Spa of the week: The Jonathan Spa Hotel, Latvia

Katie Gregory checks in to this secluded spa hotel deep in the Latvian countryside
1/4
Katie Gregory29 October 2019

The Jonathan, a cosy spa hotel an hour-and-a-half-away from Latvia’s capital, makes a peaceful retreat for Riga city-breakers.

A timber-framed property with wraparound wooden decks and a thatched roof, the hotel blends in perfectly with the sweeping forests and glassy lakes that surround it. And it’s no wonder. Amatciems, where the hotel is located, is a carefully curated and architecturally planned village peppered with near-identical buildings. The estate’s developer wanted to create a collection of structures that blend in seamlessly with nature, and the flagship hotel does just that.

Famous for:

The Jonathan Spa is the first five-star countryside spa hotel in Latvia, which gives visitors to Riga a luxury spa option beyond the city itself. It’s a boutique affair – there are just eight individually decorated bedrooms in the main building, plus three apartments in a separate property. And throughout the contemporary, wood-clad interior, oversized windows open up the surrounding scenery, giving the whole place a relaxed and airy feel.

The spa itself is surprisingly small, with a pool, a massage room, and small Turkish and Finnish saunas. There’s also a treatment menu that covers things like hot stone, his-and-hers massages and leans heavily on natural ingredients. Chocolate and peppermint, or lemon and thyme were two of the seasonal specials available during my stay.

The treatment:

Keen for an authentic experience, I booked in for the hotel’s Latvian spa treatment with ingredients foraged from the forests. It started with a full body exfoliation with salt, grapeseed oil and cranberries, followed by a full body massage. The 1.5-hour treatment ended with a facial using local LIGA Nature Spa products, produced in nearby Valmiera.

Afterwards, the massage therapist recommended a herbal tea and a 20-minute rest in the shungite room – a small space clad wall-to-wall in the black mineral, which is considered to have healing properties. The hotel also offers a more traditional Latvian sauna experience – where you’re slapped with tree branches and herbs, no less – available on request.

Throughout your stay, you’re encouraged to get outdoors and enjoy the countryside via the lakeside hiking trails.

The rooms:

I stayed in room 63, a superior double that has a dual-aspect terrace with widescreen views of the countryside and lake, plus and an incredible view of the sunrise over the forest. With stone feature walls, natural wood panelling and faux furs draped on the bed, it had a cosy, rustic feel that carried through to the dark grey marble bathroom.

Just around the corner from my room I found a cosy nook with comfy chairs, a log burner and piles of coffee-table books and magazines. My only complaint is that my beautiful bedroom had no tea or coffee-making facilities, and breakfast didn’t start until 9am – a bit of an issue for a caffeine-addict or anyone with an early start.

The food:

Speaking of breakfast, while the first meal of the day was fairly basic – a limited menu of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon or salty porridge – the evening meal was fantastic. Starters included dishes like duck ravioli, salmon pancakes and tempura herrings seasoned with dill – an ingredient that features heavily here and everywhere else in Latvia.

I chose the pickled vegetables to start, followed by a perfectly cooked beef fillet steak with chanterelle mushrooms, melt-in-the-mouth fried potatoes and more dill. It took a while to explain the idea of gluten-free bread to a lovely Russian-speaking waiter, but we got there in the end thanks to Google Translate and I was grateful when it arrived at my table 30 seconds later. I wasn’t offered a pudding menu – perhaps due to the bread fiasco – so I chose a nightcap from the wine list instead, before sinking into bed.

Extracurricular:

Amatciems is all hills, valleys and lakes, so it’s ripe for exploring on foot. There are hiking trails and a private lake where you can fish, the hotel has wellies you can borrow for muddy walks, and bikes to hire for exploration on two wheels.

Beyond that, there are miles of forests and lakes to navigate before you reach Riga – the headline act in this part of Latvia, and a shock to the system after the serenity of the hotel. The UNESCO-listed Old Town is packed with a whole text-book’s worth of architecture, including an entire district of ornate Art Nouveau facades. There are cafés tucked down side-streets, a suburb dedicated to breweries, and some fantastic Champagne bars and seafood restaurants dotted around the town.

Verdict:

This is not your average glossy spa hotel. It’s small, full of character, sometimes eerily quiet, and completely cut off from just about everything – which makes it the perfect retreat after a Riga city adventure. It’s ideal for an all-natural, rustic escape with simple spa treatments inspired by the surroundings, and it would make a particularly good away-from-it-all bolthole for a couples’ escape.

You’ll leave feeling…

Calm, collected and wide-eyed at the wonders of nature.

Details

Katie was a guest of The Jonathan Spa Hotel. A Classic Double Room costs from €130 (£114) per night for one person with spa and breakfast included, or €180 (£158) per night for two people. Visit jonathanspahotel.com to book. AirBaltic flights set off from Gatwick to Riga daily, and the journey to the hotel takes around 1.5 hours by taxi. Visit Latvia.travel/en for more info.