Spa Day Leicester: Only One Is Actually in the City

Book a spa day in Leicester and there is a good chance you end up driving to Melton Mowbray, Ashby-de-la-Zouch or Hinckley. Leicestershire has two of the best destination spas in England, and neither is in Leicester. The county’s reputation rests on Ragdale Hall and Champneys Springs, both proper day-long spa resorts, both a drive out. Inside the city itself the choice is much narrower, and it is worth knowing which is which before you book something that turns out to be forty minutes away.

There is also a venue to strike off your shortlist entirely, because it closed in 2024 and the listings sites have not caught up.

Before you book a spa in Leicestershire, check two things

A hotel leisure club with a sauna is not a spa day. Several Leicestershire hotels advertise “spa facilities” that amount to a members’ pool with a steam cabinet at one end, shared with people swimming lengths. The venues below have a proper wet side, treatment rooms and somewhere you are allowed to sit in a robe for the afternoon.

The second check is age. Two of the best options in the county are adults-only, which catches out anyone planning a mother and teenage daughter day. That is covered under each venue.

In the city: Bannatyne Leicester, Welford Road

This is the genuine Leicester answer. Bannatyne Health Club & Spa is at 58 Welford Road, LE2 7AA, walkable from the city centre rather than a drive out of it.

What is there: a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and spa pool, plus treatment rooms running ELEMIS facials and body treatments and OPI nails. Non-members can book spa days, which is the part that matters, since plenty of health clubs will only sell to members.

Set expectations correctly and it does the job well. It is a health club spa, so the wet side is compact and it is busy at peak times. What it gives you is a spa afternoon you can reach on foot, combine with a meal in town, and book at short notice. For a birthday treat with friends who are coming in by train, that is worth more than a bigger thermal suite twenty miles away.

Book Bannatyne if you want a spa day in Leicester. Book one of the destination spas below if the point of the day is the facilities themselves.

Fifteen miles out: Ragdale Hall, Melton Mowbray

Ragdale Hall is the best-known spa in the East Midlands and the reason people say Leicestershire is good for spas. It is near Melton Mowbray, roughly fifteen miles north east of Leicester, so allow half an hour each way and rather more on a Friday.

What you get, from Ragdale’s own information:

• A main pool at 30.5°C, 1.2 metres deep, and a separate exercise pool, also 30.5°C, ranging from 0.9m to 1.5m deep.
• A rooftop pool and lounge, open 8.00am to 10.00pm.
• A Thermal Spa, open 8.30am to 10.00pm.
• An outdoor pool, open in daylight hours during the summer months only. Worth knowing if you are booking for January and picturing steam rising off open water.
• Main pool, exercise pool and changing facilities open from 7.30am to 10.00pm.
• Robes and towels included, with flip flops provided on spa breaks and on the Indulgent Day.

Two house rules shape the day more than anything on the treatment list. The minimum guest age is 16, so this is not the venue for a family spa day. And the spa is a phone and camera-free area: phones stay switched off in your locker, and calls are taken in the main reception. Some people find that the single best thing about Ragdale. Others should know before they arrive.

Book Ragdale if you want the widest set of pools and thermal rooms in the county, and if a genuinely quiet afternoon appeals more than photographing it.

Seventeen miles out: Champneys Springs, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Champneys Springs sits at the other side of the county, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, close to the Derbyshire border and about seventeen miles north west of Leicester. Champneys describes it as the UK’s first purpose-built spa, set among waterways and parkland.

The character is different from Ragdale. Springs leans harder into fitness alongside the spa: a large gym, a HIIT studio, a spin studio and a schedule of more than twenty classes a day across aqua, cycle, dance, fitness, mind-body and outdoor categories, on top of the pool, thalasso pool, sauna and steam room.

Champneys sells spa days, spa mornings, spa afternoons and spa evenings as separate products, which is useful if a full day is more than you want. The spa evening in particular is the least-known good option in Leicestershire for anyone who cannot take a weekday off.

Book Springs if you want to do something on your spa day rather than only lie down, or if you are coming from the west of the county, Burton, Tamworth or south Derbyshire, where it is much closer than Melton.

