As a new year approaches, Spa Opportunities editor Jane Kitchen highlights 19 of the most exciting spas set to open in 2019.

1. Raison d’Etre Spa at the Alsik Hotel, Denmark

Global spa consultancy Raison d’Etre (RdE) has been commissioned to design and implement Denmark’s largest spa and wellness facility, which will be situated in a hotel created by Henning Larsen Architects.

Due to open in the industrial harbour of Sønderborg, the Alsik Hotel forms part of Frank Gehry’s masterplan for the southern city. RdE’s 4,500sq m (48,400sq ft) component of the scheme will cover a four-storey section of the hotel and will be heavily influenced by Nordic design.

The spa will feature more than 60 wellness experiences and a variety of recreational, fitness and relaxation areas for guests, including a complete wellness floor offering thermal experiences and screening rooms. Other facilities will include a 160sq m (1,700sq ft) indoor pool, an outdoor infinity pool, an expansive Ice and Fire World, a watsu pool, an Aurora Borealis cave and a hammam.

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2. Kohler Waters Spa, Chicago

Kohler Company will expand its Kohler Waters Spa offering in 2019, with a second location in the Chicago area at Lincoln Common – a new crossroads development in Lincoln Park.

Kohler Waters Spa Lincoln Park will have 21 treatment rooms spread across two floors, as well as indoor and outdoor relaxation areas, a manicure and pedicure finishing salon, a hair salon, and a hydromassage pool in a thermal suite.

Water is the central theme in every Kohler Waters Spa, with special attention paid to hydrotherapy experiences. The spa will offer water experiences for all five senses and have a hydrotherapy circuit to include sauna, cool plunge pool and a steamroom.

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3. Lefay Resort Dolomiti, Italy

Destination spa Lefay plans to open a second location, Lefay Resort and Spa Dolomiti, in the ski region of Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, in 2019.

Set in the Italian Dolomite mountains, the resort will include 84 suites and a 5,000sq m (54,000sq ft) wellbeing area. Swimming pools, relaxation areas, saunas, a fitness zone and numerous treatment rooms will all be included in the spa, which is set to be one of the largest in the Alpine region.

The resort will also introduce the concept of Lefay Wellness Residences, with 25 homes starting at 100sq m (1,076sq ft) and with direct access to the wellness area and two restaurants.

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4. Floating Spa at Monkey Island Estate, Bray-on-Thames, UK

Set in a traditional riverboat on the River Thames, the hotly anticipated Floating Spa at the Monkey Island Estate in Bray-on-Thames, England, is set to open in February 2019.

Part of YTL Hotels – whose spa team includes Lai-Ping Chik, Sylvia Sepielli and Melissa Mettler– Monkey Island Estate is set across seven acres and will consist of 38 bedrooms and three deluxe suites, all designed by New York-based Champalimaud Design.

The Floating Spa will be based completely on the water, on a bespoke crafted barge with three treatment rooms, an airy and bright wheelhouse reception and an Elixir Bar, all moored on the banks of the island. The spa experience will be peppered with touch points that celebrate the power of water, taking guests on holistic voyages through the history of the island and the River Thames, including treatments incorporating elixir tastings of monk-brewed ancient herbal tonics, and ingredients such as moss, peat, rosemary and horse chestnut.

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5. Orient Express Spa by Guerlain, Bangkok

The first Orient Express hotel will open in the King Power Mahanakhon Building in Bangkok in the last quarter of 2019, in a move parent company AccorHotels said is designed to bring some of the craftsmanship, dining, innovation and style of the historic Orient Express trains to the world of hotels.

Orient Express Mahanakhon Bangkok will feature 154 bedrooms, including nine suites and two penthouses, as well as an entire floor devoted to wellness, including an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, plus signature Orient Express Spa by Guerlain.

Designer Tristan Auer has been tasked with reimagining the Art Deco stylings and plant motifs of the original Orient Express carriages into a modern skyscraper in the heart of Bangkok. The hotel will open in the last quarter of 2019, 136 years after the Orient Express took its maiden voyage from Paris.

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6. Amrit Resort, Palm Beach, Florida

Developer Dilip Barot, founder of Creative Choice Group, is building what he calls an “urban destination spa resort” on Singer Island in Palm Beach, Florida with a 100,000sq ft (9,290sq m) spa.

Spread across seven acres on the Atlantic shoreline, the Amrit Ocean Resort & Residences will have a focus on wellness lifestyle, taking inspiration from Patanjali yoga. The one million sq ft development will focus on mindful living, bringing Eastern traditions of inner science together with Western luxury.

Two towers – named Peace and Happiness – will house 150 hotel guest rooms, 359 residences, and the four-storey spa, which will include both indoor and outdoor yoga studios, a meditation garden, whirlpool spa, and a private beach club with cabanas.

