Bath is a small city, and most visitors can walk from their hotel to the Roman Baths, the Abbey and the shopping streets. What changes from one part of the city to another is the setting: a crescent on the hillside, a square laid out in the 1720s, or a street of townhouses across the river. The whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1987, so many hotel guests are sleeping inside listed buildings without realising it. This guide is a general introduction to well-known places. It does not rate or rank businesses, and it leaves out prices and opening details, which change often, so check those directly before you book.
The Royal Crescent
The Royal Crescent is a sweeping terrace of 30 houses designed by John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774. It is listed at Grade I, the highest grade, and looks out over lawns and parkland, close to Royal Victoria Park (source: Wikipedia, 'Royal Crescent').
The Royal Crescent Hotel occupies houses near the centre of the terrace, behind the same uniform Palladian front as its neighbours. No. 1 Royal Crescent is a historic house museum run by the Bath Preservation Trust, furnished to show how a Georgian townhouse was lived in. Anyone staying nearby can walk down Brock Street to the Circus, also by the Woods, in a few minutes.
The Gainsborough and the thermal water
Bath exists because of its hot springs, and a stay here can still include the water. The Gainsborough Bath Spa opened in July 2015 in historic buildings on Beau Street, a short walk from the Roman Baths, and its spa draws on the city's natural thermal water. The hotel takes its name from Thomas Gainsborough, the portrait painter, who lived and worked in Bath in the eighteenth century (sources: The Caterer, 'Gainsborough Bath Spa to open on 1 July'; Wikipedia, 'Thomas Gainsborough').
Close by, Thermae Bath Spa opened in 2006 and brought public bathing in the spring water back to the city. Its rooftop pool, set on top of a modern building among old ones, gives bathers a view over the city's roofs to the hills beyond (source: Wikipedia, 'Thermae Bath Spa').
Queen Square
Queen Square was laid out by John Wood the Elder between 1728 and 1736, and it was one of his first major works in the city. The north side was designed to read as a single palace front, a device Wood and his son went on to use at the Circus and the Royal Crescent (sources: Wikipedia, 'Queen Square, Bath'; Historic England list entries for the square).
The Francis Hotel stands on the south side of the square, in a row of Georgian townhouses. Queen Square is a practical base: it is flat, a few minutes from Milsom Street and the theatre, and about halfway between the station and the upper town.
The Empire Hotel: a roofline to look up at
One of Bath's best-known former hotels is no longer a hotel at all. The Empire Hotel on Orange Grove, close to Bath Abbey and Pulteney Bridge, was designed by the city architect Charles Edward Davis and built in 1901. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called it a monstrosity, and since a refurbishment in 1996 it has held apartments and a restaurant (source: Wikipedia, 'Empire Hotel, Bath').
The building is worth seeing for its roof. The skyline is topped by three different forms: a castle, a house and a cottage, often said to represent the upper, middle and lower classes. Look up from Orange Grove or the riverside to see them clearly. It is a reminder that the most memorable parts of a building are sometimes the ones above the gutter line.
Choosing an area to stay
- The centre, around the Abbey and the Roman Baths. Everything is close, the streets are level, and the evenings are lively. Rooms facing busy streets can be noisier.
- Near the station. Bath Spa station opened in 1840 on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway, and the streets around it suit visitors arriving by train without a car (source: Wikipedia, 'Bath Spa railway station').
- The upper town and Lansdown. The Royal Crescent, the Circus and the Assembly Rooms sit on rising ground north of the centre. Royal Victoria Park, opened in 1830 by the young Princess Victoria, is on the doorstep. Expect a climb back after dinner.
- Bathwick and Great Pulteney Street. Across Robert Adam's Pulteney Bridge, completed in 1774 and lined with shops on both sides, Great Pulteney Street runs straight to the Holburne Museum and Sydney Gardens. It is wide, quiet and a short walk from the centre.
Parking is limited in central Bath, and the council runs park and ride sites on the edge of the city. Check the B&NES website for current arrangements before you travel.
Staying in a listed building
Historic England keeps the official record of listed buildings, and you can look up any building on the National Heritage List for England. UNESCO's City of Bath entry explains why the city as a whole was inscribed.
Staying in an old building has a few practical points. Georgian townhouses were built with tall ground and first floors and smaller rooms at the top, under the roof. Stairs can be steep and narrow, and some historic buildings have limited lift access because of the way they are protected. If you have mobility needs, ask the hotel about the room and the route to it before booking.
Roofs over the guidebook
Look up anywhere in Bath and you will see the work that keeps these buildings standing: natural slate, lead-lined parapet gutters hidden behind the stone balustrades, and chimney stacks that need repointing in lime. Empire Roofing Bath looks after roofs like these on homes and businesses across the city and the towns around it. If you live locally and your own roof needs attention, see our roofers in Bath page to find out how we work.