HOTEL & SPA
them to really understand guests’ needs is taking them out of their comfort zone. You’re asking a lot of young people who might have only been out of college a couple of years.” Training is crucial, says Hutson, but even more crucial is employing the right people in the fi rst place. “I used to believe you can train anyone to do anything,” he says. “I no longer believe that. I now believe that nice people give nice service. You try to employ nice people who instinctively enjoy delivering pleasure to people. They must intrinsically want to be with the public day in day out and genuinely get pleasure from seeing them enjoying themselves.”
HERB HOUSE
When Hutson joined Lime Wood the majority of the work on the hotel had been completed, and the shell of the spa had been built. The spa project was put on hold to allow the team to concentrate on fi nishing the hotel and also to give them time to think about what they wanted to create. “The spa market is a competitive one and I didn’t want ours to just be another hotel spa,” says Hutson. “I really wanted to create something destination-worthy.” After considering various different concepts, Hutson and his team decided that the spa should take its inspiration from its location. “We thought it was important to create something British that was as natural and organic as pos- sible in both the design and the treatment offer,” he says. “We decided to create a herb-covered roof garden on top of the spa, and Herb House was born.” The spa is spread over three levels and has 10 treat- ment rooms, a 16m ozone-treated indoor pool with retracting doors to the garden, a hydrotherapy pool, a rooftop gym, a mud house, caldarium, steam room and sauna and a room for manicures and pedicures. The pools are by Barr and
The spa’s interiors were designed by David Collins and Lime Wood’s in-house design team. Natural materials including slate and pale woods have been used and large windows allow the forest views to take centre stage
The spa market is a competitive one and I didn’t want ours to be just another hotel spa. I really wanted to create something destination-worthy
Wray, the sauna is by Klafs and the equipment in the gym has been supplied by Technogym and Trixter. The treatment rooms include two signature couple’s
rooms: The Bath House, with an indoor double bath and private steam room, and The Bath Garden, with a private steam room and private garden featuring a double bath. The Herbery roof garden is planted with a selection of fresh herbs, which are used in both the treatments and in the food on offer at the spa’s café. It will also be used as a space for outdoor yoga, tai chi and meditation classes, as well as evening barbecues and parties.
The original design was by David Collins, but was tweaked by the in-house design team at Lime Wood, and the fi t out cost £7.5m. In keeping with the ethos that it should fi t in with its surroundings, natural materials including slate and wood have been used extensively, and herb-fi lled plant- ers are dotted throughout the building. Enormous windows provide views of the forest and allow masses of natural light into the pools, sauna and café, while pale greens and creams create a warm, uncluttered feel. The Raw Bar café serves smoothies and champagne, as well as salads and raw and cured meats and fi sh. “In spas the food offering is often a bit of an afterthought,” says Hutson. “We wanted this to be a strong offer in its own right. “We converted a little building in the grounds to a smoke- house when Lime Wood fi rst opened, which we were already using to smoke and cure our own fi sh and meat. We came up with this concept of serving raw and cured meats and fi sh, alongside salads that are prepared freshly in front of the spa guest. We wanted The Raw Bar to feel like a friend’s kitchen, rather than a hotel restaurant.”
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ISSUE 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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