectly formed, the best bit is that there’s no need to alter your enthusiasm for other guests. Whether you’re here for pure silence with your other half or are part of a gaggle of girls looking to chat your way through a bit of downtime, the exclusive sanctuary is yours to do what you will with. There’s fun and customisable mood lighting, a whole raft of skincare products to dabble in and a lovely little grooming station complete with hair straighteners and the likes, so you can go from spa to bar without a hitch.
If you are headed to the bar, let us gently nudge you toward Joao’s Place, an upbeat Nikkei speakeasy that fuses Brazilian and Japanese elements. The resulting drinks from such a marriage are a fun run of classics with a spin, like the team’s take on a Gibson that uses the flavour of cherry blossom to offset the spikiness of the homemade pickles. Before or after dinner, there’s also a Sushisamba to take full advantage of (don’t skip the tempura green beans if you know what’s good for you).
Rooms here are as you’d expect of a five-star hotel: perfectly polished, stuffed full of amenities, with expansive, comfortable beds at their heart. While you might not have previously headed to Edinburgh exclusively for a spa, the W Edinburgh’s offering is an unexpected but excellent addition to any city break in this part of the world.
Address: 1 Saint James Square, Edinburgh EH1 3AX
Price: From around £250 a night
Website: awayspaedinburgh.com
Dunkeld House Hotel, Perthshire
Best for: nature lovers
Found in a glorious setting overlooking the River Tay and set in 280 acres of pristine grounds, this characterful hotel was once a former stately home belonging to the Duke of Atholl. Inside, there is a scattering of period features which are matched with charming interiors across the 100 bedrooms. From wild salmon fishing to off-road cycling, there’s a wide range of outdoor experiences on offer for guests to embrace the beauty surrounding the hotel. The spa also harnesses the best of Scottish nature with its Ishga Hebridean seaweed-based treatments. There’s also a heated indoor pool, sauna, steam room and whirlpool spa bath – all hugely welcoming after a day exploring the great outdoors. Book the Highland Marine Face and Back Treatment, which has been designed especially for Dunkeld and includes a heated seaweed mask applied to your back and an Ishga express facial.
Address: Dunkeld, Perthshire PH8 0HX
Price: From around £150 a night
Website: dunkeldhousehotel.co.uk
Gleneagles, Perthshire
Best for: wholesome wellness
Opened as a railway resort hotel in the 1920s, Gleneagles remains one of the country’s most loved and iconic grand dames. Its secret for success? It has continuously evolved over the years, with snazzy renovations, innovative activities on tap and superlative culinary offerings keeping the hotel in the spotlight. One of the hotel’s main attractions is the spa, which has put the remote property on the map as a wellness destination in its own right.
From its heather-spiked massage oils to the leafy relaxation courtyard, the spa makes much of its glorious, natural setting. Hours can be idled away with two indoor pools and an outdoor thermal pool, not to mention its series of thermal cabins. You can also spend your time exploring the sprawling 850-acre estate or hitting your stride on the golf course. For those who prefer to go at it alone, rather than give in to a treatment, the Taigh Smuide room (meaning ‘Steam House’ in Scottish Gaelic) is inspired by ancient Scottish healing practices. In this private space, natural mud and Scottish sea salts are applied, steamed and removed again to aid skin ailments and to help reduce stress. An expert spa host guides guests through the three-step treatment before leaving you to enjoy your time slathering mud everywhere. As well as Dr Barbara Sturm and Tata Harper treatments, there is a range of Gleneagles-designed therapies – such as the signature The Long Exhale – that use bespoke oils blended with Scottish botanicals to place you firmly in the destination.
Address: Auchterarder, Perthshire, PH3 1NF
Price: From around £425 a night
Website: gleneagles.com
Gleddoch, Renfrewshire
Best for: a spa escape with city convenience
Gleddoch’s sweeping estate unfolds in a tapestry of manicured greens, woodland walks and big-sky views across to the Kilpatrick Hills. Once the family home of a shipping magnate who built it as a gift for his wife (naturally), the mansion has evolved into a relaxing retreat within a stone’s throw of Glasgow. Whether you’re heading to the spa for a quick reset between work or a full weekend of indulgence, Gleddoch strikes the perfect balance between rural seclusion and urban accessibility.
