The best spa hotels in Dorset 2024

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What makes a vacation in Dorset? Maybe it’s fish and chips on the seaside, or climbing to the best level on England’s south coast earlier than rewarding your self with a pint of native beer. Or visits to nude hill figures or an iconic limestone arch would possibly take your fancy. This jewel of the West Country has issues to do in spades – consuming, consuming, energetic or laidback – plus loads of on-trend hotels in which to put your head.

If Dorset’s much-extolled salted sea air and bucolic tranquillity isn’t sufficient to carry you utter leisure, you’re in luck. Among the county’s hills and on its rugged coast are hotels which have getting visitors to unwind baked into their being. Think warmed underground swimming pools, blissful remedies starting from conventional via trendy, and house to only… be.

There’s extra to Dorset than simply apple cake and Thomas Hardy. If you need a UK getaway – and to provide your wellbeing a holistic enhance – these are the best spa hotels in Dorset to e book.

The best spa hotels in Dorset are:

Location: Bournemouth

The lodge that Bournemouth – overstocked with dowdy, dated seaside lodging – has been crying out for. Inside, areas are stuffed with artwork, tropical prints and a touch of Art Deco; outdoors, the star is a 30m heated pool, very a lot a nod to Miami’s South Beach, and the city’s lengthy stetch of sand could be reached by a brief zig-zag path.

If you may wrench your self from a cabana, The Nici’s swish spa beckons, all tender lighting and mild music (a change from the pumping soundtrack poolside). Treatments incorporate merchandise from British “nutri-cosmeceutical” magnificence model Oskia, in addition to CBD pioneers OTO. The latter’s Nici signature therapeutic massage is a pleasure, the place CBD-infused oils soothing drained muscle mass and dislodge long-held knots; afterwards, curl up in the comfort house and pop open a can of OTO’s CBD seltzer, earlier than making use of the steam room, sauna and indoor pool (or the fitness center, when you really feel suitably energised post-treatment).

Location: Evershot

Summer Lodge stays Dorset’s countryside grande dame (and the county’s solely five-star lodge). The quintessential rural pad, it has fantastically restored rooms with excessive ceilings, watercolours, and chandeliers. The four-acre property is ready in Evershot, a village little modified because it featured in native writer Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (and whereas there, prop up the bar or sit beside the fireplace on the trad-yet-cool Acorn Inn).

The spa is a significant spotlight of Summer Lodge, full of Elemis remedies, from deep-cleansing facials via to rejuvenating wraps, plus a hefty listing of massages and manicures. Bespoke spa packages could be organized relying on the event, and when you’re on a household break there are particular “junior” remedies for youthful visitors. Wellbeing extends to a fitness center, sauna and heated indoor pool, and there are quiet corners of the aromatic gardens in which to unwind in personal.

Location: Sherborne

This is probably the prettiest little spa in the West Country, hidden on the backside of The Eastbury’s walled backyard and paying homage to a Hobbit gap. Only the occasional ringing of bells from the abbey reminds you that you simply’re in the historic market city of Sherborne. There are two therapy rooms, the place therapeutic massage remedy mollifies any pesky aches, in addition to a hydrotherapy tub, sauna and leisure areas which you might have all to your self (you e book the house by the hour).

The lodge dates from the 18th century, constructed as gentleman’s townhouse, so count on loads of conventional fashion in addition to trendy touches introduced in throughout a 2018 refurb. Since the beginning of 2023, they not have a restaurant (a disgrace, as chef Matthew Street’s tasting menus had been spectacular) however as a substitute gives breakfast, mild lunches and afternoon tea.

Location: Christchurch

Christchurch’s pure harbour is fantastic sweep of the Dorset coast, and the best methods to take in its views – over to Mudeford Spit and its costly seashore huts, and past to the Channel – is by staying at its namesake lodge. The Nineteen Thirties property has a blended palette of muted and vibrant tones inside, and proper on the water is its headline restaurant, The Jetty. It’s seafood-heavy menu comes from Alex Aitkin, who held a Michelin star at Le Poussin; for a dependable, contemporary style of native waters, plump for the catch of the day.

The HarSpa is discovered below-ground – they describe it as “subterranean” – and is lit by colored spotlights round a heated pool and whirlpool tub. While away a day on one of many solar loungers (indoor and out of doors), an exercise you may break up with Espa magnificence remedies or full-body massages. The spa menu additionally options choices designed particularly for males and pregnant girls.

Location: Studland

The litter of Pig hotels has one in every of its very best areas in east Dorset, on the fringe of land overlooking the Old Harry Rocks chalk formation. There’s whimsy in the turrets and sloping roofs that make up the Sixteenth-century manor, and – in traditional Pig aesthetic – there’s a surrealism in the luxe Victoriana-meets-countryside décor. The restaurant makes use of the county’s unbelievable larder, solely sourcing produce inside a 25-mile radius, and its menu favours unfussy, well-paired flavours. Don’t neglect to go to the pigs and sheep in their pens, which you’ll be able to hear as you knock again cocktails (strive the rum-drenched Jungle Pig 2.0) on the garden.

Beyond the backyard, which visitors can uncover down a path, are two cute shepherd’s huts. These comprise the spa, easy and understated. They’re very Mr McGregor’s backyard (of The Tale of Peter Rabbit fame) in fashion, in maintaining with the kitchen backyard ethos of the restaurant. The six remedies, every 60 minutes and costing £115, use merchandise from the County Sligo seaweed model VOYA. thepighotel.com

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