Why stay?
Rainwater seeps through the doughty limestone hills of the Peak District and emerges a mere 5,000 years later as mineral-rich Buxton water – this is a place with patience to spare, but locals are mighty pleased that this singular Georgian crescent, a neoclassical capital C stamped in the centre of town by William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, has been revived after a £70 million restoration project. With its showpiece spa, restaurant and four-postered bedrooms, they hope it will kickstart a fresh era for Buxton, a pocket-sized northern powerhouse (look at its gilt-rubbed Opera House and Pavilion Gardens) until the early 20th century. Everyone knows about Bath’s thermal waters; now they have rival. Seen from the park above, lit at night with fountains spouting in front, it could almost be on the banks of the Tiber.
What is this place?
The Crescent was the original hybrid space: lodging houses and hotels, card room and wig maker and an Assembly Room for summer balls, all under one long curvaceous roof. Inspired by the city of Bath, Cavendish had set about turning Buxton into a respectable spa town, partly to persuade his high-rolling wife Georgiana (played by Keira Knightley in the film The Duchess) to stay home in nearby Chatsworth (it didn’t work). As visitors declined in the last century, though, it fell into a municipal funk, and slowly rotted until Lottery funds promised restoration. The whole process has a byzantine plot worthy of a Victorian melodrama, but ultimately cantilever staircases and the Assembly Room have been rescued, and the Blue Room decorated with 3D-printed tiles made to recreate the original plaster swirls on the ceiling – high enough to accommodate Georgiana’s glorious coiffure, which she once wore in a three-foot tower containing a ship in full sail. A masterclass in making an entrance. Just across the road is St Ann’s Well, where locals have been filling their bottles since Roman times.
Sleep
Bedrooms are arranged along lengthy corridors that curve around the architectural crescent, and aim for a catch-all sense of contemporary oomph with chandeliers and minimal four-posters large enough to perform a jig on. There are freestanding tubs in most, and cloud-grey wallpaper all about – a few design cues could have been taken from the more imaginative decor in the bar, perhaps. Cosy attic rooms have original wooden beams; dual-aspect ones such as 202 are best.
Eat
The restaurant menu underlines the point that a stay here isn’t supposed to be an abstemious experience. There are oysters and pig’s-head verrine, truffle-and-Parmesan chips and treacle tart (a few vegetarian dishes have snuck in – courgette and apple frittata, roast cauliflower). Artfully assembled mains include roast duckling with a Jenga piece of rosti and a spring roll of duck leg, and there’s local rapeseed, oyster mushrooms and oat cake in the mix. The lighter spa menu (lunch only) still packs a punch, with superfood salads, tabbouleh with chicken and barbecued cabbage with walnut and Stilton.
Spa
The whole hotel is run by European spa specialist Ensana (making its UK debut), which brings its expertise in hydrotherapy, and mud from the lakes of Hungary. Signatures such as a CO2-infusion mineral bath boost circulation; a wave-balance treatment takes place in the thermal pool, the therapist swooshing you around on your back, gently massaging and stretching limbs. As for the salt cave, it’s a subterranean beach lined with salt bricks and ghostly stalactites. Marble corridors lead past brickwork vaults and Wonka-ish door signs – Mud Room 1 – to two pools, one with original ironwork supporting a stained-glass atrium, part illuminated by colour-changing lights. The other was once the Gentlemen’s Pool, from which used water would run into the Ladies’ Pool, then to the great unwashed. Archive images show Road to Wellville-style contraptions and knobby-kneed patients; it’s more glamorous these days, although the underwater jet massage, in a deep tub with a hose, is a reminder.
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Who comes here?
Romans, Mary Queen of Scots and a roll-call of gouty Georgians, historically. One patient from Manchester, here for an electric massage in 1934, reckoned it was better than the Savoy. Curious locals, who have been waiting decades to step inside, may well agree – but it’s hoped that Londoners will make the journey up to discover the region known as Little Switzerland for its crags and chasms.
We like
The wallpaper in the bar, which depicts a menagerie of endangered animals peeping out from tropical foliage, inspired by a local connection with Charles Darwin’s grandfather. Floating face upwards under the stained-glass atrium of the thermal pool, soaking up the history.
We don't like
A few more healthy options on the main menu wouldn’t go amiss. And the signage is a little ‘local swimming baths’.
Address: Buxton Crescent Hotel, The Crescent, SK17 6BH Buxton
Telephone: +44 1298 808999
Price: Doubles from £125
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