Boutique spa scoops industry ‘Oscar’ for third time

The Spa at Breedon Priory is celebrating after being named the best in the region for the third time.

Towards the end of last year, the luxury family-run spa, near Melbourne, was named Best Spa in the East Midlands and East 2025 at the Good Spa Guide Awards – dubbed ‘The Oscars’ of the industry and presented at a glittering ceremony in London.

Created on a former golf course, the spa with its thermal cabins, wellbeing suite, outdoor infinity and vitality pools, slumber lounge, hideaway retreat and  dining offer impressed judges from the Good Spa Guide.

The guide’s team of two judges spent a day at the spa, sampling the whole experience.

In making their decision, they said: “The Spa at Breedon Priory is a contemporary, no-expense-spared glass-fronted spa sunk into the landscape in peaceful Derbyshire.

“Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook an impeccably landscaped garden and 24 acres of countryside in the charming village of Melbourne (not of Australia fame).

“Highly skilled therapists provide treatments from Temple Spa, Tribe 517 and Proverb; service is top class with a dedicated spa host attending to your every whim.”

They added: “The purpose-built spa has been exquisitely designed; every single detail has been considered: your shoulders will drop as soon as you step through the door.”

Still only four years old, this is the third year running the exclusive family-owned spa in Wilson has won the accolade, which sits alongside a host of other industry awards.

The Spa at Breedon Priory is owned and run by Graham and Elaine Blunt with their daughter Sigourney Gates and her husband Tom.

Sigourney, who started out working at the neighbouring Breedon Priory Health Club – also owned by the family – said: “It’s testament to the hard work of every member of the family at The Spa at Breedon Priory that we have been named winners of the Best Spa in the East Midlands and East by the Good Spa Guide, and that we have kept up our high standards each year.

“Everything we do here at Breedon comes from the heart and I think that is what sets us apart.

“We have put our heart and soul into creating this beautiful retreat right here in the East Midlands, not just in the service we provide but in the local suppliers we use to provide everything from our high-quality products to the food in our restaurant. It really is a family here and I think that is what comes across to our guests.”