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7. Seed Spa at 1 Hotel Los Cabos, Mexico

Spa consultant Diana Mestre of Mestre & Mestre Spa and Wellness Consulting is creating a 12,000sq ft (1,115sq m) sunken spa for the upcoming 1 Hotel Los Cabos in Mexico.

The Seed Spa will use recycled and organic materials along with water, music, aromas, light and living plants with an aim to create an environment where guests can find balance and connect with the natural rhythms of life, said Mestre.

The spa experience will explore the effect of the four elements: water, air, fire and earth, and features “wise concoction massage therapy treatments”, designed to improve muscle and joint health and natural immunity, as well as to provide stress relief.

Facilities will include an alchemy reception welcome lounge; water journey facilities with an experience pool, hot and polar pools, steam sauna and experience showers; a garden relaxation lounge; tea lounge; outdoor sensory garden; and an apothecary retail and farewell lounge. A state-of-the-art fitness centre with gym and exercise studio will be located on the first level.

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8. Six Senses Fort Barwara, India

A 14th-century fort in historic Rajasthan is being converted to become Six Senses Fort Barwara. Originally owned by the Rajasthani Royal Family, it sits directly opposite the temple, Chauth ka Barwara Mandir. The conservation effort has produced 48 suites and incorporates a palace and two temples within the walled site that reinterprets the regal ambience of a bygone era.

A 30,000sq ft (2,800sq m) Six Senses spa and fitness centre is located in the original women’s palace and will feature an extensive ayurveda programme, meditation and Six Senses Integrated Wellness programmes.

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9. Parklane Resort Limassol, Cyprus

The Le Meridien hotel in Cyprus will reopen under the new name 'Parklane', after an estimated €70m (US$83m, £62m) renovation as part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection.

The resort is well known for its large thalassotherapy facilities, which span 3,000sq m (32,292sq ft), and include two outdoor and two indoor seawater pools. The new Kalloni Spa will also include 12 treatment rooms and three suites, two of which will have Russian banyas.

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10. Miraval Austin, Texas, US

After acquiring the Travaasa Austin Resort in 2016, wellness resort operator Miraval Group has spent the last two years redeveloping the 220-acre property into Miraval Austin – its first location in Texas – which is set to open in January 2019.

Miraval has renovated the existing property and more than doubled the spa space. Located in the Texas Hill Country and surrounded by the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, Miraval Austin offers a wide range of programming, including meditation, fitness, equine experiences, outdoor adventure, hiking, yoga, farm activities and spa.

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11. Center Parcs Longford Forest, Ireland

Center Parcs is building a new £167m (US$257m, €233m) holiday village in Ireland,Center Parcs Longford Forest, which will be developed on a 395-acre (160-hectare) site in Newcastle Wood, County Longford. Sparcstudio is working on the design.

Center Parcs recently debuted a new Forest Spa concept within its Aqua Sana spa at its Sherwood Forest location, and the same concept will be used in Longford Forest. The Forest spa showcases an assortment of heating and cooling rooms within different forest regions, takes inspiration from the Japanese tradition of forest bathing, and opens the spa to its natural surroundings whenever possible, taking the experience outside and bringing the outside in.

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12. Mandarin Oriental Doha, Qatar

The 3,030sq m (32,615sq ft) Spa at Mandarin Oriental Doha will offer a holistic approach to relaxation and rejuvenation, focusing on the wellness of both body and mind in a tranquil, meditative setting. The spa will feature five private treatment rooms, a secluded couple's suite and a Quartz Room featuring Gharieni’s MLX Quartz bed. Additionally, two VIP suites will be on offer: the Mandarin Suite, which includes its own steam room and Thai massage facilities; and the Oriental Suite room, which includes a scrub room, sauna, steam shower room and Japanese bathtub.

Separate male and female consultation lounges, tea lounges and indoor swimming pools with loungers are also available, along with extensive heat and water facilities, including a steam room centred around a large amethyst crystal, experience showers and tepidarium chairs. Skincare will be from Aromatherapy Associates, Miriam Quevedo and HydraFacial Elite. The dedicated wellbeing space also includes a state-of-the-art fitness centre with a dedicated Pilates studio.

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13. Dusit Thani Hot Springs Resort Wanfo Lake, China

Thailand-based hospitality company Dusit International will manage the first internationally branded luxury resort in Wanfo Lake, an eco-tourism development zone near Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, eastern China.

Known for its natural beauty, the remote Wanfo region is tipped to become a vibrant destination for nature tourism over the next decade.

A key feature of the five-star resort is its unique destination wellness centre that will include natural, outdoor hot springs pools set against a tranquil and picturesque landscape. The natural springs will be complemented by Dusit’s own Devarana Spa delivering Thai-inspired treatments in four luxuriously appointed treatment rooms.

