Hotels incorporating significant wellness amenities experienced strong top-line recovery in 2024, generating more than twice the Total Revenue per Available Room (TRevPAR) compared to hotels with no wellness income, according to the latest Wellness Real Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats. The average TRevPAR at major wellness properties was 56 per cent higher than at minor wellness hotels – exceeding the

This December, Guerlain’s spa at Cheval Blanc St-Barth has celebrated its 10th anniversary and unveiled the results of a comprehensive design refresh. Nestled in the 61-key resort’s tropical gardens, the spa features five Gharieni-equipped treatment rooms – including a VIP double suite, an outdoor relaxation pavilion and a tropical terrace. The facility has been completely reimagined by Guerlain with the input of renowned architect Isabelle Stanislas. The refreshed interiors draw

Luxury fragrance, beauty and spa brand Guerlain is gearing up to open its first spa in the Seychelles at Cheval Blanc’s new 52-key beachfront retreat, launching 1 December. This will mark Guerlain’s 29th spa worldwide and continue its partnership with Cheval Blanc, luxury goods conglomerate LVMH’s ultra-premium hotel brand managed by LVMH Hotel Management. Guerlain already powers wellness offerings in Cheval Blanc’s locations in Saint Tropez, St. Barts, the Maldives

The healing power of water has inspired the concept behind a large new spa in Florida at the recently-opened Conrad Orlando hotel. The 433-key Hilton hotel was developed by Dart Interests and forms part of the developer and owner’s billion-dollar 1,100-acre mega-resort called Evermore Orlando*, located next to Florida's iconic Disneyland resort. Dart appointed spa and wellness consultancy Under A Tree (UAT) to develop a wellness concept for the two-floor

Morgan’s Wonderland – a Texas-based theme park which caters specifically to people with disabilities – has revealed plans to add attractions worth US$6 million in 2024. The major additions will include a 4D cinema giving, a passenger boat ride across the park’s eight-acre fishing lake, a zipline soaring above the lake and a wheelchair-accessible "bike ride". The 4D theatre, located at the park's Sensory Village, gives guests the sensation of

Morgan's Wonderland, a completely wheelchair accessible theme park in San Antonio, Texas, has announced that it is to build a new "ultra-accessible" sports complex in the city, providing 8,000sq ft (2,440sq m) of covered space for wheelchair sports. Designed by Luna Middleman Architects, the US$3m (€2.7m, £2.45m) Morgan's Wonderland Sports complex will offer fitness and competition for athletes with different abilities. Facilities will include 8,000 sq ft (745sq m) of

Hyatt Hotels will bring the Alila brand to Europe for the first time by putting its name to the Golf Resort La Gruyère to create the Alila La Gruyère resort, which is set to open in Switzerland in 2023. Overlooking a picturesque lake, Alila La Gruyère will offer an 85-bed hotel and wellness retreat as well as a golf course by Robert Trent Jones Jr and a range of residences.

The first phase of construction on the Malley Sports Center – a 10,000-capacity complex taking shape in Lausanne, Switzerland is expected to wrap in August. Designed by Swiss architecture office Pont12, the multipurpose building will serve as a venue for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic games (YOG) and the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, which will be held in 2021. Leisure facilities at Malley will include three ice rinks, a

InterContinental Hotels Group’s long-awaited adventurous hotel, which will sit in a 328ft (100m)-deep quarry in the Sheshan Mountain Range in Shanghai, China, is finally due to open this year. The InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland has been designed by JADE+QA, led by architect and former Atkins employee Martin Jochman, and developed by the Shanghai Shimao Group. It has a convoluted backstory that dates back to 2006 and has faced various setbacks since

With the imminent arrival of spring across Europe and temperatures tentatively rising, the ephemeral Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden will soon return from whence it came, melting back into the Torne River. However, its creators are already preparing for the hotel’s return towards the end of the year, harvesting huge blocks of ice and snow and seeking design ideas for the future guestrooms – each of which is conceived as an

An 18th-century restaurant and cafe in Venice’s historic St Mark’s Square has reopened following a major restoration overseen by Philippe Starck. The Michelin-starred Quadri, owned by restaurateurs the Alajmo family since 2010, has been reinterpreted by the French designer as “a Venetian wonderland of mystery, poetry and magic.” He has worked with local artisans – including glassblowers, carpenters, fabric-makers and art restorers – to recover the building’s original architectural details,

For his latest grandiose Southeast Asian resort project, designer Bill Bensley has taken his inspiration from an unlikely combination of themes: the work of pioneering French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the importance of higher education, Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland – and mushrooms. Bensley’s typically whimsical design touches feature throughout the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort in the south of Vietnam – a project the designer has described

Scheduled to open this summer, the reimagined Burgenstock Resort Hotel Lake Lucerne will feature a gargantuan spa covering 10,000sq m (107,639 sq ft). Situated on the shoulders of the Burgenburg cliff and offering views of Lake Lucerne, the Rigi and Pilatus, the new spa is among the largest and most modern in Europe. Aiming to introduce leading wellbeing facilities to provide ‘wellness without limits’ to guests, the concept has been

The first safe-standing section within a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium is being built in the new home of Orlando City SC. According to the franchise, the stand will take inspiration from the ‘Yellow Wall’ in Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion which creates a loud and intimidating atmosphere. The steep stand will form part of the club’s new US$100m (£80.6m, €95.8m) stadium, which is being designed by Populous. Originally designed as a

