21st century wellness For all its history, however, Rockliff e Hall is also home to a contemporary spa, which accounted for £12m (us$19.2m, €13.6m) of the total budget. T e two-storey facility is part of a brand new extension, which also comprises 33 new bedrooms. T e spa has a bright, airy reception and retail
area on the ground fl oor, plus the 20m pool, an 11m hydropool and the thermal suite – all equipped by Taylor Pools. T ere’s also a sub- stantial fi tness provision including a 50-station Technogym gym, two studios and the UK’s fi rst Nordic walking programme at a resort. On the next level there are 13 treatment
rooms, including a couple’s suite. A mud rasul, salt suite, relaxation room and spa bistro complete the off er. In spite of its considerable size, the spa
has an intimate feel – a palette of rich col- ours such as brown, burgundy and violet, combined with metallic tile fi nishes give a feeling of being cocooned. T e driving force behind the spa has been
Nick’s wife Liz Holmes. Together the pair have brought much passion to the project and 50 year’s experience in hospitality and fi tness. To create the spa at Rockliff e, Liz worked with UK spa consultant Lisa Know- les from T e Spa Set. “T e aim of the spa is to surprise guests,” she says. “We believe that it will be the standard bearer for spas, not only in north England, but across the UK.” An interesting touch is six chromatherapy
bedroom suites in the new extension. T e Holmes’ are advocates of colour therapy and these suites consist of light panels on either side of the bed, where guests can choose a particular colour such as a soothing violet or energising red, or select a pre-programmed sequence of diff erent colours to suit their
SPA BUSINESS 4 2010 ©Cybertrek 2010
Spa butlers off er advice on using the thermal suite and hydropool (above); the big spa feels intimate thanks to a rich palette of colours (right)
mood. In addition, they’re currently working with Dr Guy Meadows, a UK sleep specialist, to create a new spa residential programme to combat insomnia. T is will include an overnight stay in one of the suites, the relaxing ila Dreamtime treatment, and a lifestyle analysis, plus meditation. T is will be just one of a new range of packages to cater for guests wish- ing to focus purely on wellbeing. Liz says: “We plan to develop our wellness
centre concept and to excel in any aspect that people come to our spa for – weight- loss, anti-ageing, stress management or to simply relax. I have a high-level of expecta- tion of my team in delivering this.”
A passion for success Currently, 60 per cent of business at Rock- liffe Hall comes from guests visiting for leisure purposes, with corporate custom- ers making up the rest. All come from the UK, putting it in direct competition with other high-end resort spas such as those at Seaham Hall and Titanic Mill, both within a 90-minute drive. But Liz has every con- viction that they can outperform them in terms of standards and services.
In terms of spa usage, day spa guests
account for 60 per cent of treatment rev- enue compared to 40 per cent from hotel guests. T is is partly due to a successful spa membership scheme – there are already 412 members and the limit is 600. While it may be too early to give accu-
rate performance fi gures, the Holmes are slowly building up business – in July the treatment room occupancy was 90 per cent and they’re using this as a future benchmark. T ey expect to see a return on investment in three to fi ve years and certainly have the passion to make the spa a success. Nick says: “I genuinely love the team spirit
here and there really aren’t many places like this being created at the moment.” Liz con- curs: “It has been so exciting to be a part of creating something so special. I couldn’t ask for anything more.” ●
Read Spa Business online
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