C rewe may not instantly spring to mind when you think of a wellness break, but hold your nerve. From the alfresco pool of this adults-only, a 15-minute drive from the famous railway town, the views are of flowers and fields rather than platforms and trains. Built around a 17th-century farmhouse, the spa celebrates the English country garden but in thoroughly modern fashion so there’s a swim-up pool bar and a DJ working the decks as well as saunas, hot tubs, a meditation chamber and a Wim Hof-inspired cold plunge tub.
The latter is appropriate as there’s nothing to do at this 52-room hotel except chill. Overall score 8/10 This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue Spa facilities and treatments Score 9/10 The hotel’s exterior is a Lego-like series of bland red-brick boxes that makes the rustic-chic intimacy of its English Garden Spa an unexpected pleasure. The spa is small (numbers are strictly limited so book a package for a guaranteed time slot) but perfectly formed and enviably affordable, with the action centred around a 15m alfresco hydrotherapy pool.
It is home to the showpiece swim-up bar and DJ deck and lined with day-bed swings underneath pergolas. Tall hedges and lush flower and herb beds create cosy zones for its cute Hansel-and-Gretel thermal cabins, clad in wavy-edged honey-toned wooden slats with rusty corrugated iron for added atmosphere. Flit between steam rooms, saunas, a sunken hot tub and a panoramic laconium with countryside view.