The best hotels in Bath, picked by a local writer

When the busyness of Bath is starting to get you down, here’s where to head. This five-star boutique hotel is located in the city’s most famous street: the Royal Crescent. But step through the classically Georgian doorway and you’re immediately encased in utter tranquillity. From the landscape-painted lobby to the 45 bespoke rooms, every last inch of this place is visually delectable. It’s also, however, home to an acre of concealed gardens, a delightfully low-key spa and bathhouse, and a very stylish restaurant serving the prettiest Afternoon Tea in town. In case you couldn’t tell: we’re big fans of this place.

Sugar and spice and all things nice: that’s what this hotel is made from. Situated midway down Great Pulteney Street (aka Bath’s second-most-famous street), No. 15 by GuestHouse augments its inherent Georgian elegance with a predilection for all things feminine. Buttery-soft pinks, sandy beiges and rose-gold, are used liberally throughout the bedrooms and wider building. Other cute decorative twists include old-timey dolls’ houses to encase the tea-and-coffee stations and framed embroideries in the bathrooms, which also feature beautiful ceramic washbasins and oh-so-deep freestanding bathtubs. It’s not as flat-out-fancy as some Bath hotels, but its low-key aura is very much part of its charm.

The Gainsborough Bath Spa is a spa hotel. Sorry, read that again: The Gainsborough Bath Spa is a spa hotel. Not a hotel-with-a-spa, but a spa hotel whose entire raison d’etre is its beautiful suite of treatment rooms and the accompanying glass-roofed bath house. It’s the only hotel in the country to have access to real thermal spa waters and the first UK hotel from the YTL group who pioneered the Spa Village model at locations across Asia, combining local remedies and traditions with contemporary super-high-luxe bathing trends. Non-spa highlights include the idiosyncratic shape of the rooms and the genius extra savoury course during Afternoon Tea paying homage to the hotel’s Asian owners (and some very perfect breakfast eggs). But ultimately, this place is all about the baths. 

If you’re the kind of person who feels a natural affiliation with Bath, then you’re also the type of person who loves a very particular version of Britishness. And that version involves rolling greenery, large limestone properties and lots of time allocated for staring dreamily out of a sash window while holding a volume of Dickens. Are we right? Ok, so Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel is going to be just your vibe. Tied to the centre of town via Great Pultney Street (and just across from Bridgerton fave The Holburne Museum), this grand-but-personal hotel offers four poster beds, beautiful gardens, delightful Afternoon Tea and, of course, a spa, complete with candlelit rooms. In summary: the perfect balance of tweed and (spa) treatments.

It’s six miles away from Bath, but we’ve listed it here because it is definitely worth the journey in and out of town. Lucknam Park is a sumptuous eighteenth-century Palladian mansion set in over 500 acres of parkland, with 42 individually designed bedrooms and suites featuring highly traditional décor – think overstuffed cushions, lots of damask and tastefully muted florals. Foodies flock here for the Michelin-starred restaurant Hywel Jones, and if you’re feeling inspired by the cuisine you can even do lessons at the hotel’s cookery school. Alternately, just make the most of the light-filled spa and outdoor pool. We’re not judging.

The fun, and highly affordable four-star Sofitel is perfect for those who opt for a contemporary feel. It has modern, newly refurbed rooms with Egyptian cotton sheets, free wi-fi and tea and coffee-making facilities. Pay for a wee upgrade, and you’ll get four-poster beds, minibars and espresso machines. The bathrooms come with fluffy bathrobes and luxury toiletries, and public areas, including a brasserie and bar, take in a mish-mash of styles, from dainty Georgian to more out-there geometric.

This place isn’t so much a hotel as a pub-turned-B&B – but we’ve listed it as, well, it’s just lovely. Its six individually designed rooms reside in a Georgian terraced house, which is about ten minutes’ walk from the town centre. If it looks like a home, it certainly feels like one too – from the fresh thermos of milk for your tea or coffee, to the hearty breakfasts around a communal table. Rooms feature lots of charming personal touches too, like homemade biscuits and spacious bathrooms with White Company toiletries.