USP There’s no arguing with thousands of years of history. Bath has been the fashionable place for a restorative dip since before Roman times. More than a million litres of mineral-rich water bubble up every day from the country’s only hot springs, supposedly bringing health and vitality to all who enjoy them. You can’t immerse yourself in the actual aquae sulis at The Bath Priory, a 20-minute walk from the city centre, but the centuries-old feelgood factor still rubs off on you.

AMBIENCE The hotel is all you would expect from an elegant Georgian town house: mellow stone, floor-to-ceiling windows, and elegant reception rooms comfortable with age.

The spa, in the lower ground floor, was comprehensively revamped last year and now offers all mod cons, including a juice and espresso bar, an electric-blue pool with French windows overlooking a Victorian rockery and sunken Italian garden, sauna, elliptical steam pod, gymnasium and, when the weather warms up, a good-sized outdoor pool too.

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE The four treatment rooms are housed a few steps away in the annex (this being Bath, that doesn’t mean an out-of-keeping extension, but an equally glorious Regency building which also contains four immaculate generous family suites).

Bamford Hay Barn Spa, Gloucs

Is this Cotswolds retreat Britain's best new day spa? Armed with a video, Alice Fishburn finds out

• The Good Spa Guide: Day

Gloucstershire spas

• C.Side Spa, Cowley Manor, Gloucestershire

• Barnsley House Spa, Gloucestershire

• Wyckhill House Spa, Gloucestershire

• Spa 6, Cotswold Water Park, Gloucestershire

• Sisterly bliss in Cirencester

BACKGROUND

• Captain’s Club Hotel, Christchurch, Dorset

• Moonfleet Manor, Fleet, Dorset

• Middle Piccadilly Natural Healing Centre, Dorset

• Chewton Glen, Hampshire

Related Links

• The Lido Spa, Bristol

• Thermae Bath Spa, Bath, Somerset

There’s a range of aromatic facials and exfoliations using Decleor products, but the spa majors in Li’Tya treatments, based on Aboriginal notions of herbalism, colour therapy and aromatherapy.

I had the signature Awakening and after my feet had been soaked in Australian flowers and berries and my skin buffed with blue cypress body gel, a Kodo massage worked on my pressure points. I don’t think the Quandong Hair Mask did anything for my fast receding hairline, but an hour and a half later I felt undeniably uplifted and revitalised.

FOOD The emphasis at The Bath Priory is very much on pampering, rather than health, and this is borne out in the Michelin-starred restaurant. Under the direction of two-star chef Michael Caines, Sam Moody produces some seriously good food, with the focus, as it should be, on produce from the West country.

The £65 a la carte included pan-fried Brixham scallops with a shallot and bacon veloute, roasted Cornish sea bass with parsnip and ginger puree, and an extraordinarily dexterous and indulgent truffled turbot with brasied beef cheek and cepe foam. As if that lot isn’t enough to undo the hard work in the gym, the cheese board is as large and in as good a condition as you could hope for. Breakfast, as it always is in top-class hotels, is bountiful, if a little polite.

IN-CROWD Mothers and their grown-up daughters bonding over Jane Austen, a smattering of American tourists, and the well-heeled of the Cotswolds seeking the bright lights and shopping opportunities of Bath.

WALLET WATCH The Awakening signature massage (£90 for 90 minutes); hour-long facials (about £60), and manicures, using Jessica Nails products (£40 and £45). Or blow the budget and enjoy nearly three hours of The Dreaming face and body treatment for £180. Rooms from £185 to £595 for a three-bedroom family suite.

NEED TO KNOW The Bath Priory, Weston Road, Bath BA1 2XT (01225 331922; thebathpriory.co.uk)