Thirteen miles out: Sketchley Grange, Hinckley

Sketchley Grange Hotel & Spa is on Sketchley Lane in Hinckley, LE10 3HU, south west of Leicester and genuinely closer to Nuneaton and Coventry than to the city. Its Romans Health and Leisure Spa covers a heated pool, whirlpool, sauna and steam room, with a gym alongside, and the treatment menu runs on Elemental Herbology, a British brand built around the Five Element theory in traditional Chinese medicine.

Day guests get access to the leisure facilities in a set window during the day rather than all evening, and packages typically bundle a light lunch and use of robes and towels with a treatment. Confirm the current times when you book, since the window has moved before.

This is the practical middle option: a proper hotel spa with a pool you can swim in, without the drive to Melton or the price of a destination resort. It also suits anyone coming up the M69 rather than from Leicester itself.

Cross this one off: Stapleford Park has closed

Nearly every spa listing site still shows Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray. It is not open.

The company operating the hotel ceased trading on 16 October 2024, all 92 staff were made redundant, and joint liquidators from Leonard Curtis were appointed on 28 October 2024. The business cancelled its remaining bookings with little notice; the liquidators had to relocate guests who were staying at the time. The operating company did not own the Grade I listed mansion or the 500-acre estate, and the building’s future has stayed unresolved since.

There is a further trap. The web address the hotel used, staplefordpark.com, no longer belongs to a hotel. As of September 2026 it serves online casino content. If a search result or an old bookmark takes you there, close it and do not enter any details. Anything offering a Stapleford Park spa day should be treated as a listing nobody has cleaned up.

Choosing between the Leicestershire spa days

Three practical points that decide most bookings in this county:

Getting there. Only Bannatyne is reachable without a car. Melton Mowbray has a station, but Ragdale Hall is a few miles out of the town and you will need a taxi at both ends. Ashby-de-la-Zouch has no station at all. Factor the journey in before you compare venues.

Weekday against weekend. The destination spas are quietest midweek and busiest on Saturdays, when the wet side fills with hen groups. If the point of the day is quiet, book a Tuesday.

What is included. Robes and towels are included at all four, but swimwear is on you, and flip flops are only provided on some packages. Our guide to what to wear to a spa day covers the rest of the bag.

If you are willing to travel further, the Lincolnshire and Staffordshire and Shropshire guides cover the next counties out, and spa days in the West Midlands picks up everything south west of Hinckley.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a spa day in Leicester city centre? Yes, at Bannatyne Health Club & Spa on Welford Road, LE2 7AA. It has a pool, sauna, steam room and spa pool with ELEMIS treatments, and non-members can book spa days. It is the only option on this page you can reach on foot from the city centre.

Which is the best spa in Leicestershire? Ragdale Hall near Melton Mowbray, if you are judging on facilities. It has a main pool and an exercise pool both at 30.5°C, a rooftop pool and lounge, a thermal spa and a summer outdoor pool. Champneys Springs near Ashby is the better choice if you want fitness classes as part of the day.

Can you do a spa day at Ragdale Hall with a teenager? Only from 16. Ragdale Hall’s stated minimum guest age is 16, which rules it out for younger children entirely. If you are planning a mother and daughter day with someone younger, check each venue’s policy before booking rather than assuming.

Is Stapleford Park still open for spa days? No. The operating company ceased trading on 16 October 2024, 92 staff were made redundant and liquidators were appointed later that month. Its former web address now hosts online casino content, so ignore any listing or search result that still offers a spa day there.

How far is Ragdale Hall from Leicester? About fifteen miles, north east of the city near Melton Mowbray, which is roughly half an hour by car on a clear run. There is no practical public transport route, so allow for a taxi from Melton Mowbray station if you are not driving.

Do Leicestershire spas allow non-residents? Yes at all four venues in this guide. Bannatyne sells spa days to non-members, Ragdale Hall and Champneys Springs are destination spas built around day visits as well as stays, and Sketchley Grange sells day packages with leisure access included. Book ahead in every case, since none of them work on a walk-in basis.

When is the quietest time to book a spa day in Leicestershire? Midweek, and particularly Tuesday to Thursday outside school holidays. Saturdays at the destination spas are busy with groups, and the thermal areas and relaxation rooms fill up first. A Champneys spa evening is the quietest slot of all if you cannot get a weekday.