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14. Rosewood Hong Kong

The first urban outpost of Asaya, Rosewood’s new integrative spa concept focused on self-care and self-discovery, will open at the Rosewood Hong Kong, designed by New York architect Tony Chi in a 27-storey tower.

The 3,600sq m spa will span two floors and include 11 treatment rooms and an outdoor swimming pool with harbor views. The Asaya concept will offer complementary treatments, nutritional coaching, educational wellness programming, fitness activities, specialised healing treatments, and opportunities for healing through socialising. Two Asaya Spa Suites will offer overnight facilities for guests within the spa.

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15. Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa, New Zealand

A new NZ$30m (US$22m, €18m, £16.5m) luxury spa and wellness centre in Rotorua, New Zealand, will incorporate Maori culture, with a focus on thermal water and a strong linkage to the tribe. The Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa will be set on Rotorua’s lakefront and is being developed by Pukeroa Oruawhata Group. The facility will form just one element of the wider health and wellness vision for the group’s 11-hectare site, and will be managed by Australian-based Belgravia Leisure.

Tgati Whakaue, Te Arawa and Maori culture will sit at the heart of Wai Ariki, with the 650-year history of the tribe and Rotorua’s spa heritage forming an intrinsic part of the development. Wai Ariki means “chiefly waters,” and is a reminder of the origin of Rotorua’s thermal waters. The spa will have elements of Maori culture infused throughout, including the design of the building and its spa and wellness offerings.

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16. The Arctic Bath, Sweden

The Arctic Bath, a unique luxury hotel and spa floating on the Lule river in Swedish Lapland, will include spa buildings with saunas, treatment and relaxation rooms, as well as a restaurant and lounge – all encircling an open-air cold bath.

Reminiscent of a bird’s nest or natural dam, the exteriors of the circular spa buildings will be covered with piled logs, providing added insulation to guests during the winter months. Accommodation will take the form of six minimalist floating cabins which will be moored to the spa buildings.

Arctic Bath – open all year – will be free-floating on the river during the summer and frozen in place in winter. It will be located outside the village of Harads, 50km south of the Arctic Circle. Designed by architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi, the concept for the hotel and spa was inspired by the region's logging heritage, with its distinctive design acting as a reminder of the importance of the forest in Swedish history.

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17. Viceroy Bocas del Toro, Panama

Viceroy is set to open a resort and residences in Bocas del Toro, Panama, with dramatic overwater villas, three miles of private white sand beaches and a 1,80sq m (11,625sq ft) spa featuring private rejuvenation pools tucked in blossoming pockets of the rainforest.
GOCO Hospitality is working on the spa, which will include two double and four single treatment rooms plus an over-water spa suite and two treehouse treatment rooms. A rainforest outdoor bathing circuit, beauty salon, mind and body studio, spa cafe and gym complete the offerings.

The 42 overwater villas will each have their own private plunge pool and direct access to the ocean by deck. Viceroy Bocas del Toro will be an eco-friendly destination, and will only allow electric cars and sustainable technologies. Its outdoor design has been planned with indigenous plants and tropical specialties that will be used in preparing local cuisine for the restaurants.

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18. Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, Greece

Four Seasons, together with Astir Palace Vouliagmeni SA, has spent an estimated €100m ($US119m, £88m) to transform the iconic Astir Palace into the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens – the first Four Seasons in Greece.

The 1960s hotel has undergone extensive upgrades, with interiors by designer Meyer Davis, and will include 300 bedrooms and a wellness spa, fitness facilities and thermal features. Spa consultancy Blu Spas worked on the spa concept, which is inspired by the teachings of Hippocrates.

“The Four Seasons Astir Palace will embrace the legendary ‘good life’ of the Athens Riviera,” said Cary Collier, principal at Blu Spas. “The wellness spa, fitness, thermal features and pools all offer indoor as well as coastal and beach experiences for guests and locals that are inspired by the region’s rich history.”

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19. Chenot Palace Weggis, Switzerland

Swiss wellness resort operator Chenot Group will open a location in Weggis, Switzerland, which will become the brand’s leading medical research, innovation and training centre.

Founded by Henri Chenot, the Chenot Group specialises in detox, preventive and regenerative treatments, as well as products that promote healthy living and protection from premature ageing. Henri Chenot opened the first Chenot Wellness Centre at Cannes Polyclinic in 1974, and established the Chenot Method, which is based on the principles of traditional Chinese healing combined with scientific advances in Western medicine.

Following an initial diagnostics process, tailored treatments are used to detoxify and reactivate energy channels and organic functions through a three-stage process of elimination, assimilation and regeneration. Treatments are combined with nutritional advice with an aim to restore balance and preserve vitality.

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