The Spa at Chewton Glen

The one thing

Chewton Glen and Cliveden House were the first two hotels in the UK to offer Decree, the skincare line built by Dr Anita Sturnham, and the partnership shows up here as a proper spa day in its own right rather than a single facial bolted onto the brochure. The Decree Retreat runs half a day around a bespoke facial that blends cleansing, exfoliation, a mask chosen for the skin in front of the therapist, microcurrent sculpting and LED light, and it is open to anyone, not just the guests already staying.

The verdict

Chewton Glen sits on the edge of the New Forest just outside New Milton, a country house hotel that has been welcoming guests since the Skan family took it on in 1966 and turned it into one of the first English hotels to join Relais and Chateaux, back in 1971. Fifty five years on it still holds the group's five red stars, and 2026 marks its sixtieth year, with a run of anniversary experiences planned through the year to mark it.

The house itself has just had its dining rooms, bar and drawing rooms redone by Goddard Littlefair, so the Colonel's Bar, the tasting room and a new patisserie counter all feel freshly considered, and an informal restaurant run in association with James Martin sits alongside a purpose built cookery school and bakery for anyone who wants to take a little of the place home with them. The spa itself spreads out over 130 acres of grounds, with tennis, pickleball, a nine hole par three course and croquet on the lawn for whoever wants to spend the day moving rather than lying still.

The Decree partnership is the newest and most talked about addition, but the wider spa day menu runs from a shorter Meze Spa Experience through to a full Tailor Made Spa Day and an Active Spa Day built around movement rather than treatment, plus a Twilight Spa Evening for anyone who would rather come after dark. It is a spa built for choice as much as for any single signature, and the choice itself is part of what a five red star, Relais and Chateaux house is expected to offer.

The water

An indoor pool kept at a steady seventeen metres runs alongside an outdoor pool and a separate hydrotherapy pool, so swimming, floating and jet led recovery each get their own water rather than sharing one space. A sauna and steam room complete the wet circuit, and an outdoor hot tub gives somewhere to sit under the sky between the two. The pools sit within the wider 130 acre grounds, so the walk between the spa building and the gardens is very much part of the experience rather than a corridor to get through.

Treatments

The Decree Retreat is the newest name on the menu and the one worth booking around, a half day treatment built on a facial created specifically for Chewton Glen and Cliveden, using cleansing, exfoliation, a mask chosen on the day, microcurrent sculpting and LED light therapy together rather than any one of them alone. Alongside it, the Meze Spa Experience gives a shorter route in for anyone with less time, the Tailor Made Spa Day lets a guest build the day themselves, and the Active Spa Day leans into the tennis courts and the golf course rather than the treatment rooms. A Twilight Spa Evening runs the same grounds and pools into the evening for a quieter, later visit.

Getting in

Spa days are sold directly to the public as well as to hotel guests, and treatments including the Decree Retreat are bookable by phone or email without needing a room booked first. A separate spa membership also exists for anyone who wants to make Chewton Glen a habit rather than an occasion, with its own terms for bringing guests along.

What to know before you fall in love

The guest suites themselves were still due for their own refresh as of the most recent word from the hotel, so it is the dining rooms, bar and drawing rooms that carry the newly redone Goddard Littlefair look for now rather than every bedroom in the house. The thermal offer is a sauna and steam room rather than a fuller circuit, so anyone coming for an extensive heat journey should treat the pools and hot tub as the main event instead. Weekend spa days sit on a different tier from weekday, which is worth knowing before you pick a date.

Best for

For anyone drawn to a genuinely historic five red star house that has kept moving, from a 1971 Relais and Chateaux membership through to a brand new Decree partnership shared with only one other hotel in the country, and for a day that can be built around tennis and golf just as easily as around the treatment rooms.