As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve booked to stay at Gainsborough Bath for one night thanks to the $200 credit offered by Amex Platinum. It claims to be the only property in the UK with naturally heated thermal water!
Bath is a small town, and the hotel is only five minutes’ walk from the railway station.
The hotel is affiliated with Small Luxury Hotels, so you can redeem your Hyatt points here too. However it doesn’t come cheap – the hotel is Category 6 so usually requires 25,000 points per night, which is hardly a deal.
YTL is the property owner from Malaysia. They also own the Ritz Carlton at Kuala Lumpur, Koh Samui and Niseko, as well as the Monkey Island Estate and Glasshouse Edinburgh.
The lobby is small but neat, which kind of reminds me of the Marriott Park Lane hotel.
I arrived at 1.30pm and the room’s not ready yet. I came back again after lunch, and the receptionist offered to go and check the room for me, but never returned. The room’s finally ready at around 3.15pm.
The hotel staff are very familiar with FHR benefits. I’m upgraded one level to Executive.
It feels like a proper five-star hotel and I especially like the bedding.
An unadvertised perk is the room view – you can see the pool of a thermal spa next door.
But I also observed some teething issues with the room:
- TV has no signal
- The wardrobe door that triggers the sensor light wouldn’t shut
- There’s a step in the room which could be trip hazard
The experience isn’t complete without a visit to the famous Spa Village. You could pre-book a one-hour slot prior to your stay (highly recommended), and during your stay you may reserve more slots subject to availability.
The main pool:
Massage spots for neck and back:
Two other smaller pools at different temperature:
Sauna and steam room:
Lounge area:
The Brasserie is only open for breakfast at the moment. The service is fully a-la-carte with only three main options: Full English, Eggs Royale and Avocado Toast.
Food is pretty good and the coffee is truly tasty.
The Canvas Room has light lunch and afternoon tea service.
The Gainsborough Bar offers drinks from 6pm.
Despite the glitches my stay is overall positive, and the Spa Village is definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of jacuzzi and sauna etc. But would I spend £300 for a night here? The answer is probably no.
Recent Comments