Best Spa Weekend UK

PH

Chewton Glen, New Forest, Hampshire

Location: On the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, near the beach.

The lowdown: Voted Best Hotel in the British Isles, you couldn’t possibly be disappointed with Chewton’s incredible service and old-school glamour. With its nine-hole golf course, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, swimming pools, mountain bikes, welly loans, maps of the forest and beachside walks on the doorstep, you can be as busy as you like – or enjoy watching the sunset with a G&T.

USP: It’s tree-mendous! Yes, you can book yourself one of the fabulous garden rooms in the big house, but if you’re looking to push the boat out, the 12 tree houses are the place to head. Many spas are starting to offer “forest bathing” packages as a gimmick (the Japanese call it Shinrin-yoku and it basically means getting back to nature), but that’s essentially what Chewton Glen has been offering for years without even thinking about it.

Breakfast and gourmet dinner hampers are delivered through a hatch straight into your room, so your food is ready whenever you can drag yourself out of the hot tub on your balcony high up in the trees.

Who you’ll see in the steam room: Chris Evans and Terry Wogan have stayed here and as well as the hotel guests – weekenders, parents escaping children for the weekend and mums on family breaks who have left Dad on duty for an hour or so – the spa has a loyal band of local members.

We doubt he was a spa fan, but it was here Captain Frederick Marryat wrote much of The Children Of The New Forest.

Time for one treatment: The Manipura Full Body treatment (manipura means “beautiful shining jewel” in Sanskrit) provides massage, lymphatic drainage and the applications of Himalayan salt and herb poultices to harmonise and revitalise.

If you’re staying in a tree house, the therapists can come to you but make sure you leave time to head to the spa itself to enjoy the hydrotherapy pool, steam rooms and crystal sauna.

Chewton Glen (41, chewtonglen.com) offers overnight spa breaks from £550 per room, based on two sharing (Sunday to Thursday) and includes continental breakfast, one 60-minute spa treatment each to the value of £99, a Pool Bar lunch, and unlimited use of the spa and leisure facilities.

PH

The Corinthia Hotel, London

Location: On the banks of the Thames, moments from Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square.

The lowdown: The exterior may be a grand old building that dates back to 1885, but step inside and it’s the antithesis of fusty, having been completely restyled for the 21st century. Don’t miss the Bassoon bar, an art-deco triumph of design, which has a cocktail list that would make a speakeasy barman blush. Meanwhile, the Northhall Restaurant is all burnt orange leather and mirrored panels with a menu that serves British cuisine at its best – clean, understated and simply sublime.