More than a stay at the Francis Hotel

The Times recently named us one of the 50 Best Places to Stay in the UK, and with that, the timing feels significant. Within weeks, Trencherman's nominated us for Best Hotel, and Emberwood took home Best Restaurant at the Bath Life Awards. Even winning a spot in the Waiter's Race this year!

These celebrations arrive not as singular moments but as a collection of memories, an acknowledgement of what we've been building here, a hotel that understands wellness as something woven through every detail, not added as an amenity. It's about wellness, the approach to everything being right and proper. 

Which is why we are sharing with you what 'Your Francis stay' means to you, and what it means when you stay with us. Not just where you sleep, but how restoration happens across food, hospitality, and the small gestures that accumulate into genuine care.

Inside the Georgian Walls, our original locals

You arrive at one of John Wood the Elder's original townhouses on Queen Square. Seven Georgian buildings where Bath's architectural revolution began, where the vision that would define an entire city was first tested in stone. Our doormen, Jerry and Alex, greet you at the golden step Wood himself once crossed daily. They'll tell you the story if you ask. Most guests do.

Inside, 98 thoughtfully designed bedrooms wait. Modern comfort within Georgian proportions, rooms that respect the architecture while functioning for how people actually want to live. King-size beds that encourage lie-ins as well as light bathrooms for doing your make-up and natural toiletries inspired by our spa. Netflix or a Roberts radio for entertainment if you want it, and of course, a British brew or coffee whenever you need it.

These rooms have held surgeons, apothecaries, families, Emily Francis's boarding house guests, and now you. The pillow card on your bed tells who lived in this specific room before you arrived. Context matters. You're sleeping where Bath's story was written, and now you are part of it. Discover the little details in your room which share all the in-the-knows.

The city of inherited wellness

Bath has been a place of wellness for two thousand years. The Romans understood it. The Georgians built an entire city around it, and we continue that chapter.

In your room, we've partnered with The Space Bath, founded by local Chloe Baio, to offer 15-minute yoga and meditation sessions you can follow in your room with mats provided. Whether you need an energising start or an evening unwind, the practice is there when you want it.

In our spa, recently opened this spring, tucked behind the Georgian facade. Discover a range of treatments designed to enhance physical and emotional well-being, from natural to science-driven skincare. There's something for whichever approach you follow. And the heart of the offering is the thermal suite, the only private thermal experience in heritage Bath, full of playful bubbles and aromatherapy. Its our approach to wellness through heritage.

In Emberwood, our British brasserie, Executive Chef David and the team have built seasonal, local cooking that respects ingredients, supports local suppliers, and farming in the time we need it most. 

Heritage breeds from farms with cooking that is built on proper technique and timing rather than fashionable complication and aesthetic. Wellness reaches through our hotel down to our restaurant and local Bathonians alike through to the fields of our cows. Wellness starts with being fed well, and Emberwood takes that seriously.

Your Francis Stay

You arrive quietly, almost without noticing the moment it begins.

The door closes behind you, one once opened daily by John Wood the Elder. Not all at once, but gently, like the start of a longer exhale. Outside, Queen Square holds its calm symmetry and inside, the townhouse feels like home, as though it has been waiting for you.

Your morning unfolds as you choose coffee, yoga, or both. A Roberts radio hums softly in the background dialed in by you, while your dog settles into a bed prepared with the same care as your own. The art on the walls feels personal, chosen by someone who spent time here before deciding it belonged. Because they did, and they're local. 

Beyond your room, the rhythm of the Francis reveals itself. Ingredients arrive from people known by name, relationships built over time rather than seasons, and the Emberwood flame sparks at midday. In the quiet of the spa, the thermal suite, a private one-of-a-kind experience awaits, surrounded and rooted in the long traditions of Bath. The rituals echo two thousand years of healing, yet feel entirely of the present and modern.

There are small cues everywhere. A book left for you by a local seller that leads you somewhere unexpected. A recommendation on a list left just for you, that brings you to an independent you might otherwise have passed by. A conversation at the door that turns into a story you carry with you through the day. That's Alex and Jerry.

Nothing asks for your attention, yet everything earns it. Care is not something announced here, but something practised, through food, through space, through the quiet accumulation of thoughtful gestures.

And when it’s time to leave, the question isn’t what you did, but how you feel. Rested, perhaps. Whole. As though something subtle but essential has been restored.

Not in a single moment, but gradually, across rooms, rituals, and the feeling of being gently, genuinely looked after.

We can't wait to welcome you to your Francis stay.