Best spa hotels in Scotland: Where to stay for a relaxing 2023 escape

Portavadie

Scotland could scarcely be better set up for spa hotels. The tree-shrouded hills, silvery lochs and aquarium-clear seas speak of renewal even before you’ve stepped foot in a spa. There are city slickers but the real joy is escaping into all that gloriously wild and beautiful countryside.

There is nothing quite like bubbling away in an outdoor hot tub overlooking a loch as the sun burns down and your hair turns crisp. The country’s spa hotels offer far more than just deeply dramatic locations, though. Local spa products and treatments with a Caledonian tinge add authenticity to the UK’s spa-retreat capital.

Scotland’s spa hotels come in all shapes and sizes, from old-school Victorian-era dames that used to attract patrons seeking to take the waters, through to swish state-of-the-art hideaways in modern five-star hotels built seemingly with no budget ceiling.

The range is constantly improving, too, with the revamped spa at the Kimpton Blythswood Square set to put Glasgow back on the spa map this summer, in a country increasingly synonymous with spa tourism.

The best spa hotels in Scotland are:

• Best spa hotel for city views: Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa
• Best spa hotel for old-world class: The Balmoral
• Best luxury spa hotel: Gleneagles
• Best old-school spa hotel: Crieff Hydro Hotel
• Best all-round resort spa hotel: Cameron House
• Best family spa hotel: Portavadie
• Best spa hotel with views: Old Course Hotel St Andrews
• Best for a sense of spa hotel history: Marine North Berwick
• Best island spa hotel for family fun: Auchrannie Resort, The ASPA
• Best romantic spa hotel: Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa

Best spa hotels in Edinburgh

Best spa hotel for city views: Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa

Location: Edinburgh

The hydropool alone puts this 269-room hotel firmly on the map (Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa)

The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa is worth coming to for its outdoor hydropool alone, which boldly strides across the rooftop. Peer over the Scottish capital’s skyline, and you’ll turn office workers green with envy. The hydropool is part of an “urban thermal spa experience” that is no 20-minute gimmick, with a Himalayan rock-salt room, bio sauna, crystal steam room and rock sauna, plus a laconicum and hammam. Chill out in the quiet room afterwards. ESPA beauty and massage treatments are on offer too, but Scotland’s best thermal circuit experience is enough for many visitors. There is a 19m indoor swimming pool (with an infinity edge), if you want to get active at this 269-room hotel.

Best spa hotel for old-world class: The Balmoral

Location: Edinburgh

Oozing with charm, this hotel boasts a Turkish steam room and Finnish sauna (The Balmoral)

The stately 187-room Balmoral has presided over the Scottish capital since 1902, oozing old-world class and charm. It’s very Edinburgh – JK Rowling has a suite here, where she finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rocco Forte Wellness forgos flashy technology, opting instead for an old-fashioned focus on you. It eschews the big international brands, using Scottish range Ishga (made with seaweed in the Outer Hebrides) and in-house Irene Forte Skincare, which uses plant extracts to treat skin conditions – ideal for sensitive skin. The certified vegan ingredients hail from an organic farm in Sicily. Backing up the massage and beauty treatments are a 15m swimming pool, Turkish steam room and Finnish sauna.

Best spa hotels in Perthshire

Best luxury spa hotel: Gleneagles

Location: Auchterarder, Perthshire

Book in to experience the hotel’s Michelin-starred dining and more (Gleneagles)

Scotland’s most famous resort hotel is a world of cosseted luxury, golf courses and Michelin-starred dining. The Resident Spa is as exclusive as it sounds – a 20-treatment-room haven with its own steam room, sauna cabin and dark vitality pool. Day guests are welcome to packages that include lunch at a Wellness Café open to all spa users, as well as Gym & Swim with its family pool, adult-only pool and bubble and jet kissed outdoor oasis; stay cosy while the frost glistens in your hair. The aquathermal suite features all the usual hot and cold treats in this massive temple to the pursuit of pleasure.

Best old-school spa hotel: Crieff Hydro Hotel

Location: Crieff, Perthshire

Head to this mountainous part of Scotland for decadent communal saunas and steam rooms (Crieff Hydro Hotel)

The story of this stately 200-room hideaway sounds like PR spin – it was set up in 1868 by Dr Thomas Henry Meikle, who was so inspired by the spa concept, following a trip to Austria, that he decided to bring it home to Highland Perthshire. The concept was simple – rejuvenate people through water, exercise, fresh air and the balm of Mother Nature. Those are still key attractions in this wonderfully mountainous part of Scotland. Ponder what the high society of the time would have made of the Victorian Baths, with their decadent communal saunas and steam rooms, while Decleor and Aromatherapy Associates products lace the beauty and massage treatments.