The Imperial Spa is the star of the show with a serene 17-metre swimming pool complete with poolside loungers, a steam room, sauna and rainforest showers, plus a dedicated relaxation suite with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the River Clyde. Treatments lean towards the restorative, with skilled therapists delivering facials, scrubs and massages using Natura Bissé, Elemis, Temple Spa, and Tri-Dosha products.
The hotel’s interiors honour the building’s past within a present-day framework: think original stonework and fireplaces paired with contemporary furnishings in soft neutrals. Many rooms come with balconies or terraces, making the most of the panoramic views. The suites are expansive, with freestanding tubs and comfortable king beds.
Address: Old Greenock Road, Langbank PA14 6YE
Price: From around £150 a night
Website: gleddoch.com
Marine Troon, South Ayrshire
Best for: organic respite
Marine Troon is a re-imagining of a once-jaded Victorian hotel, having opened its doors after a major renovation in the summer of 2022. Overlooking Royal Troon Golf Club’s first and 18th hole, the hotel’s revamped look encapsulates its rich golfing history with a modern, maximalist aesthetic.
The spa might be small, but it packs a punch with coastal-themed therapies – a nod to the nearby seaside town of Troon, which overlooks the Isle of Arran. After a day on the green, book in for its Golfer’s Massage.
Meanwhile, the spa’s heated swimming pool has soothing views of the Ayrshire coast, and there are treatments by the organic brand Ishga. This Scottish wellness company – its name means ‘water’ in Gaelic – uses sustainably harvested seaweed from the Hebridean islands. Try the Detox Wrap, which is like a super-boost for the body: you are scrubbed down with a detoxifying Hebridean sea salt to eliminate rough skin, then slathered with a revitalising seaweed gel to get rid of toxins and reduce cellulite. You’ll emerge mermaid-like with a renewed joie de vivre.
Talking of which, Troon is home to exceptional, sweeping arcs of sand, where you’ll also find a natural high by blowing away the cobwebs. Or, to really get the heart racing, join the fanatical few who regularly go for a spot of cold water swimming in the Firth of Clyde.
Address: 8 Crosbie Road, Troon KA10 6HE
Price: From around £200 a night
Website: marineandlawn.com
Isle of Mull Hotel, Isle of Mull
Best for: wild wellness
Overlooking Craignure Bay, on the Isle of Mull, this low-key Hebridean island retreat has not one but two spa options to soothe your soul. At the Driftwood Spa, you can dip in the pool and have a hot mud rasul treatment in the thermal room. Hebridean-based treatments make perfect sense here, helping you feel at one with your surroundings – the healing seaweed ingredients are sourced from the shores of the Isle of Lewis, found further north.
The Wilderness Spa is a private wood-clad retreat designed for couples or individuals. Built on a secluded outdoor deck, tucked away within tall grasses and woodland, it feels wonderfully rustic, like you’ve discovered a secret coastal hideaway. Don a dry robe and meander along from the hotel. There’s an outdoor hot tub and sauna to warm up in, and a bucket shower to cool you down (eat your heart out Wim Hoff). Private therapists are on hand for nature-inspired massages and glow-inducing facials. Later, in the adjacent snug – a cosy room with picture windows overlooking the mountains on the mainland – you can meditate to the sound of the northerly winds advancing on the shore.
Address: Craignure, Isle of Mull PA65 6BB
Price: From around £150 a night
Website: crerarhotels.com
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Cameron House, West Dunbartonshire
Best for: reboot retreats
Overlooking Scotland’s biggest loch, this mansion has a heritage reaching back to the early 19th century. It has all the gilded trappings you’d expect from a grand countryside pile, from splashes of tartan to chinoiserie wallpaper. Much of the sprawling property has been renovated so the rooms feel much more à la mode with an inky palette throughout, deep velvet sofas and textiles by Glasgow design studio Timorous Beasties. There’s a dizzying array of things to do – from golf and fine dining to seaplane rides over the water and leisurely cruises on the waves aboard the hotel’s Celtic Warrior yacht.
A short drive away, the Cameron Spa is vast, with a wondrous thermal suite including a tepidarium, caldarium, sauna and hammam room. ESPA treatments are offered across 17 rooms. Unique to Cameron Spa, the new Rejuvenate with Nature Treatment is a rejuvenating therapy harnessing the relaxing properties of Scottish lavender, pine, and thistle oil. A highlight, though, is the steaming rooftop infinity pool. Dive in and emerge to see heavenly views towards Loch Lomond and the Highlands.
