The best family-friendly hotels in and around Bath, from city apartments to country retreats

I know what you’re thinking: smelly school groups and mouldering shared showers. But bear with. The Bath YHA had a £2.5 million facelift, and 14 of its bedrooms now have en-suite bathrooms. Plus, the bones of the place were already beautiful – a honey-coloured Victorian villa with original features. A more recent annex is just across a stretch of lawn and, while modern, has been tastefully, if plainly, decorated in a gentle shade of duck egg blue, and has room configurations suited to families of all sizes. The location, meanwhile, is ideal – a picturesque stroll into the city centre, but removed from the noise and bustle at night.

What was once a particularly unlovely council building, Kingsmead House – often seen as one of Bath’s ugliest buildings before it was demolished – has now been replaced by the attractive Apex which has a throughly contemporary look. The Bath stone façade ensures the style is in keeping with the rest of the city, while the extensive use of glass gives it a light and airy feel. There are 177 rooms at the Apex divided into four categories, including Family rooms containing twin double beds. There is a children’s menu in the bright ground-floor restaurant and those under 12 eat free, while the concierge and website are ready with ideas for family days out.

These apartments in a Georgian terrace in the centre of Bath are spacious and well equipped. Staff are really welcoming and make a point of helping guests get the most out of their time in Bath, giving advice on sightseeing, attractions and restaurants. All accommodations are impressively spacious and the facilities very good. You can expect a sofa or armchairs, dining table and chairs, television, iron and ironing board, and a proper kitchen, with oven, cooking rings, toaster, microwave, fridge, dishwasher and washing machine. They are ideal for families, and SACO can provide cots and highchairs. However, there are no sofa beds; you will need a fold-down bed or a two-bedroom apartment.

This 1830s, creeper-covered Bath stone mansion backs on to nearly four acres of beautifully maintained gardens that include expansive lawns (one laid out for croquet in the warmer months), a magnificent cedar of Lebanon, ponds, topiary and a kitchen garden. There’s also a heated outdoor swimming pool, tucked discreetly away in the grounds, that is available to use in the summer months. The majority of the rooms have a soothing, traditional country-house look, with floral and animal-print designs to the fore, a smattering of antiques, and comfy sofas or armchairs. The atmosphere is grown up, but there are luxurious family suites for those travelling with children.

This luxury hotel encompasses two townhouses in Bath’s showpiece Georgian crescent, plus a large and beautiful garden and further buildings to the rear. It combines 18th-century heritage with 21st-century indulgences. Expect elegant and individual bedrooms, first-rate food and an enticing spa. The staff are friendly to children, leave age-appropriate magazines and snacks in the room, and have great knowledge of what families can do in the area. The hotel can help organise babysitters if you want time at the spa, and the Family Master Room has a separate room for children.

This 17th-century home with extensive gardens in Bradford-on-Avon is a firm favourite with families visiting Bath and the Wiltshire countryside. Offering both country manor relaxation and child-focused fun, it proves that the two need not be mutually exclusive. Its two lounges are inviting, with comfy sofas and chests full of wooden toys and books, allowing parents to monitor play with a drink by the fireside. The gardens are home to a static tractor, a pig, chickens, a scarecrow, a giant tree swing and a fairy garden. There is a kids’ club room, with table football and table hockey, and in the spa there is even a cot beside the pool, so parents can have a dip while keeping an eye on baby.

Guests seeking peace and pampering pass through a mile-long avenue of lime and beech trees to reach this Palladian mansion. Inside, a dignified quiet presides, in rooms where portraits look out from gold wallpaper and in the library, stocked with crinkly 19th-century books. A gravel courtyard at the back leads onto ponds and the modern brasserie and spa. The grounds feature tennis courts, an arboretum and a small, walled garden. But there’s space for families too: a cottage for children offers age-appropriate play facilities, bikes can be borrowed and there is also a cookery school and an equestrian centre. Some larger rooms are interconnecting and others have lounges with sofa beds or cots.