About us
We are Good Spa Guide
Every spa in the Good Spa Guide has been checked, and every Rating comes from a visit by one of our Spa Spies.
Find your perfect spa at The Good Spa Guide, your expert guide to the best spas and treatments.
From Scotland to Cornwall, discovering the very best spas in the UK & Ireland
At the Good Spa Guide, we have a mission: to help you choose a spa and treatments wisely, and to get the most from your spa experience. Me-time is precious, and it doesn't come cheap. We recommend only the best spas, after rigorous reviews by our Spa Spies.
Before you spend the mortgage on a massage, let the Good Spa Guide help you get the right treatment in the right place at the right price.
How we assess spas
Spas with a Bubble Rating will have been reviewed by our team of spa experts. We assess spas on cleanliness and tidiness, customer service, standard of facilities, and, of course, the treatments. Our audit sheet is 20 pages long, so we are pretty thorough in the way we assess different types of spas.
What we look at
We do not judge spas on size, facilities they do or do not have, or the behaviour of other spa guests. A smaller spa can still provide a five bubble experience, the absence of a pool won't necessarily break a spa journey, and we believe that spa should be enjoyed by all ages and personalities.
- Peace
- Did you get the day you came for, without queues or crowds?
- Practice
- How well were the treatments and wellness sessions done?
- People
- How well were you looked after, from arrival to the bill?
- Place
- How good is the setting, and does it work?
- Promise
- Did the spa deliver what it promised, and was it worth it?
How does it work?
The Rating covers the spa and everything you experience in it on the day of the visit: the facilities, the treatment, the wellness offering and the food served in the spa. We judge quality. We check the spa against its own promise, and we check that guests receive it. We rate each spa against what a guest should expect from its category, and we rate the experience that every guest receives. On an overnight stay, we also tell you about the room and dinner, outside the Bubble Rating.
Our Bubble Rating system
Our Bubble Ratings indicate our overall verdict of each spa. We award spas a Rating from Three Bubbles to Five Bubble Luxury.
- GoodThree BubblesA spa we would happily send you to.
- GreatFour BubblesA spa worth travelling for.
- ExcellentFive BubblesA spa worth saving for a special occasion.
- OutstandingFive Bubble LuxuryA spa you will remember for years.
Judged against its type
We judge every spa against what a guest should expect for its type, so a city treatment spa and a country resort can both earn Five Bubbles.
- Resort Spa
- The spa is the reason for the trip.
- Hotel Spa
- A spa inside a hotel.
- Day Spa
- A full spa day, with no overnight stay.
- Urban Spa
- Treatments and calm in the city.
- Thermal / Bathing Spa
- Built around heat, ice or water.
- Private Members’ Club
- A spa you join.
“It is all about expectation and promise fulfilment; as long as a spa does what it says it does well, we are happy Spa Spies.”
- Reviewing spas since
- 2006
- Spa lovers every year
- 1.4m
- Independent
- 100%
- Award votes
- 2.5m
The Spa Spies
Our Spa Spies are industry legends. Between them, they have worked in every part of the spa world, from operations, brands, design and retail to hotel and spa consultancy, and they bring experience from the spa, hospitality and wellness industries. They know spas across the UK and around the world, so they know what good looks like, and what outstanding looks like.
Each Spa Spy follows the same rigorous Assessment format. They experience a package that you can book, and they use the spa as you would. They assess the spa against the five Ps and against its category, we then award a Bubble rating.
Visits are announced and hosted by the spa.
