USP Christchurch Harbour Hotel on Dorset’s increasingly fashionable south-west coast has just emerged from a £8m makeover that celebrates the best of British so expect a shimmering subterranean spa with award-winning products by Hampshire-based Espa and an eco-chic waterfront restaurant overseen by a Michelin-starred chef - Gary Rhodes - who doesn’t shy away from kidneys, jellied eel or even spotted dick.

AMBIENCE The new five-room spa is a thoroughly modern affair, with a sleek neutral colour scheme, lots of chrome, glass and mosaic tiles and moody low lighting to add a sense of sultry spirituality.

Decor at the revamped hotel manages to find a comfy spot somewhere between its Regency roots and the area’s increasingly cool vibe, mixing traditional fabrics and art-deco flourishes with cool contemporary fixtures. There’s a gorgeous waterside terrace for sunny days and a cinema room with Nintendo Wii for the other 360 dull and rainy ones.

Christchurch is a genteel, sweet-sherry kind of town. The raciest thing most of its ageing population can imagine is visiting B&Q when it’s not pensioners’ discount day but a stone’s throw away is Bo-Mo (also known as Bournemouth by those over 25) with a designer-dude surf scene that will soon include Europe’s first artificial reef (coming in September).

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE The hotel may date back to the era of the dandy but there are no affectations about service here. It is friendly, down-to-earth and enthusiastic. Spa staff whisked me through to the sink-in sofas of the reception/relaxation area where I was encouraged to help myself to fruit and herbal teas while filling in my consultation form and chatting to the therapists about the most suitable pampering options.

Before my treatment, I had plenty of time to take a swim in the sleep-inducingly warm 14-metre pool, laze in the Jacuzzi (rather grandly referred to as a hydrotherapy pool because there is one water spout) and chill out in the sauna, steam and salt grotto, with its twinkling stars and bracing cold mists. Tucked into a corner, the Four Senses pods looked futuristic and fun (they change colour, have music and bird song apparently) but nothing much happened when I tried one out - perhaps I didn’t press the right buttons.

The spa menu features some tempting Espa offerings. What woman in her right mind could resist a facial called The Age Defyer, even if it costs £62? Apparently me, as the helpful spa manager recommended I try something from the second featured range, the French brand Guinot. Its impressive Hydradermie facials (from £56 to £88) use rollers that emit a small electrical pulse that encourages penetration of the products and detoxication of the skin and generally “irons out” those unwanted wrinkles better than the deluxe service at Sketchley’s.

The French are admirably practical when it comes to skincare so Guinot’s facials feature retro treats such as extraction. Trendy holistic newcomers would rather drown in their own foot spa than squeeze a spot but sensible therapists will tell you a bit of blackhead baiting under the magnifying lamp is an essential beauty aid... as well as the most fun they ever have at work. It certainly left my skin plump and perky.

The massage line-up lacked a few of the usual suspects: limited to just back, neck and scalp, full body, aromatherapy, Indian Head or Reflexology but those were executed well. There are also pregnancy specific options and a treatments for men.

FOOD The new Gary Rhodes restaurant, Rhodes South, sits in the hotel grounds, looking across the dunes and harbour to Mudeford Quay’s cute little beach huts that sell for £100,000-plus. It’s a beautiful glass-and-wooden contemporary structure, the UK’s first carbon positive restaurant, and snuggles down with salty satisfaction into its surroundings.

The menu is temptingly traditional with a twist, so the hen’s egg comes with roquefort and truffle soldiers (£6.50) and the faggot with caramelised onion gravy (£8.50). As you would expect, there are plenty of fish dishes including lemon sole in a champagne sauce (£16) and roast sea bass with lobster champ potatoes (£16.50) but I had to try one of Rhodes’s signature dishes: steak and kidney pie (£15), which was slow cooked to melting perfection.

Nobody does those old-fashioned stodgy desserts with a lighter hand than Rhodes so the steamed jam roly-poly (£11 for two or one very greedy person), the bread and butter pudding (£6) and the vanilla risotto rice pudding (£6) all looked amazing but I still plumped for lemon tart (£6), which mixed sweet and sour to perfection. Three courses usually hovers around the £30 mark, which for the quality is exceptionally good value. There is an excellent wine list to bust the budget though, of course.

IN-CROWD Have-yachts and hip ops.

WALLET WATCH Doubles cost from £110, B&B.

NEED TO KNOW Christchurch Harbour Hotel, 95 Mudeford, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 3NT (01202 483434; www.christchurch-habour-hotel.co.uk/)

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