Best spa hotels in Manchester for outdoor hot tubs, luxury treatment and sophisticated dining
Mixing up its live music venues with the independent bars of the Northern Quarter and all the draws of The Village, where people play out until breakfast time, Manchester has a reputation for being a 24-hour party city.
Yet it knows how to loosen up as well as let loose. The Capital of the North and its surrounds are home to a number of excellent spa hotels where guests can recharge. Visitors to Manchester can count on pamper zones that take over entire hotel floors, ultra-luxe spa areas where champagne is as easy to access as water and – just outside of the city centre – one of the largest garden spas in the UK.
The treatments available in Manchester's spa hotels go beyond your basic back, shoulder and scalp massages, too. Across the city, therapy menus feature out-of-the-ordinary ingredients like gold, truffle and jade, as well as cutting-edge experiences such as cryotherapy, somadome sessions, and sensory deprivation floatation tank treatments. With the opening of Fairmont Cheshire The Mere planned for early 2026, a short drive from Manchester, the city's spa scene is only set to rise.
Best spa hotels in Manchester 2025
1. The Lowry hotel
Overlooking the River Irwell in the Chapel Wharf area of the city, The Lowry was Manchester's first five-star hotel. Its Re:Treat spa, where guests are welcomed with glasses of watermelon- and lemon-infused water, is one of the more innovative in the city. Facilities include a cryotherapy ice pod chamber (which exposes users to temperatures of -110C in order to reduce inflammation and boost vitality), a sensory deprivation floatation tank, and a Somadome meditation pod, in which visitors listen to guided meditations or music that has been composed to stimulate beta, gamma and theta waves in the brain. Re:Treat's magic-handed therapists have 90 different treatments in their repertoire. One of the highlights is the 90-minute Gaia Serenity Ritual, which includes a hot stone back massage and a rejuvenating jade facial. Elsewhere, the Lowry has 165 smartly designed rooms, a lounge bar with a grand piano, and a river-view restaurant that serves classic French food.
2. The Midland hotel
Opened in 1903, The Midland is one of Manchester's most iconic hotels and rumour has it that it was spared from the bombings of World War Two because Hitler coveted the building for his UK headquarters. Behind its red-bricked Baroque facade, there are 312 rooms and suites, dressed in dove grey colour schemes, a champagne bar, tea room, and the chandelier-lit French restaurant. Its Reena Spa treats visitors to a relaxation pool and thermal suite with a sauna, steam room, experience showers, and neck massage fountain. Plus, there's a clutch of relaxation areas, where guests can unwind in wellness cocoons suspended from the ceiling and sound-cancelling egg chairs. The treatment list includes warm candle massages, hot and cold stone therapies, and vitamin C facials.
3. King Street Town House hotel
The spa at King Street Townhouse pools out for more than 800 square metres, featuring a thermal suite with a Himalayan salt cave, monsoon shower, ice fountain, steam room and heated loungers, and a spa lounge, where fleecy sofa seating is topped with plump cushions and soft throws. Both an all-day dining and a 'cakes and bubbles' menu are served here. The former features breakfast dishes like crushed pea and courgette sourdough and lunch items such as coconut noodles, whilst the latter focuses on pastries and champagne. Guests who want to extend their pamper experience can book to stay the night in the hotel's ESPA Suite, which comes with a freestanding bath, an aromatherapy steam shower with massage jets, and a bath butler service.
4. The Edwardian hotel
The five-star Edwardian hotel is set inside Manchester's old Free Trade Hall, a palazzo-style sandstone building that was built in the 1850s. The hotel's spa takes over an entire floor and includes a 12-metre pool and hot tub, sauna, steam room and sizeable gym. The refined list of treatments includes a golden body exfoliation that uses gold particles and moor mud facials that harness mineral-rich mud sourced from Hungary's Lake Heviz. Away from the wellness facilities, highlights of a stay at The Edwardian include drinks in the Library Champagne Bar and dinner at Peter Street Kitchen, a high-ceilinged, marble-tabled eatery where the menu marries Japanese with Mexican cuisine.
5. Malmaison Manchester hotel
A short hop from St Peter's Square Metrolink stop, the Malmaison Manchester is home to a capsule spa with a series of treatment rooms, a relaxation space, and a sauna. Showcasing Temple Spa products, the treatment list is meaty, featuring everything from 15-minute replenishing eye rituals and half-hour lava shell massages to body treatments aimed at soothing symptoms of the menopause and indulgent truffle facials. Spa sessions here are best combined with an experience in Malmaison's Chez Mal Brasserie and Bar, with its red leather banquette seating and horseshoe-shaped bar. Guests can choose from two-course lunches or Tranquili-Tea afternoon teas. Beyond the spa and brasserie, Malmaison Manchester has just under 200 rooms and suites, all brightly designed with flourishes such as feature mural walls.
Address: 1-3 Piccadilly, Manchester
6. Innside by Melia Manchester hotel
This contemporary glass and red concrete building is haloed by attractions, from Manchester's Home theatre to the playful indoor crazy golf venue Junkyard Golf. The bedrooms at the hotel are neat prune-hued spaces, and little nods to their mother city can be found on headboards, which are decorated with sketches of Manchester scenes. The hotel's Escape spa features a capsule wellness suite, with a gym, sauna and steam room. It's the treatments that keep people boomeranging back here, though. Options include an organic coffee body scrub and massage and deep hydration facials. Innside Melia Manchester also has its own restaurant: decorated in duck egg and bamboo colours and with floral feature walls, it serves Italian dishes including sharing boards of stuzzichini (appetisers).
7. Cottons Hotel & Spa
Nuzzled into the countryside of Knutsford, Cheshire, a 25-minute drive from Manchester, Cottons delivers a 13-metre swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. There's also a gym which operates a full timetable of classes, from yoga to spin. The treatment list showcases Temple Spa products and includes therapies like body detox massages, soul soother rituals, and ultimate glow facials. Bedrooms at the hotel are calming spaces with natural colour schemes. There's a bar lounge and restaurant on site, too. The former serves breakfast and light bites throughout the day and the latter transitions from offering afternoon teas to brasserie dishes.
8. Mottram Hall hotel
Just over a half-hour drive from central Manchester, Mottram Hall is a popular retreat for city locals. Bound up in 270 acres of landscaped gardens, the Grade II-listed country house hotel has 120 bedrooms with muted eggshell and almond colour schemes, as well as a champagne bar and a grill restaurant. The lengthy list of facilities at the hotel's £10 million Champneys spa includes a 20-metre swimming pool, outdoor hydro pool, monsoon shower, cold room, and thermal suite with a steam room and sauna. The treatment list features everything from detoxifying seaweed wraps to beauty sleep rituals. There's a spa restaurant, too, where body-benefiting menus include dishes like superfood salads and fresh fish.
9. Carden Park hotel
Carden Park is an hour's drive from Manchester city centre, but it more than makes it worth the ride. Swaddled in more than 1,000 acres of countryside and golfing greens, it's home to one of the largest garden spas in the UK. The outdoor pamper space includes steamy experience pools, hot tubs, a fire pit, a sauna with a viewing window wall, a series of spherical relaxation pods, and a bar that all look out over the Cheshire landscape. Inside, an indoor vitality pool, heated beds, experience showers, a Finnish sauna, and a panoramic restaurant complete the offering. The hotel itself has 197 rooms, all with natural colour schemes and large windows that look out over the Carden estate grounds.
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