Thermae Bath Spa Review

Thermae Bath spa is a day spa, combining the charm of old historical buildings with modern design. It opened to the public in it's present form in August 2006.

Here, you can enjoy the benefits of the only natural thermal water spa in Britain. Many treatments are available, which need to be booked in advance.

Yesterday, as it was a lovely sunny day, my daughter and I decided to spend a day at the spa.

We travelled to Bath by train, so before we left, we checked First Great Western's web site to see if they had any special offers for the spa. Indeed they did – four hours in the spa for the price of two! So we printed off the voucher, grabbed our swimming costumes and hopped on the train.

We arrived at the spa, handed over the voucher, showed our train tickets and were given our extra time. We paid £27 each for two hours (Well, four in our case) and an extra £9 each for hire of robe, towel and slippers. You can take your own things, but we decided to treat ourselves, and it also meant that we had less to carry when we did a spot of after Spa shopping.

We were given a smart band, which is used to lock/unlock your locker, keep track of how long you have been in the spa and also to keep track of your spending in the restaurant.

We started our visit in the roof pool. Where you can relax on air seats and enjoy bubble jets. There is also a massage jet, which is great for easing stiff shoulders. The water is the temperature of a warm bath, so there is no worry about getting cold. We spent around an hour just lazing around here before heading down to the steam rooms.

There are four circular steam rooms, which each have a different aromatherapy steam. My favourite was Mint & Eucalyptus, as it helped clear my nose. The others had choices of Lotus flower, Sandalwood and Lemongrass & ginger. We stayed a while in each one, visiting the outdoor terrace between to cool down. We finished our session with an invigorating tropical shower, which is situated in the centre of the circle of steam rooms. It varies between a light mist to a heavy downpour and is a lovely way to cool off a little.

If all of this hard work makes you hungry and thirsty, you can partake of either a meal, snack or a drink in the Springs Cafe & Restaurant. On leaving, you are asked to touch your smartband to the reader, which both keeps a record of what you have spent and gives you extra time on the clock, so that your eating doesn't also eat into your spa time.

We then made our way down to the Minerva bath on the ground floor. This indoor pool has a whirlpool bath and a massage jet. The whirlpool is situated within the pool and the narrow part of the pool around it turns into a lazy river because of the currents from the jets in the wall of the pool, which is quite fun. Although, for some reason, I kept bumping into one of the four columns in the pool, which my daughter thought was rather amusing.

We left the pools, showered and got changed. There are plenty of hair dryers and mirrors in the changing rooms, as well as a spinner to take the worst of the water out of your costume and plastic bags to put them in.

We deposited our used robes, towels and slippers in the waiting hampers and made our way to the exit. Here, you touch your smart band against the reader for the last time. If you have nothing to pay, a green tick lights up, a draw opens, into which you drop your band and you are off. If you have stayed over your time, or ate in the restaurant, then a red cross will light up, and you then go to the till to pay the outstanding amount.

After leaving the spa, we partook of some retail therapy – well it has to be done. Including spending far too much money in the Fudge Factory shop................yum.

So will we go back to Bath Thermae Spa? You bet we will. This wasn't our first visit and it certainly won't be our last.

Until next time – farewell Bath Thermae Spa.

To read more about the spa, click here: Thermae Bath Spa