Grantley Hall – the north’s grand new wellness mecca

To the Yorkshire Dales… for a country house experience founded on fitness, spa relaxation and fine cuisine.

Betwixt the Yorkshire Dales and Moors and close to Unesco World Heritage Site Fountains Abbey, the Grade-II-listed 17th-century Grantley Hall hotel and wellness retreat promises fine living with a three-pillar approach of fitness, spa and quality cuisine when it opens on Saturday July 6.

The morning room at Grantley Hall | Image: Jack Hardy

The 47-room residence (from £345) will house an Elite gym and wellness space overseen by Duncan Roy, the competitive athlete and former Royal Engineer who recently competed in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic rowing race. The gym will offer such cutting-edge facilities as 3D body scanning and performance analysis, a cryotherapy chamber, altitude-enabled training and an underwater treadmill with typical group fitness sessions such as spinning, yoga and Pilates. Meanwhile, hiking, running, cycling and training will take place on the Yorkshire Moors. There’s also an 18m indoor swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool, steam room and sauna, as well as a snow room for those who prefer to kick back with some R&R.

The hotel’s traditional oak-panelled bar

The hotel has extensive landscaped grounds

The Three Graces Spa will provide treatments from the organic brand Ila and Spanish Natura Bisse in five dedicated rooms complemented by a healthy snack bar – and tranquillity can be sought in the English Heritage-listed Japanese garden.

Fine dining will be overseen by Shaun Rankin, who gained his first Michelin star in 2005. Rankin will be developing dishes around local produce, while the hotel – at his request – is currently in the process of developing its own kitchen garden. Beehives and fruit trees will also be planted within the grounds. The hotel has plenty of venues on offer, including EightyEight, a pan-Asian-experience bar and restaurant; a relaxed all-day dining restaurant, Fletchers; Norton Bar & Courtyard, a traditional oak-panelled bar; The Drawing Room, serving quintessential British afternoon tea; and Valeria’s late-night bar.