A best-kept-secret of a boutique hotel and spa nestled right in the centre of Bath's most famous street
Bath is beautiful. But Bath is also busy. And as much as we love sharing the city with, well, everyone, sometimes the ratio of tourists to square footage of street space can get a little intense. Which is what makes this five-star boutique hotel particularly alluring. It’s located in the bull’s-eye centre of the Royal Crescent and yet it somehow – somehow – maintains the feel of being a hidden gem. Here’s how it does it:
Step inside the cooling lobby with its painted vistas of tree-lined parkland and serenity descends like a weighted blanket dropped from the high ceiling. The front of house staff are put-you-at-ease chatty but the sound you hear loudest is a deeply inviting silence: the song of total off-line peace.
There are 45 bespoke rooms, including 11 individually decorated suites, all taking their lead from the building’s history but subtly deviating. I stayed in the Royal Crescent Suite (aka Room 19), a three-room riot of royal blue and white stylings outlined in red, with the centrepiece of a nest-like four-poster bed, excellent skyline shots and a vertiginous downward view of the spiral staircase. Best of all, thanks to the wonders of Georgian architecture and airflow, it didn’t have that overheated or over-air conned stagnant sensation as many hotels do. [Side note: hidden in the wardrobe was a Dyson hairdryer, the singularly best cosmetic invention ever. Ever.]
But the main draw is the concealed acre of hidden garden – in early summer filled with the bobbing silhouettes of purple perennials. One pathway leads to the spa, the other to the restaurant and bar, with its parasol-lined terrace. Head left and treat yourself to the Hero Treatment, an exfoliation and back massage followed by an extensive facial tailored to the client’s skin needs (mine: more sensitive than the hive mind on Twitter/X). Too decadent for the corseted Georgians, this oily, aromatic experience evokes the city’s other famous heritage: you will feel like a very pampered Roman aristocrat. Afterwards, soak, steam, sweat and swim in the bathhouse, which compared to the city’s uber-popular Thermae Spa feels wonderfully chilled.
Or, take the garden’s right-hand path to Montagu’s Mews, the hotel’s extremely pretty-in-pink restaurant and bar very pleasingly named after the founder of the Blue Stockings Society. The farm-to-fork food is a visual delight (I’m a no-photos-please foodie but I made an exception for these dishes), with sprinklings of teeny-tiny flowers, artisanal swirls and whirls and, in the case of my friend’s vampiric duck, bloodied streaks of cherry and beetroot.
All in, it’s one of those semi-secrets you almost don’t want to share…
Neighbourhood
If the centre of Bath is the regal face of the city, the Royal Crescent is its sparkling, curvaceous tiara. This world-famous street is the demarcation between the town proper and the expansive Victoria Park. It’s true what they say: no trip to Bath is worth its [Epson] salt without a Royal Crescent stroll – even more so if you’re a Bridgerton fan.
Nearby
The Circus Restaurant: Inventive contemporary cuisine served by super-friendly staff at a restaurant named after the architectural landmark just around the corner.
No. 1 Royal Crescent: An immersive museum designed to deposit in the heyday of Georgian Bath (also known as the Featherington home).
Botanical Gardens: Nine acres of Edenic beauty hidden within Victoria Park – the spring blossom is too pretty to quite believe.
Time Out Tip: The bar’s signature-with-a-twist cocktails shouldn’t be missed (and you don’t need to be a guest to book a table and try them). Get a breath of salty sea air with the Hemingway-inspired Old Man and the Sea, a daiquiri featuring seaweed rum.