It’s official – Plymouth’s multi-million pound Gaia Spa has been crowned the country’s best.
The luxury spa, at the Boringdon Hall Hotel, has been named the Best Destination Spa in the whole of the UK and Ireland at the celebrated Condé Nast Johansen Awards.
Condé Nast Johansens is the leading reference guide for luxury hotels, spas and venues around the world, and comes from the publishers of Vogue, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and Vanity Fair.
Gaia Spa triumphed over “excellent competition” from two London spas to win a trophy awarded for a combination of online voting, guest feedback and expert reports drawn from hotels featured in the most recent Condé Nast Johansen publication.
Diane Nettleton, Gaia Spa director,receives the Condé Nast Johansen award
Diane Nettleton, Gaia Spa director, said: “It is a real honour to receive this accolade for Best Destination Spa for UK and Ireland by such a well-recognised and respected brand, Condé Nast.
“This means so much to the team that have worked hard to nurture and care for our guests.”
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The honour is the latest triumph for the spa, opened in 2016, and Boringdon Hall Hotel.
The spa has already won the Sunday Times Best British Spa Hotel in the UK accolade and was shortlist for Hotel Spa of the Year in the Western Europe and Scandinavia category at the World Spa and Wellness Awards.
Boringdon Hall also won the Tourism/Hospitality Business of the Year gong at The Herald Business Awards 2017.
In November 2016 the 16th Century country manor had become the city’s first five-star hotel – and only the second in Devon.
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The hotel’s restaurant also achieved three rosettes from the AA.
Condé Nast Johansen is lauded as the remains the most comprehensive illustrated reference to independently owned hotels inspected annually.
Created to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across recommended properties, the world-renowned Awards for Excellence are a trusted mark of quality recognised by consumers and travel professionals alike.
The Condé Nast Johansen traveller’s guide said: “The views across Dartmoor are captivating, and the convenient proximity to Plymouth makes Boringdon Hall an easily accessible weekend escape and wedding/events venue.
“Throw in some state-of-the-art spa-ing at Gaia Spa, 18 holes of challenging golf at nearby Boringdon Park Golf Club and three AA Rosette award-winning food at Gallery Restaurant and you want for nothing.”
Gaia Spa is the largest spa in the south west, measuring more than 1,800sq m, featuring 12 treatment rooms and a luxury Spatisserie restaurant.
Gaia Spa facilities include an infinity pool, hydrotherapy pool with an outdoor swim through, heat experiences, including a Finnish sauna, crystal salt steam room, steam room, laconium herbal sauna, and shower experiences, as well as a gym packed with the latest kit, deep relaxation room, beauty salon, and outdoor areas for yoga and meditation.
The newly finished outdoor spa terrace is surrounded by countryside.
In the spring, Gaia will launch its new “signature” Equinox Retreat, a four-day break where guests are invited to “refresh and refocus their lives, to become the happiest and healthiest version of themselves”.