Rockliffe Hall, England
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Rockliffe estate is an idyllic getaway, yet it also offers fast access to the historic city of Durham, as well as Newcastle, York, Leeds and the Yorkshire Dales. Since opening its doors in November 2009, guests come from far and wide to check in and chill out – enjoying an imaginative array of seasonal spa treatments, packages and specialist wellness retreats, as well as golf, fitness and impeccable hospitality. Located at the heart of the estate, the hotel is a glorious 18th century gothic mansion house, which has been lovingly restored and sympathetically extended to offer all the contemporary finishes expected by today’s discerning guest. Inside there are 61 spacious guestrooms and suites, two bars, the celebrated 3 AA rosette ‘Kenny Atkinson at The Orangery’ gourmet restaurant, as well as 12 meeting and event rooms.
Vital investment The estate, built in 1863, had laid unused for some time until it was purchased in 1997 by Middlesborough Football Club to develop a £7m, 160-acre (0.65sqkm) training complex. In 2006, the club, in association with Rockliffe Hall Developments, acquired a further 988 acres (4sqkm) of farmland adjacent to the country house and the club subsequently announced plans to build a £50 million golf course, and renovate the hall
into a hotel and spa. Thanks to Middlesborough FC’s entrepreneurial owner and Chairman Steve Gibson, whose vision it was to give this historic estate a new purpose, the work would create both the region’s first five-star hotel and one of Europe’s longest golf courses. “Total investment to date including start and establishment costs has been over £60 million,” explains Nick Holmes. “As a resort, Rockliffe has no weak areas. The hotel and rooms are genuinely five-star, the restaurant’s award winning, the golf course world class. Likewise, our spa is up there with the UK’s best. It’s a major attraction for enhancing the residential offer and gives us year-round appeal, with December and January already strong occupancy months. We operate the spa as a business in its own right with good all-round contribution from spa days but also, notably, from membership, which was always our strategy.”
Inside Rockliffe Spa Opening in November 2009, the décor of Rockliffe’s extensive 4,600sqm spa is contemporary and the layout spacious, split over two levels. The hub of the facility is on the ground floor, where a large, open-plan reception leads to a gym featuring 52 Technogym stations, a Technogym Kinesis suite, Pilates reformers, and a dance studio.
www.europeanspamagazine.com | european spa
“The spa is a major attraction for enhancing the residential offer”
Nick Holmes Managing Director
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