Palace Hotel & Spa Buxton

The Palace Hotel's Health and Leisure Club sits inside the hotel's 19th-century building overlooking Buxton railway station, and it's open to both overnight guests and day visitors. The core facilities are a heated indoor swimming pool, a gym, a sauna and a steam room — a straightforward leisure-club setup rather than a treatment-focused spa, though beauty treatments and massages can be booked separately.

Day access costs £8.50 for adults and £5 for under-16s, with under-5s free; hotel residents pay less at £6 and £4 respectively. Children must be accompanied by an adult and aren't permitted to use the gym. The leisure facilities run Monday to Friday from 6:30am to 9pm (last entry 8pm), and 9am to 5pm on weekends (last entry 4pm). The spa side of the operation, for treatments, keeps separate hours, Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, and advance booking is recommended.

On-site parking covers about 180 spaces, including 10 disabled bays, at a flat £5 for 24 hours, though vehicles need to be registered at reception to avoid a penalty charge. The hotel itself dates to the Victorian era, designed by Henry Currey during Buxton's rise as a spa town, and it later saw use as a hospital and camp during the First World War. Today it combines 122 bedrooms, several bars and restaurants, and this leisure club under one roof, a few minutes' walk from Buxton's town centre and Pavilion Gardens.