The Buxton Crescent Spa Hotel is a beautiful golden Grade-I listed building built in the late 18th century for William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire. It was done with the intention of establishing Buxton as a fashionable Georgian spa town – indeed Buxton reminds me a little of Harrogate. Do carry on reading as I have LOTS to say, but in the meantime, I’ve also put a video together here:
It’s my friend Mel’s 50th birthday in a couple of weeks. Mel and I went to university with two other girls, and we all decided to meet up for a birthday/reunion celebration. I had visited Buxton several years ago before the Buxton Crescent Spa Hotel had been restored (to the tune of £78 million I might add!) so I was very curious to see what it was now like.
As there were four of us visiting we stayed in two rooms which is brilliant from the point of view of this review as I can review them both!
Crescent Room Review
One of our rooms was a ‘Crescent Room’ which are the rooms at the front of the building. Due to the curved nature of the building they provide a fabulous view of the rest of the hotel. Our room came with a large super king bed. Now before I go on I must say what a fabulously comfortable bed this was! An excellent quality mattress with a mattress topper and a big fluffy duvet. We each had two big pillows and two cushions so we were more than comfortable.
The room was equipped with everything you would need including this hospitality tray.
The room came with a flat screen smart TV that I was able to cast Netflix to (or your streaming service of choice!). There were also USB ports by the bed in order to charge your phone or tablet.
The wardrobe came equipped with a mini fridge with two complimentary bottles of water, a room safe and facilities like an iron and hair dryer.
The bathroom included both shower and bathtub with lots of fluffy white towels.
The toiletries were lovely and by Penhaligon’s.
On the back of the bathroom door, you will find your robe and slippers.
Heritage Suite Room – The Gerald Tommy Suite
The other room we stayed in was assigned to Mel as the birthday girl. Some of the facilities were the same as the Crescent Room such as the wardrobe with mini bar and room safe.
Hospitality tray.
And smart TV, though I must mention this gorgeous autumnal screensaver!
The bed in the heritage suite was king size rather than super king size.
The bathroom also came with a shower and bathtub and the lovely Penhaligon’s toiletries.
Before our visit I had filled out arrival information and was asked whether we were celebrating a special occasion. So I let them know about Mel’s birthday and she was lucky enough to receive a card and a macaron!
The real showstopper of this room was the attached drawing room. It was absolutely enormous, and fulfilled all my Downton Abbey fantasies, with its period furniture and traditional fireplace!
This room was perfect for us girls to sit and get ready together and then have a glass of prosecco and a very long catch up into the early hours!
Buxton Crescent Spa
The main reason we chose the Buxton Crescent Hotel was for the spa (mind I didn’t realise just how nice the rooms were then!). We love a spa and often celebrate special occasions in one.
I have to say that the spa was way bigger than I was expecting with several swimming pools as well as lots of experience rooms.
As I mentioned earlier, you will find your robes and slippers on the back of your bathroom door in your room and there are plenty of towels to be had in the spa itself so no need to take one down with you.
At the very top of the spa you will find a lovely warm rooftop outdoor swimming pool that is accessed from an indoor swimming pool so you can swim straight out.
One word of caution here – there are ‘big taps’ (I have no idea what the proper name is for these!) around the side of the pool, now, although these may not be on while you are stood talking to your friends with your back to them, they may – randomly – come on at any time and give you a veritable conniption when it suddenly starts pounding water onto your back! Very amusing for your friends I have to say!
This pool has two jacuzzi areas too.
On (I think) the next floor down you will find the Spa Cafe that serves hot and cold drinks.
It has lots of comfortable seating.
From here, there are doors that open to another outdoor seating space. The rain does not do this space any justice and I am sure it is a very popular place to sit in the summer.
Downstairs from the cafe, you will find the relaxation room.
Further into the spa there is the biggest spa area. Here you will find the thermal pool which is filled with natural (and warmed) mineral rich Buxton water that is untreated by chemicals. This is drained, cleaned and refilled daily too. The pool is surrounded by loungers, so you can rest and relax amid the original Art Deco styling.
Further in you will find the Relaxation pool with dimmed lighting and twinkling lights set into the ceiling.
There are several heat experience rooms, such as the infra-red sauna, steam room, aroma steam room and bio-thermal sauna.
Finnish sauna:
If you are very brave you can even douse yourself in ice from the ice fountain (spoiler: I was not this brave).
Make sure you have a proper look around as there is also a ‘warm relaxation room’ which is a bit more hidden away. It has heated beds!
The hotel also has a fitness studio and gym. I have no photos of this as I am way too lazy to be visiting a gym (though the birthday girl did!).
1789 Restaurant
The hotel has a modern British restaurant named 1789, in honour of the year the hotel was built. It’s an elegant restaurant with plenty of comfortable tables. As part of the dinner, bed and breakfast package, we had £45 to spend on our evening meal. You can of course spend more than this if you want! We decided to order main courses and puddings (because – puddings!).
We did though start with sharing some lovely bread, proper butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tapenade.
Then we had the 1789 salad (this is the Starter version – there is a larger main course with chicken).
1789 Seared Salmon:
and the Lamb Cannon:
We also shared some sides around the table of chips:
and seasonal greens:
Then onto the best bit – puddings! We tried the white chocolate panna cotta with a basil sorbet (delicious and the sorbet was very refreshing)
and the dark chocolate and hazelnut torte.
Breakfast in 1789 Restaurant
The breakfast in 1789 is served in two parts. You can order hot drinks and hot food to the table and then there is a continental buffet to choose from too. You can see the menu below.
I took some photos of the buffet:
We also ordered two full Derbyshire breakfast (minus the bits we didn’t want!)
and an Eggs Royale with some avocado on the side.
Darwin’s Bar and Lounge
Darwin’s bar and lounge is a cosy bar with open fireplaces. They do lunchtime bar food and all the usual drinks. It’s a nice spot to relax after dinner. Oh, and the hotel is dog friendly!
Parking Information
Being in the centre of a Georgian spa town parking was not taken into consideration when the building was built! The hotel offers valet parking at £30 per night. Alternatively, the hotel will advise you where you can park nearby on the road for free. We chose to park in Buxton railway station car park. This was very reasonably priced less than a fiver a night. There were plenty of spaces and it was barely a 5-minute walk down to the hotel. So this is something I would definitely recommend if you don’t want to take advantage of the valet parking.
Restaurant and Bar Opening Times
You will find the opening times of the restaurant for dinner and breakfast, bar and spa on the back of your keycard holder.
Prices
Buxton Crescent Spa Hotel rooms start from £185 including bed and breakfast. All rates include spa access for the duration of the stay. Click here for general hotel bookings. Or email: buxtonreservations@ensanahotels.com Tel: +44 1298 808 999
We were invited to visit the hotel for the purposes of this review. All opinions, as always, are my own.