Best spa hotels in western Scotland

Best all-round resort spa hotel: Cameron House

Location: Loch Lomond, West Dunbartonshire

Take a dip in the rooftop infinity pool (Cameron House)

Splash down by seaplane, dram at the whisky bar, play a round of golf or munch popcorn in the cinema at this 208-room resort – an all-rounder dramatically perched right on Loch Lomond. Don’t be distracted by the large swimming pool and flume complex in the main hotel – the real spa action is to the north at the Cameron Club. You won’t forget a dip in the rooftop infinity pool, peering over the loch’s bonnie banks.

There is a 20m indoor pool too, part of a hydro & thermal experience that includes a hydrotherapy pool, experience showers and an ice fountain, plus a flurry of saunas and steam rooms, along with ESPA and Made for Life Organics products.

Best family spa hotel: Portavadie

Location: Portavadie, Argyll

The heated infinity pool and hot tubs allow for plenty of relaxation al fresco (Portavadie)

The Portavadie Spa heated infinity pool on the shores of Loch Fyne is a divine experience for young and old – it has two al fresco hot tubs, too. Inside, a large family swimming pool beckons, with a baby pool and a sauna for adults, too. The poolside café does decent coffee and pizzas cooked in front of you. Afterwards, stroll the loch’s shores to the play park and a shop with toys tempting wee ones. If you get any solo time, the adult-only second floor of the spa has plunge pools and both massage and beauty treatments. Aware of environmental impact, it’s powered by a woodchip biomass generator, while the outdoor pools are switched off in winter.

Best spa hotels in eastern Scotland

Best spa hotel with views: Old Course Hotel St Andrews

Location: St Andrews, Fife

Indulge in one of the hotel’s 13 treatment rooms (Old Course Hotel St Andrews)

While golfers from all over the planet make pilgrimages to the famous beachfront course that this five-star resort offers a grandstand view of, smarter souls take it easy in the Kohler Waters Spa (the first of its kind outside the US). Indulge in one of the 13 treatment rooms – there’s even a couple’s room for the romantics – or enjoy the 20m spa pool, steam rooms, ice fountain, cold plunge pool and sauna. Lunch awaits in the Spa Café, while yoga devotees should look out for regular yoga retreats. There is, of course, a “golfer’s recover massage” for hackers battered by the Old Course bunkers.

Best for a sense of spa hotel history: Marine North Berwick

Location: North Berwick, East Lothian

The views alone are enough to soothe the soul (Marine North Berwick)

This grand 84-room hotel – designed by Edinburgh architect Frederick Thomas Pilkington – opened way back in 1875, when North Berwick was hailed as the “Biarritz of the North”, with stressed-out Londoners flocking north on direct trains, in search of a cure. Today, the stone walls echo those times, and views of the golf course and offshore are little changed. This simple spa’s highlight is swimming into the outdoor section of the 18m main pool, to enjoy the views. Don’t miss the “thermal suite” with its sauna, rock sauna, aroma steam room and experience showers. There are six treatment rooms too, using French vinotherapy brand Caudalie.

Best spa hotels in the Scottish islands

Best island spa hotel for family fun: Auchrannie Resort

Location: Brodick, Isle of Arran

With a spa resort suite, guests can secure exclusive access to a private outdoor hot tub (Auchrannie Resort)

Scotland’s seventh-largest island is eulogised as “Scotland in miniature” and it really is, with mountains and all the “Big Five” wildlife, whisky distilleries, castles, beaches and superb food. The Auchrannie, the only resort in the Scottish isles, is the place to stay. Although it sits next to a large family swimming complex that is open to the public, the spa feels much more exclusive, using both Ishga and ESPA products. Book a plush “Spa Resort Suite” for exclusive access to the private Stronach Lounge, with its terrace with an outdoor hot tub and complimentary drinks and snacks.

Best romantic spa hotel: Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa

Location: Craignure, Isle of Mull

With your own private deck with hot tub and sauna, this hotel and spa is perfect for couples (Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa)

A massive rebirth in 2021 transformed this waterfront hotel into the finest spa hotel in the isles. More than £3m was spent, and it shows. With treatments using Hebridean brand Ishga, savour a dip in the 17m swimming pool, warm up in the steam room or enjoy the sauna with the “thermal experience”, then venture outside for a hot-tub session under big skies. There are few spa hotels where you’ve a better chance of spotting an otter or deer, while, for romance, book the Wilderness Deck. Saunter down to your private oasis in your robes and enjoy your own private deck with its hot tub and sauna. Here, you can gaze up at the heavens, dram in hand, and toast to Scotland’s finest spa hotels.

Read more of our Scotland hotel reviews:

• The best affordable Scotland hotels
• Best family-friendly hotels in Scotland
• The best hotels in Edinburgh

Read more about Scotland travel:

• Glasgow city guide
• How to spend a weekend in Edinburgh
• A local's guide to Scotland, from midnight swims to chic motels