The Spa at The Midland in Manchester, UK, has soft-opened and will open to the public on 13 June – aiming to become the ‘go to’ day spa in the city for locals and regional visitors.

Owner company QHotels has invested more than £1.5m (US$2.3m, €2m) in this city centre day spa at its Manchester hotel, The Midland – replacing the site’s former health club. Charlie Thompson, group spa support manager at QHotels and chair of the UK Spa Association, spoke exclusively to Spa Opportunities about the spa’s positioning in the market.

“We carried out full feasibility on the central Manchester market and essentially there lacked a real ‘go to’ destination for day spa users in central Manchester – which represented the biggest single market outside London,” said Thompson.

“We deliberately chose to position ourselves in this way – as a day spa and not a hotel spa. The challenges were represented in the overall costs required to meet the listed building features and the more expensive design adaptations that had to be included. As a subterranean space, the lighting was always going to be crucial, but this has been a constant challenge to keep inside the budget, which we’ve achieved.

He added: “In 2015, we’re targeting 70 per cent overnight spa guests, with 30 per cent local and day spa business, but this will shift to 40 per cent and 60 per cent by 2017 once the facility’s reputation and credibility is established.

“Daily capture rate from the hotel is forecast at between 4 per cent and 6 per cent, to reflect the urban city centre location – the hotel is very popular with city centre events, sporting activity accommodation and cultural visitors so we are expecting a varied guest profile across the year.”

The eight-treatment room spa – which includes two private couples’ suites – will be open to members of the public as well as guests of the Grade-II-listed hotel. In addition to treatment rooms, there is a wet zone that includes a salt-infused aromatherapy steamroom, relaxation pool, experience showers, an Alder wood sauna with a Himalayan salt block wall and a mud rasul chamber for two.

The separate express spa space at the facility has been incorporated to attract lunchtime guests or those with limited time. Services offered in this lounge include 25-minute express massages and a range of manicures, pedicures, eye care, tanning and wax treatments. Relaxation areas in the spa include a zone called ‘Big Sleep’ and there are also separate relaxation pods, plus a dedicated spa café.

Skincare is provided by ESPA and technological treatments are by 3D Skintech. Jessica provides products for manicures and pedicures.

A new gym has been fitted at the site, with equipment by Pulse, and will have a maximum of 200 members to retain an exclusive element.

The 213-bedroom hotel originally opened in 1903 and was built by the Midland Railway to serve Manchester Central railway station. It was designed by Charles Trubshaw in an Edwardian Baroque style. The property is owned by QHotels, which represents a select group of 27 hotels throughout the UK.

At the end of 2014, Thompson spoke to Spa Opportunities about his plan to increase customer satisfaction at QHotels. Thompson outlined how he and his team at QHotels has managed to attain 90.9 per cent customer satisfaction at throughout the hospitality group’s properties.