The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa

The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa

"Start us off with an overview.Set within Bath’s imposing, sandy-hued Royal Crescent across a pair of Georgian terraced houses, this vast hotel is Grade I listed (i.e. "with heritage so precious it’s illegal to alter it") and grander than grand—it’s sure to blow away anyone unused to the grandeur of historic British architecture at its finest. Ceilings are high and edged with frilly cornicing, walls paneled and home to period portraits with eyes that will follow you around the room. Tall windows offer beautiful views out toward the city of Bath or back over the private gardens behind, home to the Dower House restaurant, The Spa and Bath House, the Garden Villa—and a rather delightful swing. That's a fun feature. Can you give us the backstory on this place?The exteriors here can be traced to the mid-18th-century, when they were built with the intention of being sold off; it was up to the new owners to construct the rest of the building. The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa (parcels 15 and 16), however, only began life as a hotel in the 1970s. A few decades later, in spring 2014, local interior designer Jane Clayton refreshed and resuscitated its Georgian credentials. The crescent also has a literary life: Jane Austen's Persuasion sees characters Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth confirm their relationship status right outside the front door of one of the grand mansions. Swoon. Now, tell us about the rooms—how are they?The Royal Crescent Suite is as magnificent as it should be and is the hotel’s ultimate room—spacious, airy, with a separate lounge and drawing room as well as the bedroom with luxurious, canopied, four-poster bed. The décor and color scheme are not modern by any means (there’s a lot of peach and beige, with original antique furniture laced in throughout), but that’s not why you come here. Tech is adequate—sockets can take a little while to find but the A/C, television, and shower all are easy enough to master. Got it. So, what's the F&B situation? Anything stand out?Scottish executive chef David Campbell has done an impressive job with the menus, weaving his dishes with contemporary, creative flourishes and locally sourced ingredients—the tasting menu at the 3 AA rosette award-winning Dower House restaurant moves seamlessly between the pleasantly sweet-sharp beetroot yogurt foam to a sturdier braised lamb shoulder, served with anchovy tempura and purple basil to give it extra shimmy. Eat outside on a summer’s evening for maximum magical secret garden whimsy, ideally kicking off with a summery Sipsmith gin special. Our only shock during dinner was that the pianist was playing an electric keyboard rather than a more refined actual piano, although, that said, he was still excellent. We were also surprised that the place was empty by 10 p.m., but that’s no doubt due to it being a location restaurant in a smaller English city that actually sleeps. The breakfast buffet is complimentary for guests and best eaten in the garden if weather permits—don’t miss the mango bio yogurt straight from the Yorkshire Dales, the supremely creamy coffee, or the Matcha muffins. The afternoon tea, made up of perfectly pretty cake morsels and scones, should ideally be taken while sitting back on a sun lounger, for maximum barefoot-contentedness. That all sounds delicious—and thanks for the tip. How did you find the service?The staff are helpful, humble, and human, and help to feed the hotel’s very relaxed feel: the French sommelier is particularly good-humored, and one of the doormen even kindly offered to pop to the pharmacy to grab some painkillers for us. That's lovely. Can you tell us a little about the other guests? Who are they?Either lucky Brits on a romantic break or spending quality time with their mothers and aunties, or foreign tourists who’ve heard of Bath’s chocolate-box delights from far and wide and know that the Royal Crescent is one of the most prestigious places to stay in the city. Consider them a cast from a Richard Curtis film, comfortable with their lot and suckers for three-hour picnics on the lawn, probably with a side of crochet. Johnny Depp is said to have stayed in the Garden Villa for three months; U2 and the Rolling Stones have booked the entire hotel before; and Manolo Blahnik has his own house just along the crescent—so don’t underestimate its more glamorous credentials, either. That's quite a mix. What about the neighborhood—anything worth checking out nearby?Bath is one of the UK’s most picturesque cities, renowned for its Roman-built baths and honey-colored Georgian architecture. It's also home to the only natural thermal hot springs you can bathe in the UK—all-in-all, the city very much lives up to its name. The local scene is therefore the quaint stuff of English stereotyping dreams. While the city has a clutch of smart B&Bs and retreats, the Royal Crescent is the hotel that locals will choose to head to for the one-off occasions they want to commemorate properly. Got it. Is there anything you'd change?There's no minibar—though if one was introduced, it would need to be stocked with suitably sophisticated wares, rather than your average M&Ms and Coca-Cola. What about anything we missed—is there anything you want to call out?The spa is surprisingly small, considering this is a spa hotel. No matter—what it lacks in size it makes up for in bespoke detail. The unique, nearly 40-foot pool is overlooked by chapel windows and has a door that leads directly from the water out to the courtyard beyond. And visitors must complete a charming personality quiz before any treatment, in order to assess whether you are a summer, spring, autumn, or winter person and therefore what sort of holistic Elemental Herbology product you require. Well, that's unusual. Alright, now tell us truly: Would you recommend this place to a friend? Why or why not?Visit the Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa anytime you want to feel quintessentially English. Teeming with historical grandeur, yet with laid-back, teetering on cheeky staff, you can walk through the mansion’s tall front door and feel time slow down, as well as reel right, right back, just for a little while." - Becky Lucas