Spas need to be designed more like homes, according to Bill Bensley, owner of spa design company Bensley Design Studios.

In a letter to Spa Business, Bensley highlighted the challenge for the spa design will be to avoid repetition: “Long gone are the days of scented candles and floating flowers. Spas, as we know them, will fade away.”

Instead, a more homely feel is advocated by Bensley, “with lots of collections of books, art and sculptures.”

Bensley’s company has designed more than 180 resorts – all of which have spas – in 30 countries. For example, Bensley Design created the Coqoon Spa at the India Pearl resort in Phuket, Thailand. Currently the majority of his ongoing projects are in China.

“We’re designing hotels and spas for Ritz-Carlton in Lijiang and Hainan, and for Capella in Guangzhou and the Himalayas, to name a few," he said.

“Each of these resorts will have a spa more fabulous than the next,” said Bensley, who adds that he is embracing the challenge of continually raising the bar to create “newer, more diverse experiences.”