Address: Loch Lomond, West Dunbartonshire G83 8QZ
Price: From around £300 a night
Website: cameronhouse.co.uk
Fletcher’s Cottages, East Lothian
Best for: Scandi-Scot spa days
It doesn’t get much more cocooning than Archerfield House’s Scandi-like spa – curl up next to the wood-burning stove, hunker down under fur throws and detox in the aroma sauna. Whether you stay at the main house – a Palladian gem with views over Fidra Island Lighthouse, said to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island – or in one of a series of lodges spread across the 550-acre estate, this is the ultimate place to restore your mojo.
Book one of the bath huts for a soothing start. Hidden in walled gardens bursting with heather, juniper and roses, ease your limbs in a traditional peat bath – said to aid aches and pains and relieve stress.
There are reviving facials and body treatments by Bamford and a seductively named ‘Supreme Happiness’ massage by local East Lothian brand Beatitude. It uses hot stones and plant-based oils to ease away any tightness and knots. Voya’s slumber-inducing Odyssea Package is also not to be missed. Following a bathing experience with added essential oils and bath salts, you’ll enjoy a back massage and facial. Armed with a camomile and lavender sleep spray to later spritz on to your pillow, you’ll drift off dreaming of distant Scottish shores in seconds.
Address: Dirleton, North Berwick, EH39 5HQ
Price: From around £350 a night
Website: archerfieldhouse.com
Isle of Eriska Hotel, Argyll
Best for: remote contemplation
If the stirring views over Loch Linnhe and the Morvern mountains in Argyll don’t instantly lift your spirits, the gourmet cooking certainly will. This Baronial-style mansion oozes the feel-good factor from its historic walls. Found on its own island close to Oban on the west coast of Scotland, the building dates back to 1884. While the old house offers the chance to kick back amid regal Victorian décor – with its wood-panelled walls and original fireplaces – the light-filled spa has been recently refurbished and feels fresh and modern.
Meander through manicured herb gardens, rosemary and lavender piquing your senses, to reach what were the former stables. Inside, there’s a 17 metre pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. The elegant treatment rooms are themed around the woodlands or the shores surrounding the 365-acre estate. It won’t be long before you slip into a blissful state with algae-fuelled treatments by Ishga or aromatherapy massages by ESPA.
From gazing up at the dark skies to hiking up the mountain trails, the joy of Eriska is its breathtaking, otherworldly setting, paired with this magical halcyon wellness break. For a real immersive experience, you can bed down in one of the spa suites. Also carved out of the stables, these come with outdoor hot tubs ideal for meditative moments as eagles glide overhead.
Address: Ledaig, Benderloch, Oban PA37 1SD
Price: From around £350 a night
Website: eriska-hotel.co.uk
Fonab Castle, Pitlochry
Best for: dreamy delights
On the banks of Loch Faskally in the shadow of Ben Vrackie mountain, arriving at Fonab Castle is like entering the pages of your own fairy tale. With its pink walls, turrets and fancy parapets, the property dates back to 1892, although its 42 rooms have a modern Highland aesthetic. Despite being an imposing castle, Fonab feels intimate and warm. The separate Woodland Spa captures a sense of the wild nature found just steps from the doorway – with aromatherapy relaxing rooms and a choice of treatments from Ishga and TempleSpa. You’ll feel reborn again with the Woodland Wellness massage, which uses slow, deep movements designed to release tension and balance the body. It’s the perfect therapy after days spent exploring the glens, moors and rivers on the doorstep.
Address: Foss Road, Pitlochry PH16 5N
Price: From around £230 a night
Website: fonabcastlehotel.com
Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews
Best for: glam escapades
Once you’ve donned your fluffy robe at the spa at Fairmont St Andrews, you’ll have a hard job taking it off again. The spa’s cosseting nature is all-encompassing, with therapists expertly guiding you from check-in to zonking-out mode before you’ve even made a start on your lemon-verbena tea. Signature therapies include the bucolic-sounding Escape to the Hebrides – it’s 90 minutes of pure escapism during which your body is exfoliated and nourished with sweet-smelling jojoba, rose and geranium oils and herbal poultices. A warm marine mud mask deep cleanses, while a scalp massage eases tension and allows your mind to roam free.
