A LETTER FROM Europe: BATH, ENGLAND

Friends, Romans, countrymen!

- Sophie Ibbotson

Welcome to Bath. The Romans knew a thing or two about how to build a city, and 2,000 years ago they founded Aquae Sulis -- “The Waters of Sul” -- on the banks of the River Avon in Somerset. Even then, they knew that there was something special about the geothermal springs which burst forth from these hills, and the bath houses they built here were as ornate and celebrated as the temples.

Bath has always been a fashionable retreat. Jane Austen and the society figures who inspired her novels would retreat here from London, living in houses in the Royal Crescent and the Circus, attending balls and concerts in the Assembly Rooms, and taking afternoon tea in the Grand Pump Rooms. Like the Romans, the Georgians recognised the curative properties of Bath’s natural spring water, advocating that it be drunk for good health as well as bathed in.

The Gainsborough Bath Spa is my home for the weekend, and it is the epitome of Georgian sophistication. The architects have joined together two Grade II listed houses in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage listed city, and created a magnificent YTL Hotel, complete with its own thermal spa.