And here they are… your class of 2023

The Good Spa Guide team returned to The Spa Life Convention at the De Vere Cotswold Water Park to host this year’s Good Spa Guide Awards.

Happy to be back at this lakeside hotel, we began our evening with glasses Floreat in the bar, where we mingled with industry colleagues and braved the typical British summer (grey; overcast) for photos by the lake.

The seated event attracted 315 guests from the spa industry, who dined on 27 beautifully-dressed tables.



After tucking into starters (and some very nice wine), comedian, actress and presenter Jayde Adams took to the stage, commanding the room with her incredible wit - and, as it turns out, opera voice (who knew?). You may have caught a sneaky peek of her hilarious set on our Instagram stories. 

Jayde Adams with the team from The Stanley House Hotel & Spa
 

Jayde then announced the winners, inviting them on stage to receive their engraved eco-friendly statuette and have their photo taken.

And here they are folks, your class of 2023, complete with mini write-up and image to get you booking that spa break (you're worth it):

Best Day Spa
Sponsored by SpaSeekers
The Spa Hotel at Ribby Hall Village



Ribby Hall is a five-star holiday village with a glamorous spa hotel. The thermal space is stunning: a vast glass structure overlooking the decked spa garden with its outdoor hot tub and sauna. At the centre is the large bubbling hydrotherapy pool surrounded by loungers and seven heat experiences, including a herbal sauna, aroma steam room, tepidarium, sanarium and Balinese salt inhalation room. The spa menu has Elemis, Neom and ishga treatments on offer as well as exclusive signature rituals. 

Best Hotel Spa
Sponsored by BC Softwear
The Woodland Spa

Set within 100 acres of Lancashire countryside with its rolling landscape, The Woodland Spa has a sense of intimacy and peace. The Thermal Experience Journey includes a range of heat rooms, plus a hydrotherapy pool, outdoor infinity pool and a tranquil Serenity Pool in a low-lit relaxation space. The treatment menu includes face and body therapies from Decléor and Neom, with manis/pedis from OPI. The award-winning Restaurant – with its killer views - is located above the spa.

Best Spa for a Countryside Getaway
Sponsored by OTO
Hoar Cross Hall



Nestled in the picturesque Staffordshire countryside – and surrounded by well-loved gardens - Hoar Cross Hall is an idyllic spa resort destination that’s still languishing after a £14million top-to-tail makeover. The spa is one of the largest around, with two swimming pools, stylish relaxation areas, inviting thermal facilities, a spa restaurant, a hair salon and 41 treatment rooms where Elemis and VOYA face and body treatments are performed by highly-skilled therapists. 

Best Boutique Spa
Sponsored by VOYA
Stanley House Hotel & Spa

Located deep in the heart of Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, The Spa at Stanley House offers peaceful views of the area’s undulating hills from every aspect. The décor is cosy yet contemporary; the welcome warm and inviting. The well-designed facilities include a hydropool, steam room, sauna, salt steam and tepidarium beds, the majority with beautiful vistas. Stanley House is the only spa in the North West to offer treatments from both Natura Bissé and Temple Spa. 

Best Spa for Wellness
Sponsored by OSKIA
Champneys Tring

Tring is Champney's flagship spa, a combination of glamorous stately home and holistic wellbeing. The extensive facilities are complemented by the Marine and Wellness Spa, which offers guests a range of water-based treatments using the recuperative qualities of seawater, algae and marine minerals. The spa menu has over 100 different types of treatments, from the traditional to the exotic, such as Reiki and Indian head massage. Champneys Tring also offers interesting and unusual retreats and boot camps.

Best Spa for the Eco-conscious
Sponsored by Comfort Zone
Rudding Park Spa

Rudding Park is a Regency country house hotel close to the spa town of Harrogate. The spa - which opened in summer 2017 - is split over three levels with glass walls to show off the beauty of the surrounding gardens. Inside, it has an indoor pool, juniper log sauna, rasul, and four ‘mind and sense zones’. Take time to visit the Roof Top Spa and Garden complete with a hydrotherapy infinity edge pool, a range of thermal experiences and a sun deck.

Best City Spa
Sponsored by Million Dollar Facial
Hope Street Hotel & Spa

Basking in Liverpool’s trendy Georgian neighbourhood, Hope Street Hotel is super chic - all pink Cheshire brick, iron pillars, exposed beams and cool white interiors. The thermal journal includes a 15-metre pool with underwater music, courtyard vitality pool, herbal sauna, ice bowl and water drench, Himalayan salt sauna, aroma steam room, experience showers and tepidarium.  The spa menu offers treatments from REN and Temple Spa, while Leighton Denny has mani & pedis covered. 

Best Destination Spa
Sponsored by Germaine de Cappucini
Ragdale Hall Spa

The original dedicated spa retreat, Ragdale Hall is a large, comfortable country house set in attractive gardens and grounds. The spa has quite a cult following; you’ll find good quality, well-priced treatments delivered by people who really know their stuff. The huge array of facilities on offer will have you visiting your favourites time and again. Gloriously, at Ragdale you can be as pampered or healthy as you like; enjoy a healthy meal or opt for cake and Champagne.

Best Spa for Guest Experience
Sponsored by Natura Bissé
Serenity Spa at Seaham Hall

The setting for Seaham Hall is as expansive as it is exhilarating: the north-east coast (County Durham to be exact), meaning you’re already onto a winner. The spa building and facilities are impressive; the treatments good quality. The spa journey begins at the fabulous underground walkway that connects the spa to the hotel – walk past pebbles and running water until you reach a huge carved elephant. Inside, there’s an ozone treated pool, a hydrotherapy pool and thermal rooms. Outside are two steamy hot tubs and a sun terrace.

Best Spa Garden
Sponsored by Sothys
Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa

Nestled in the heart of the Borrowdale Valley, Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa is hard to beat for lake views. The Falls Spa has 18 luxury spa bedrooms, a new pan-Asian restaurant, Champagne bar and a comprehensive thermal suite. Outside, the 16- metre infinity edge vitality pool has fountains, underwater loungers and an overflow hot tub feature with spectacular views to Derwentwater and the Catbells Mountain Range - possibly the best selfie location in the Lake District.
 

So that just leaves me to congratulate our winners and finalists, and thank our sponsors, without whom this annual event could not happen. See you next time spa lovers.