We've just been to bath thermea spa and put up an inside page - please add to it and correct it whatever. Put in a review which is edited for and put here too.

The full version of our review is copied below less pic and some links won't work here! It should be at …homechoice.co.uk/content/bathspa.html

Jerry & Miki

Bath Spa Thermae, Bath UK Therme

www.thermaebathspa.com

Bath Spa Thermae

Hetling Pump Room

Hot Bath Steet

Bath BA1 1SJ

Reservations +44 (0) 1225 33 1234 General Enquiries 44 (0) 1225 33 5678

Link to Multimap: http://tinyurl.com/fngvm

Link to GoogleMap: http://tinyurl.com/je523

Lat: 51:22:49N (51.3803) Lon: 2:21:42W (-2.3615)

Bath tourism: http://visitbath.co.uk/site/home

Warning: This review is the opinion of the authors generated by their experience at a specific time and place. Please check with the company to confirm any improvements they may have made since our trip. "Facts" valid at the time of our trip and given here may also have changed!

Verdict:  Unmissable and essential!  Overpriced. Rooftop a must [check it is open] - Minerva can be done quickly so 2 hours entry at £19 is long enough.

Would we go again: absolutely

Not for: children [check with the spa] or anyone not happy about being closely scrutinized by people with nothing to do except relax and look at you!

Date of visit: 28th August, Bank Holiday Monday.

Time: 1pm to 5 pm [4 hour session]

Price paid: £29 each for 4 hours entry. [£58 for 2 adults]. 2 hours costs £19.00.

Tip: If you are travelling especially to come here reserve to remove any chance of not being permitted entry if the Spa is full!

Busy: No problem - Counted at one moment 20 people in the Minerva [Lower Ground] and shortly afterwards about 60 on the roof enjoying the spectacular view and the unique mineral rich waters in the open-air pool.

Warning: If you have a child under 12 call the Spa before you visit!

Warning: No Left Luggage Lockers at Bath Spa station!

Nudity: none. Private changing cubicles provided. Take your swimming costume.

Water temperature: we saw no display – not an onsen!

Water characteristics inc. acidity etc: we saw no information.

Open: Open 363 days a year 09:00 to 22:00. [Not open Xmas or New Year’s day]

Safety: It is not clear to what extent the rooms are under CCTV surveillance or not. Females may wish to go with a friend.

Getting there:

Easy level 10 minute level walk from Bath Spa Station past Southgate Shopping Centre. Tourist information on Platform 1 Bath Spa Station or at York Street [map: http://tinyurl.com/e8669] near Bath Abbey. Not an official service but you can ask the Thermea to store your small overnight bag at your own risk. We took the train from London to Bristol Temple Meads and stayed at the Bristol City Inn. London Paddington Station with First Great Western book at www.trainline.com: look out for first class tickets at bargain price or use the £10 weekend upgrade from standard tickets prices. This return train trip was excellent except for the luggage issue. Coach: various companies including National Express [http://www.nationalexpress.com/] from London Victoria Coach Station http://tinyurl.com/gm6jc . Walk up Bilbury street or Beau Street and you’ll come across the Bath Spa Thermae, then walk around it to find the front entrance. Child under 12 only permitted with medical referral. Children 12 to 16 accompanied by adult at all times and behave. We saw no nudity at this spa.

Price:

This spa is substantially more expensive, double, than the exceptional SPA thermea http://www.thermesdespa.com/index.html at Spa in Belgium [3 hours €17 or £11.50, off peak €12 map: http://tinyurl.com/nob7a or the Claudius Spa http://www.claudius-therme.de/ in Cologne [€18 per 4 hours, fly www.germanwings.com]. A 4 hour session at Bath Spa Thermae is £29 and a 2 hour session £19 in the “new Royal Bath” complex. Be warned this will not permit you access to the “treatment only” “hot bath” – this will be a big disappointment for any Japanese visitor: masters of Ofuro taking who might have no idea of what “Watsu®” is! [http://www.watsu.com/origins.html]. The smaller “Cross Bath” is cheaper but without the view etc. We did not go in it.

Checking-in

Fast and friendly. Towel hire £2.50, Robe hire £3.50, Disposable slippers [advisable]: £1.50. Changing rooms are the along usual large spa model with private changing cubicles, plenty of toilets and showers with body soap/shampoo provided: however, you may not want to wash off this special water for at least 24 hrs! Hairdryers are provided together with free electronic lockers operated with the cashless arm band tag system.

