Essential Hotels > England > Somerset > Bath

Bath is a beautifully preserved Georgian city in the county of Somerset. It has long enchanted visitors, since the Romans first exploited the Celtic-worshipped thermal springs to create the spa destination of Aquae Sulis. For many years people would come to Aquae Sulis to enjoy the baths and visit the adjoining temple to the goddess Minerva. When the Roman occupation ended, Bath became a Saxon town, under which it gained its present name. Later, Bath Abbey was built, adding to the town’s religious standing, and Bath received city status during Elizabethan times.

The second peak in Bath’s popularity came during the Georgian era, as leading physicians began to promote mineral waters for the treatment of all manner of illnesses. The building of Georgian Bath was largely due to the enterprise of local postmaster and Mayor of Bath, Ralph Allen. He commissioned the architect John Wood to create a new shape to the city, using stone from Allen’s own quarries on Coombe Down. Bath’s beautifully distinctive architecture still draws students from around the world. As the fine new buildings went up, the elite, led by the fashionable dandy Beau Nash, flocked to ‘take the waters’. The social importance of being seen at the balls and assemblies of Bath is reflected in the pages of Smollett, Fielding, Jane Austen and Dickens.

Few people now visit Bath for health reasons, but the Roman Baths are still one of England’s most famous and popular attractions. The city also sees an annual calendar of festivals and artistic celebrations. Bath is full of history and culture; it has a compact and accessible centre, with Bath Abbey at its heart. At the same time, Bath is a great leisure destination, with plenty of fine restaurants, bars and galleries. Famous for its shops since Georgian times, Bath continues to draw crowds of shoppers all year round, to delight in the range of independent shops clustered in the heart of the city, and to dally in the shopping quarters that have developed over time. There are few places in the UK that can match Bath’s charming, bohemian air.