USP A lake with the unromantic name of Lake 6 is the main attraction at the Four Pillars Hotel, opened in August 2007. Several of the conference rooms overlook it, a wooden deck adjacent to the bar nestles up to it, some of the guest rooms face it and on-site Spa 6 takes its name from it. The hotel caters in particular to conferences and groups, with air-conditioned meeting rooms offering uninterrupted views of the lake. It’s part of a leisure compound at the newly built Cotswold Water Park, which extends to 40 square miles of countryside, 140 lakes, holiday apartments, boats and canoes, cycle lanes, cable waterskiing and paintball facilities. It is Disney goes to Gloucestershire.

AMBIENCE “You half expect them to announce, ‘Passengers for flight 647, please assemble at the gate,’” said one visitor during the recent open day for the new hotel. If an airport terminal and a business park had a crazy one-night stand, this would be the love child. It exhibits the same graceless architecture that’s the calling card for most American strip malls. The eager can-do attitude also seems imported from America, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your attitude toward service with a capital S. As an American, I found the staff amiable and helpful to a fault.

Beside the glass-fronted atrium – the prettiest feature of the building – is a lounge area and bar which looks cribbed from a 1960s ranch house, with a central fieldstone fireplace and low-slung lines. Rooms were nicely turned out in contemporary beige, brown and blue decor, with flat-screen TVs, free broadband and WiFi but unfortunately no air-conditioning – something the rooms manager we spoke with said would most likely be sorted out soon. They’ll be finishing the apartments next door at the end of August.

EXPERIENCE The Orange Blossom Sheer Indulgence Face and Body Treatment is one of Spa 6’s signature offerings, encompassing exfoliation, full body massage with body mask and face massage. The fragrance of the oils and creams were light, not overwhelming as they sometimes can be. My massage was pleasant yet not as therapeutic as I would have liked – it didn’t seem to hit my pressure points and tight areas like massage usually do, except for a few eye-rolling moments when she worked on the soles of my feet and traced figure 8s on the back of my knees.

My husband had a 55-minute Aroma Ultimate 'Relaxer' Body Massage from the Men's Grooming menu, which he found enjoyable if not transcendent. Afterwards he snoozed in the relaxation room, in between the comings and goings of staff eager to serve juice and water (here's a tip, guys: put a pitcher in the room).

Also of note is the rasul room, bookable for individuals or couples, where you rub four kinds of mud on your body, limbs, face and hair and sit in a cosy tiled room under a mist before washing off under a shower.

The spa includes a pool with sauna and steam room, ice fountain and drench-shower (one of those bucket things where you pull the rope), plus a fully kitted-out gym. Everything was new and tastefully done in neutral colours. The mystery is why they haven’t invested in sound-proofing after splashing out on nice robes and comfortable loungers? Halfway through my two-hour treatment, music that sounded like Laura Branigan started playing somewhere in the vicinity. And while I wasn’t over the moon about my massage, I know from the other guest talking in the hallway that her mum loved the hot-stone treatment last week.

FOOD The canteen-like restaurant was buzzing when we arrived just in time for dinner on Friday night (it stops serving at 9.15pm). Yet the rhythm of the kitchen wasn’t quite right – probably because it was the second weekend they were open. The slow-roasted pork came almost immediately after we ordered but the espresso took 15 minutes. The next day at lunch, as we sat on the deck under a shade umbrella, our drinks took ages, but the food arrived fairly quickly after them. No surprises on the menu (fish and chips, sausage and mash and so on); the quality was such that you’d be pleasantly surprised if you were waiting for your flight to be called in Terminal 4.

IN CROWD An extended family of grandparents, daughters and grandchildren ranging in age from 4 to 10 had booked in for grandpa’s 70th birthday. (While they liked the hotel and the facials and hot-stone treatments and had stayed at other Four Pillar Resorts, “I didn’t know it was not finished,” said Angela Davis, mother of the twin four-year-olds. She also thought the child-friendliness could do with some tweaking: “Sausages with onion and red wine gravy?”) A group of three older women, local residents visiting for the open day, remarked on how clean it was and could imagine coming for Sunday lunch, although they anticipated keen competition for the spa from Cirencester’s Le Spa and the newly opened David Lloyd facility in Swindon.

WALLET WATCH The pricing structure for the spa is complicated, with peak and off-peak prices listed. The Orange Blossom Sheer Indulgence (2 hours and 15 mins) costs £135 off-peak, £145 peak. Facials start at £35 off-peak for a half hour, £50 for 55 minutes. Massage starts at £60 off peak, with packages for couples, friends, mums to be, and men on offer. Rasul starts at £55 off-peak for one, £85 off-peak for two.

The room pricing is straightforward in comparison. Standard rooms are £155 room only but a promotional rate is currently on for the summer: £118 for dinner, bed and breakfast. Upgrading from a basic room to one with a private balcony is £40 on top of whatever rate you pay for a standard room, including specials.

NEED TO KNOW Four Pillars Hotel Cotswold Water Park, Spa 6, Lake 6, Spine Road East, South Cerney, Gloucestershire GL7 5FP (0845 500 66 66; www.four-pillars.co.uk/cotswoldwaterpark/index.html)

For more than 200 reviews of spas worldwide visit Times Online's Good Spa Guide

Times recommends

• Bogus websites are conning hundreds out of their holidays
• The complete last minute holiday guide
• Croatia: the flashing blades of Korkcula