Dutch architects Mecanoo have taken inspiration from the UK’s Eden Project to propose an expansive experimental garden in the grounds of the Netherlands' Soestdijk Palace. The Dutch government recently launched a competition to redevelop the royal residence and estate, located in the town of Baarn. In response, Mecanoo have partnered with exhibition designers Kossmann.dejong and engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV to develop their vision for an eco-attraction, called Eden Soestdijk. An

Design and development studio AE Superlab have proposed a new attraction and landmark for New York, as the city seeks an icon to crown its forthcoming Empire Station Complex. The Halo is a 1,200ft (366m) high semi-transparent, lightweight superstructure featuring panoramic viewpoints and 11 tower rides, which will carry thrill seekers to the top before either carrying them gently back down or plummeting at speed. Empire Station is a US$3bn

The iconic Swiss hotel Waldhaus Flims is undergoing a CHF40m (US$40m, €36m, £28m) renovation aimed to maintain the property’s storied heritage while enhancing the resort to a luxury alpine hotel and spa. The 150-bedroom hotel was acquired by Z Capital Partners – the same company that also recently acquired wellness hotel Carillon Miami Beach – in December, marking the group’s first international expansion. The renovation is being undertaken by Hong

Hollywood star Jessica Biel and a consortium of stylists, writers, entrepreneurs and philanthropists have opened a family-friendly dining and creative space close to Los Angeles’ design district. The restaurant, called Au Fudge, is described by its developers as “an all-inclusive culinary, social and visual oasis for adults and children to equally enjoy as their home away from home.” The child-friendly design is intended to create “a unique wonderland”, complete with

The industry’s most prestigious awards have been handed out at the World Architecture Festival, held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, with OMA and Buro Ole Scheeren's Interlace housing development in Singapore scooping the top prize of Building of the Year. More than 2,000 architects from more than 60 countries attended the three-day event, which draws to a close today (Friday). Seminars and presentations by some of the world’s

Orlando City Soccer Club (OCSC) plans to increase capacity at its new stadium – set to open in 2016 – to 28,000 due to an “overwhelming response to the club’s home games” during its first season in the Major Soccer League (MLS). Original designs for the US$100m stadium, created by US-based sports architects Populous, were for the stadium to host up to 19,000 fans. The club, however, currently has the

Neutelings Riedijk Architects have revealed final designs for the merger of three Dutch museums in Leiden, incorporating a central atrium to seamlessly blend old with new. Combining the Natural History Museum ‘Naturalis’, the Zoological Museum in Amsterdam and the National Herbarium of Leiden and Wageningen, the existing 20,000sq m (215,000sq ft) museum will be renovated with further construction adding another 19,000sq m (204,500sq ft) of space. The design includes a

Merlin Entertainments’ Orlando Eye sits at the heart of Orlando’s new US$250m (€224m, £163m) I-Drive 360 entertainment and dining destination, which opens to the public tomorrow (4 May 2015). Developed in a partnership including Flag Luxury Group; SFX Entertainment; The Torino Companies; and Unicorp National Developments, The Orlando Eye will offer unparalleled views of Orlando and central Florida, including the nearby theme parks, attractions and even the Kennedy Space Center.

Plans have been unveiled by US-based Morphosis Architects for a luxury hotel next to Pritzker Prize-winner Peter Zumthor’s famous Therme Vals Spa, Switzerland. The directors of 7132 Ltd, Remo Stoffel and Pius Truffer are behind the scheme. Stoffel trumped a rival bid from Zumthor to buy the Therme Vals spa hotel from the municipality back in 2012, and he and Truffer are now keen to expand their presence in the

Matt Gibbs, a landscape architecture student, has come up with a proposal for a frosty new transport network. An 11km (6.8m) long ‘Freezeway’ that will offer people a chance to ice skate to work. Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, maintains an average sub-zero temperature throughout the winter. Instead of seeing these conditions as a challenge, Gibbs wants to harness this environment and create a dual function commuter network that acts as

Hot on the heels of its announcement for a US$3.5bn (€3.1bn, £2.3bn) winter wonderland theme park to be built in Fort Worth, Texas, multi-media entertainment company DreamVision has unveiled plans for a second US$3.5bn theme park for Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Scheduled to open in 2019, DreamVision Soundscape – which will built upon the musical heritage of Muscle Shoals – will cover 2.2sq m (5.7sq km) and is being developed simultaneously

Plans have been officially unveiled for a US$3.5bn (€3.1bn, £2.3bn) theme park in Fort Worth, Texas, to be opened by multi-media entertainment company DreamVision. The park, tentatively titled ‘DreamVision Mountain, Dreamscape, Texas’, is to be built on 20sq km (7.8sq m) of land in the Fort Worth area. Expected to open in 2020, the year-round winter wonderland will include shops, restaurants, a transportation centre, a performing arts centre, an entertainment

Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has unveiled what is arguably the world’s most artistic cycle path in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh’s death. The high-end cycling highway consists of more than 50,000 solar powered, glow in the dark stones which appear to glitter and swirl in a Van Gogh-like fashion after dark. The installation was inspired by Van Gogh’s famous ‘Starry Night’ oil on