Calcot Spa

A spa located in the hippest part of the Cotswolds, breath-taking drives & a cool line in chill. Caroline Chapple lays back

Outdoor hot tub puts the city far behind

I’ve always preferred South Gloucestershire to the more touristy Cotswolds around Stow and the Slaughters. The South is fabulous driving country and positively dripping with royalty. Highgrove, Gatcombe and Badmington are just round the corner, Liz Hurley lives outside Cirencester, Damien Hirst has a studio in Stroud. And Calcot Manor is near beautiful Tetbury - very old, tons of antiques and a brilliant furniture shop called Sieff - and within spitting distance of the very fashionable Beaufort Polo Club.

Calcot Manor is not really a manor house. It started life as a five-bedroom family home that’s gradually turned itself into a 28-bedroom country house hotel. The conversion has been sympathetic – lots of beams, Cotswold stone and not too many rural knick-knacks.

The hotel is very log fire and closed curtains, but with enough contemporary touches to avoid a Tunbridge Wells feel. The spa is purpose-built - more Cotswold stone - and rather beautifully designed over two floors. Downstairs is the reception, bar and an extremely comfortable lounge area. There’s a fully equipped gym and a really beautiful pool.

Like the rest of the spa, the vibe is more zen than country house. Lots of pebbles and bamboo and simple-chunks-of wood as furniture. Nice. But what caught our attention was the massive hot tub outside in the patio area flanked by the pool and gym.

And that tub pretty much accounts for our first hour or so at Calcot Spa. The afternoon was crisp, sunny and behind the hot tub burned a massive wood-fired stove. We floated on our backs and watched the geese fly overhead.

You can have snacks in the lounge so we did. I suspect things might get a bit busy here at weekends or if there’s a convention on. We were lucky. It was mid-week, no one was about and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Two days, half a dozen treatments and not a care in the world.

Above the pool and gym is a steam room, sauna and treatment rooms. There’s a wonderful sense of calm in this part of the building. A couple of other residents were hanging out in another lounge area and occasionally a blissed out figure would drift by to or from a treatment. But that’s as hectic as it got.

In the course of two days, we had half a dozen treatments between us. My companion was instantly hooked on warm oil floatation treatments and insisted on trying out both variants. I went for a satisfyingly rigorous full body massage, pedicure and a fantastic hydradermie facial. For facial read: facial plus neck, scalp and shoulder massage.

We both agreed the therapists were sweet, well-trained and much less up themselves than their London counterparts.

Although we stopped off for a bit of shopping in Tetbury on the way back to London (about two hours on a clearish M4), we didn’t actually feel the need to move for the two days we stayed. Apparently there are wonderful walks in all directions.

Calcot Manor, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8YJ
Tel: 01666 891 232 www.calcotmanor.co.uk/spa

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