USP Recently extended and refurbished, Le Spa at Stratton Place is an unpretentious and affordable spa, offering treatments in a 19th-century Cotswolds manor house. As an afterthought, it is also a hotel; eleven bedrooms have been squeezed into an extended section of the building. While the rooms are on the small side, they still manage to be comfortable and well-equipped, pleasing people like me, who get stirred up about TVs hidden in cupboards, mini-bars and tea and coffee making facilities. The only drawback was that my ground floor room looked out on to the car park, so when earlybird staff arrived at 6.30am, I waved goodbye to sleep.

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE I took along my sister, Ruth, a spa-virgin. She worried there would be aspects of etiquette to catch her out. But with its low-key, comfortable atmosphere, she gave the place a thumbs up; an ideal starter spa, no less. The best bit? As part of its 2006 makeover, Balinese-style treatment huts have been dotted around the landscaped gardens, surrounding a trickly water feature (which aids the unwinding process when it’s not making you need to pee). If the décor in the main building is less convincing - to give you an idea, the theme for one bedroom is The Silk Ranger - these huts make up for it. They are couple-friendly so you and a loved one can have treatments simultaneously. It was here my sister and I tried the signature treatment, the Lomi Lomi massage: an hour and a half of Eastern-inspired manipulations, including reflexology and lymphatic drainage, carried out with liberal use of Linda Lloyd’s (the owner) range of products and your own choice of oils. Blissful, save for James Blunt and other elevator music favourites playing from a stereo at the back of the hut. The same CD was playing when we returned a few hours later for facials. By this point, though, my charming therapist, uncovering hidden depths of glow in my face, had ironed out my stress levels sufficiently to cancel out Blunt and his bland friends.

AMBIENCE Such are the high expectations and previous experiences of clientele at many luxury spas, nothing is quite good enough - however fluffy the bathrobes and sophisticated the herbal tea range. In this climate of spa one-upmanship, it is refreshing to visit a down to earth, unfussy version. No one will make you feel uncouth for requesting ketchup in the restaurant or asking whether you can keep your pants on during a massage. The staff were friendly, even those not tipped off by their boss that we were reviewing the place. When we left, they said we both looked a million times happier and more relaxed, so I remember them fondly.

IN CROWD The Cotswold lot. Not, I hasten to add, Kate Moss and other newcomers to the county (that’s Kate Winslet and hubbie Sam Mendes; Hugh Grant and Damien Hirst, if you didn’t know) but the less glamorous, more authentic residents, born and bred here. Women on pampering weekends; hen parties; the odd lone businessman and older ladies giggling at their own extravagance.

FOOD My spa-virgin sister was terrified she would be force-fed salad and put on a compulsory caffeine detox. In fact, she tucked into steak and chips, on the first night, followed by espresso and chocolate fudge cake. The only salad to pass either of our lips all weekend was of the Caesar variety – drenched in creamy dressing. The Orchid restaurant, in Le Spa’s main building, serves good, honest, pub grub, with a continental twist (croissants for breakfast and a decent wine list). Of note, was our final fling: tea and slabs of carrot cake, taken on the terrace.

WALLET WATCH “It’s about bums on seat,” said the manager when we arrived, which didn’t inspire confidence for our weekend break away from it all. It did suggest that a visit to Le Spa wouldn’t break the bank. Special offers and discounts abound. There is currently a buy-one-get-one-free offer on day passes. For £60, you and a friend can have access to the spa’s facilities, with a facial or a head and neck massage thrown in free. Our double rooms cost £134 per night; if we’d stayed during the week that would have gone down to £94 (the cheapest single rooms available are £69). On a sunny June weekend, the place was still relatively quiet – except for on Sunday afternoon when a wedding party trouped in for a reception, leaving us feeling a tad underdressed in our bikinis.

NEED TO KNOW Le Spa at Stratton Place, Gloucester Road, Cirencester (01285 653840; www.lespa.com)

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