Tip: We suggest start at the top and work your way down.

Tip: Take a cheap waterproof plastic watch or you might go over time on a 2 hour session!

Roof-top pool:

We enjoyed the roof-top pool very much! Temperature, acidity or time information etc. were not displayed. However, the staff are always around to answer any questions. You can enter the pool direct by lift to the 3rd floor and therefore there is disabled access although check first before you travel. There were no showers or foot wash on the top level and therefore customers were entering the pool without showering and can travel from the toilets. You might grab a shower before getting to the roof. Visitors used to a higher level of hygiene may be concerned about the design and worried by the behaviour of customers on their first visit to a spa like this. The massage jets on the roof top are pretty standard to anyone who has visited spa in Europe. We were able to take photos but a waterproof camera is advisable.

The steam room/s:

Very enjoyable, Miki a bit too hot in all of them, and we explored each of the four glass steam rooms and the central shower was fun. The foot baths were a problem – the best working ones were often occupied and the several we tried disappointing. Instructions were on the wall. We did not notice any temperature information for each of the various steam rooms so just went in and out of each to find one we liked the best. More of a fun exploration than a clinical exercise!

Minerva [lower ground]:

We headed down to the Minerva [lower ground] using the lift after stopping off at a clean unisex toilet. You may wish to hire or bring a pair of flip flops or slippers suitable for wet floors to wear in the toilets, café and corridors etc. The Minerva pool is a light open designed space configured to provide a place to bath and lie down and relax on a pool side sun lounger. Each entrance to this pool is patrolled by a shower system. However, customers walking through at speed will not be showered. We feel that the spa might need to do more and educate customers to showering and cleaning their feet before entering the pool. For us the Minerva did not seem to add greatly to our experience. The water was similar as the roof together with the water massage jets. You may have to wait 20 minutes for the spa bath to bubble in sequence with the other features.

The Café:

There is a café inside the complex that is pleasant, bright and airy. A good range of fresh salad, cooked meals, snacks, sandwiches and cakes are provided with a selection of hot and cold drinks. Tea is a reasonable £1, a large cappuccino £2.20. Warning: Sit in here and you will use up “session time”! This is a design flaw and the system should at least credit time [say 30 minutes] for stopping in the café if it’s too late to change things now. Oddly, this is a cashless system and yet we had to queue again at the check-in cash desk to pay £3.20 for our drinks! The Claudius has a check-out desk and the Bath Thermea needs to make a change to this sequence.

There is a small shop to visit inside the front entrance that sells a range of products.

Treatments:

We did not book or enjoy any of the treatments available and can make no comment about them. Full body massage is 50 minutes for £45 [90p per min]. There is a range of spa packages available.

Finally:

Together we are in rare agreement! This spa is overpriced. We will visit again for a 2 hour session focusing on the roof top and the steam room. The Claudius spa in Cologne is Euro 18 per 2 hours . The Roman Bath attraction is a even more crazy price and you cannot get in it!

A daytrip from London will cost from around £60.

After or before you go to the Thermea check out the excellent Loch Fyne restaurant http://www.lochfyne.com/ at 24 Milsom Street, Bath BA1 1DG Tel: 01225 750120 Map: http://tinyurl.com/r55sa , or the Cornish Bake House http://tinyurl.com/ol6m for some pasties at No. 11a, The Corridor [or search Union Passage, Bath, Avon, BA1 5AP. at and/or some freshly bake cookies at Ben’s Cookies, Bens Cookies, 21 Union Passage, Bath, 01225 460983 [fresh baked cookie and cappuccino £2.50] and then repent at Bath Abbey.

We stayed in Bristol at the Bristol City Inn and travelled to Bath Spa, Bristol and London with First Great Western. This train company has been faultless on this particular journey in all respects: except the provision of left luggage at Bath Spa for our overnight bags.

Questions we have not yet answered:

Water temperature in each bath?

Acid / alkaline / water characteristic on the day of our visit?

Shower water is mineral or mains?

Can visit cross bath? If not why not?

Enjoy Bath! Jerry & Miki

Keywords for the bots: bath therme thermea spa

Photos may not be available in a version of this page and the original page is available at

…homechoice.co.uk/content/bathspa.html

Miki writes from a Japanese standpoint and Jerry from another. We like to write for nothing and for independence and fun, people give us info that's useful and we like to give something back.