The Lady
Getting away from it all


October 4, 2005

Shopping Therapy in Bath
The city of Bath is a delightful place to visit. It is a World Heritage site and for its honey-coloured Georgian buildings. The problem is that there really is so much to see that one visit is never enough. On previous breaks, we have greatly enjoyed the magnificent Abbey, the amazingly well-reserved Roman Baths, the Pump Room, Royal Crescent and the Jane Austen Centre, so this time we wanted to include something a bit different.

Having read recently that "Bath is the retail therapy capital for real shops" we felt it was time to do some research. We needed a base within easy walking distance of the centre and the Queensberry Hotel, within a stone's throw of the Assembly Rooms, seemed ideally positioned.

On our arrival at the hotel after a pleasant journey, our luggage was efficiently whipped inside and our car valet-parked before we knew it.

The hotel takes its name from the Marquis of Queensberry, who lived in one of the four adjoining Georgian terraced houses which make up the hotel. The current owners, who took over in April 2003 following a through grounding in the management of top-flight UK hotels, are putting their personal stamp on the interior with contemporary furnishings in the public rooms and bedrooms.

Unusual and very pleasant are the four interconnected courtyard gardens at the back of the hotel where guests can enjoy a snack or drink or just relax and admire the plants. Barbecues are held in the summer months.

Our large bedroom was comfortable and well-appointed, with a flat-screen television and CD player with digital radio. The bathroom was well-equipped and, as the weather was very warm, we were pleased to find a large electric fan in the cupboard. Although we would have welcomed a hospitality tray, we did appreciate the bottled mineral water provided and room service is available daily from midday to 10pm.

Breakfasts were excellent, as was the candlelit dinner in the hotel's restaurant, The Olive Tree, voted by The Times as one of its restaurants of the year.

At dinner, my wife started with fresh asparagus followed by rump of Cornish lamb with minted potatoes, while I chose seared tuna with sweet chilli, mango salsa and bean sprout salad, followed by a succulent fillet of Aberdeenshire beef. This was served with wild mushroom salad and a creative dressing. My wife rounded off her meal with a parfait and poached pear, and I enjoyed a good selection of local cheeses, including an excellent Cornish blue.

The finale of the feast was coffee and home-made fudge in one of the lounges. Everything was impeccably cooked, imaginatively presented and the service, faultless. The wine list is expansive but not expensive.
The breakfast buffet included orange juice, home-made muesli, jams and breads and fresh fruit. My cooked English breakfast was first-rate.

It was now time for our retail therapy research and inside our bedroom we found a "little black book" entitled BEST - Bath's Exclusive Shopping Tour. With the aid of this, we toured a host of unusual and original shops that sold antiques, jewellery, food and wine, home and garden goods and the inevitable boutiques. Bath still has many individual shops and is not in apparent danger of becoming a "clone" town, where such shops have been replaced by a strip of global and national chains.

Fortunately, it is a very "walkable" city, as many of its interesting shops are hidden away in side-streets an alleyways and are well worth seeking out. With such a wealth of opportunity, just make sure that you have your little black book with you before you start and then enjoy - as enjoy we certainly did.

Despite shopping until we were ready to drop, we still left time to visit the Assembly Rooms, where society gathered in the late 1700s to socialise, play cards and dance. It now incorporates a fascinating History of Costume Museum.

We fortified ourselves with a light lunch in the pleasant tea-rooms at the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street, before taking an interesting City Sightseeing Tour on an open-top bus.

Should you have energy to spare, consider rounding off the day at the Bizarre Bath Comedy Walk, a walking tour which starts at 8pm and pokes fun at the more eccentric elements of the city.