The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath: a five-star Regency-era spa retreat for Bridgerton fans
It also happens to be right in the thick of the Bridgerton action, as excitement builds for series four: many of the scenes in the smash-hit Netflix drama were filmed right outside the hotel on the city’s most striking street. The Featherington’s fictional home is right next door.
From newly-refurbished five-star suites with private terraces to the hotel’s own hot air balloon, here’s what to expect.
Where is it?
Slap bang in the centre of the Royal Crescent, at the top of the sweeping lawns of Bath’s Royal Victoria Park. It’s away from passing traffic, but just a five to ten minute walk to the city’s main shops and famous Roman Baths.
Style
A charming mix of past and present: grand sweeping staircases and elegant chandeliers in the entrance hall; sleek pear-shaped lamps in the hallway and sexy, iridescent cocktails at the bar.
The hotel retains many of its former features – the majestic Georgian façade, Grade 1 listed buildings, fireplaces in the rooms – but there’s a fresh new look thanks to a major refurb completed last year, with soft, pastel furnishings in the rooms and drawing rooms and cool, on-trend menus in the spa and restaurant.
It’s chic but unpretentious, and staff are smart and down-to-earth, offering to park your car on arrival and carrying your bags to your room.
Food and drink
Afternoon tea at the Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa is top of Bath bucket lists (there are 13 teas to choose from, from a chocolate brownie black tea to a Danish pastry edition), while the hotel’s award-winning and newly-refurbished Montagu's Mews restaurant serves arty and locally-sourced dishes from award-winning head chef Martin Blake. The tasting menu is £105 per head and features everything from black treacle soda bread with a chickpea hummus and Ivy House Farm salted butter to Exmoor venison with a sloe gin jus.
The next morning, staff serve fruit salads, cold meats, cooked breakfasts and pastries in the restaurant or gardens, with Royal Crescent-branded yoghurts and a selection of coffees and juices. Order it to your suite for ultimate indulgence: there are coffee pods in the room, plus a range of complimentary teas, herbal teas and hot drinks available via room service. The hot chocolate, served with biscuits and a separate pot of marshmallows, is true luxury.
Facilities
The hotel offers a gym, secluded gardens and a concierge service (they’ll park your car, book you dinner and even take your dog for a walk), but the highlight of the Royal Crescent experience is its spa.
The Georgian spa house itself is a 30-second walk through the gardens from your room in a coverted coach house (slippers and bathrobes are provided in the bathroom) and is kitted out with five treatment rooms using Templespa products, a steam room, Jacuzzi and 12.5 metre pool in a high-ceilinged old stone room that feels like you’re swimming in a church. My 60-minute In Good Spirits massage – in a room above the pool - successfully rid me of any Sunday blues and was so soothing I almost drifted off to sleep.
What to Instagram?
The Crescent, in all its splendour: cricketers playing on the lawn, sweeping stone facades and uniformed doormen greeting drivers as they pull up to the hotel. Majestic even on a dull day. You can almost hear Lady Whistledown’s narration in your ear.
Best for
A city minibreak just 90 minutes from London. Take your partner for a romantic retreat – the spa offers couples massages and there’s even a hot air balloon experience for guests between March and September - or book in for a shopping weekend with your mum. Bath’s famous Christmas markets attract crowds from across the country.
Which room?
All of the hotel’s 45 suites and guest rooms are individually decorated, each telling a story of the hotel’s famous guests, from the Duke of York to The Blue Stockings Society (staff handwrite your own name on your door during your stay). Many look out over the hotel’s Crescent lawn or the private walled gardens, some with their own private terrace for al fresco reading and dining.
The 11 suites as well as the Deluxe Bedrooms, Heritage Bedrooms, Master Bedrooms and Family Master Bedrooms have all been recently renovated using Georgian-style Farrow & Ball tones, nature-inspired design and traditional features such as desks and fireplaces and spacious suites – Rolandson, for example, comes with a charming private sitting room with sofas, a TV (there’s also one in the bedroom) and a spread of Bath-themed books and magazines to read. Other touches include bottles of natural Mendip spring water next to the bed and Floris shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser. There’s a fruit bowl and Hotel Chocolat treats on arrival.
How to get there
Take the train to Bath Spa station, just 90 minutes from Paddington and an easy 20-minute walk at the other end. The hotel has car parking facilities if you drive: just park up outside and one of the concierge staff will take your bags and park it for you.
When should I go?
All year round: the spa is cosy in winter – bath robes are thick for walking through the gardens from your room – while suite guests can enjoy breakfast or a cup of tea on their private terraces in warmer weather. Pick a spring or summer day and book in for afternoon tea in the gardens. You won’t find a more glorious spot in town.
Details
Deluxe rooms start from £330 per night, based on two sharing, on a bed and breakfast basis. royalcrescent.co.uk