Meanwhile, the hotel itself feels deliciously decadent with many thoughtful nods to its coastal location – from the lobby atrium’s gold shimmering light sculpture by George Singer, which emulates shoals of fish in St Andrews Bay, to the fish scale tiles and seaweed-printed fabrics found in the bedrooms. If you can tear yourself away from your seafoam-scented stupor, then there are world-class golf courses on the doorstep, such as The Torrance and The Kittocks, to explore. Also worth packing your boots and waterproofs for is the Fife Coastal Path – it runs from Culross through St Andrews and onto the Tay Bridge for heart-lifting views of Scotland’s majestic coast.
Address: St Andrews, KY16 8PN
Price: From around £250 a night
Website: fairmont.com
Stobo Castle, Peeblesshire
Best for: all-immersive indulgence
Located in the scenic Borders, Stobo Castle is the ultimate Scottish destination spa. Yes, the castle dates back to the 19th century and has a craggy, brooding appeal, but guests are largely here for the contemporary and extensive facilities rather than the history, so don’t be surprised to see most padding about from treatment to poolside in their robes.
From the Roman-style laconium to the advanced hydro spa (it has super-sonic Airloungers designed to give an air massage along the full length of your body), you can spend days being pummelled and pampered. As well as the wide choice of facilities, the treatment list is also vast. Choose between therapies by Phytomer and Made for Life, or book in for a complementary menu of holistic therapies such as reiki, Indian head massages and hopi candle sessions.
While it’s easy to lose hours at the beck and call of the many resident experts, it’s worth taking time to explore the lavish grounds. There are serene Japanese water gardens to roam around in and walking trails for hikers wanting to tackle the nearby hills. By night, there’s plenty on offer for those who want to indulge a craving or two. From the shellfish risotto with tomato concasse to a mocha martini, the whole experience is a like a hug for the soul.
Address: Peeblesshire EH45 8NY
Price: From around £450 a night
Website: stobocastle.co.uk
Blythswood Square Hotel, Glasgow
Best for: being Glasgow’s best spa
This subterranean paradise is camouflaged from above by the hotel which crowns it, which is a beautiful Georgian building that was once the proud meeting point for the Royal Scottish Automobile Club. With all the columns and mantelpieces upstairs, you’d never know that down in the basement levels was hiding a sprawling spa.
Recently renovated, it’s in striking contrast to the more traditional interiors upstairs, which celebrate the hotel’s history through black and white checkered floors and plush velvet furnishings. In the spa, however, things are a whole lot more contemporary. There’s a huge, glass fronted sauna at one end that perches over the swimming pool – a strip of jewel blue water that runs into a sensory cave at the other end, complete with the sound of swirling water and a light show that’s meant to slow things down for you. In total there are five offerings in the heat journey that range from steam room to Himalayan salt sauna, plus a snow room to cool off in and a lovely tepidarium for lounging. Alongside the main pool there are a limited number of day beds, so it’s best to get in early if you can to snag a spot to sit and read a book or sip Champagne.
Treatments are the work of Ishga, a Scottish company based around products that extol the virtues of seaweed. Therapists are well-trained and offer excellent massages, if that’s your thing, with a hot stone session on our visit being particularly pleasant.
For overnight guests, rooms and suites upstairs are fresh and modern, and there’s a seafood restaurant on site too, for post-spa refuelling.
Address: 11 Blythswood Square, Glasgow G2 4AD
Price: From around £350 a night
Website: ihg.com
Schloss Roxburghe, Borders
Best for: a new take on Scottish serenity
Having opened in November 2022, Schloss Roxburghe is the most recent addition to the Scottish spa scene. A Hyatt Destination hotel, it's found on the Duke of Roxburghe’s rural estate, carved out of what looks like a characterful, mini castle. In contrast to the rich tartan carpets and period fireplaces found in the hotel, the cutting-edge spa has floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed stone walls and a moody, Scandi feel.
At its heart is a heated outdoor infinity pool (complete with an underwater sound system), a Finnish sauna and a plunge pool. On offer are a selection of ESPA facials and body treatments, as well as CBD therapies by Kloris. The Muscle Reviver massages are ideal for those hitting on the Schloss Roxburghe Championship Golf Course. Since opening the team has launched advanced ESPA facials, which include skin analysis with the brand’s patented Skin Vision lamp, followed by a bespoke treatment tailored to what your skin needs. The Inner Calm Massage is another highlight. The holistic experience includes breathwork as well as a scalp massage with Rose Quartz crystals.
Address: Kelso, Scottish Borders, TD5 8JZ
Price: From around £400 a night
Website: schlosshotel-roxburghe.com