Sustainable Chinese hospitality brand Naked Retreats is embarking on expansion beyond its flagship resort, Naked Home Village, to capture more of the Chinese market. In an article for Spa Business, Naked Retreats founders South African entrepreneur Grant Horsfield and Hong-Kong-born architect Delphine Yip, revealed plans to expand and transform the original Naked Home Village outside Shanghai into Naked Castle – which is due to open later this year with 80

A proposed US$100m-plus (€93m, £66m) resort and spa in Rancho Mirage, California, has received approval from the city’s Architectural Review Board – following amendments made to the project’s design by Derek Sola from architecture firm Gensler. The 24-acre (10-hectare) Thunderbird Resort and Spa plans will be sent to the city’s planning commission for approval. The ‘six-star’ resort – which will be tucked into the landscape with the mountains serving as

Arendon Development Company has announced that architecture firms John Pawson, Richard Meier and Eva Jiricná will be designing elements of a large mixed-use scheme, the Oaks Prague, in the Czech Republic. The development, masterplanned by EDSA with Chapman Taylor and John Thompson and Partners, is based on a village concept, with wellness and healthy living built into its core. London-based firm, John Pawson, is drawing up plans for the epicentre

Starwood Hotels & Resorts will debut its first St Regis-branded property in Istanbul, Turkey in March – designed by award-winning Turkish architect Emre Arolat in an Art Deco style reminiscent of the city’s artistic 1920s era. Housing an extensive selection of artwork from the Demsa Collection of Art – a private collection belonging to the Demsa Group that also owns the hotel itself – the property has 118 bedrooms and

Steiner Spa Consulting president Jeff Matthews has revealed the company's concepts and designs for a burgeoning pipeline of projects in the Indian Ocean and Middle East through to 2017, in an exclusive conversation with Spa Opportunities. Steiner has been chosen to refurbish and rebrand a spa in the North Ari Atoll of the Maldives at four-star hotel Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo – operated by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, a subsidiary of

Luxury skincare company Charme d’Orient has opened a 250sq m (2,691sq ft) day spa in Paris between the Marais district and Place de la République. Designed by Tenzing Architecture, the investment in the spa was €500,000 (US$558,000, £363,000). Tenzing Architecture, which has offices in Paris, Lausanne and Istanbul, is led by founder and principal Gregory Taylor. The practice has worked on luxury hospitality and wellbeing facilities for brands, including L’Occitane

Austrian property entrepreneur Günter Kerbler has announced his intention to build the world’s largest wooden skyscraper in Vienna, with design by Rüdiger Lainer and Partner architects. The building, expected to cost €60m (US$67m, £43m), is to be called HoHo and will be part of the Aspern Urban Lakeside Project, a 20-year initiative to create a new quarter for Vienna, with 20,000 houses and integrated leisure and hospitality. Aspern is currently

The M by Montcalm hotel is set to launch in east London’s emerging technology district in an 18-storey building inspired by the work of ‘Op-Art’ artist Bridget Riley and designed by 5plus Architects. Built by SPG Contracts under a full design and build contract with the help of external consultants Curtins Engineering and KUT M&E consultants – the 296-key hotel features an unusual horizontal transom (a transverse horizontal structural beam

Boston Partners, the Ethiopian company known for building Kuriftu-branded resorts, is to construct a new resort on Moucha Island – off the coast of the Republic of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa – in an attempt to establish the Kuriftu brand in east Africa. In December 2013, Kuriftu signed a 50-year lease for 500,000sq m (5,381,955sq ft) of land on the coral island Moucha. It hired Eyasu Siraj, a

Raison d’Etre has entered into a strategic partnership with Cayan Group, a Middle Eastern real estate developer, to create a spa on the sixth floor of the Cayan Tower in Dubai Marina under the spa consultancy’s LivNordic concept. Located within the existing residential tower and designed by Italian architecture firm M+N architecture, the project will see Raison d’Etre working with interior specialist Blue Camel Design to complete the spa in

The Hyatt Playa del Carmen, Mexico, designed by Mexican architect Javier Sordo Madaleno of Rockwell Group, is scheduled to launch on June 1 2015 featuring a natural mangrove jungle, oceanfront infinity pools and a spa. Within the 314-bedroom beach resort there is a spa with cenotes – natural pits featuring groundwater that are used as swimming holes. These are typically found on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The new hotel

Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort has opened on Hainan Island in Sanya, China’s southernmost province, promising the opening of a lakeside spa later in 2015. Situated three miles from Yalong Bay, the island’s most popular tourist destination, the 207-bedroom property has been designed by Belgian architect Jean-Michel Gathy of design firm Denniston. The modernist development comprises six standalone arch-shaped buildings designed to allow chi, the traditional Chinese notion of

Puente Romano Beach Resort Marbella is set to launch a Six Senses Spa in Q3 2015 as part of an extensive multi-million euro refurbishment to the property in the Costa del Sol on the southern coast of Spain. Resembling an Andalusian village, the 264-guestroom resort is spread across 27 three-storey villas and is set amid 55,000sq m (592,016sq ft) of subtropical gardens featuring more than 400 species of plant life

The Ritz-Carlton Bali, Indonesia, has opened on the southern tip of island Nusa Dua, with a 70m (230ft) glass elevator from the cliff-top resort to the beach below. The 14-treatment room Ritz-Carlton Spa, equipped with thermal facilities by Barr+Wray and cosmetic products by ESPA, will open soon. The 12.7-hectare (31-acre) resort features 313 hotel rooms, six restaurants and meeting facilities for up to 200 guests.

The first Thémaé spa in Tunisia is set to open at the five-star hotel La Badira in the coastal town of Hammamet. The hotel is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World collection. The 130-bedroom property, designed by HSA Architects and Esthetika Déco, opened in December 2014, but the spa – a Thémaé franchise – will debut in March 2015. The property is owned and operated by La

TWB Partners, an Italian consulting network specialised in providing investors in sub-Saharan African hotels with leisure facilities, is working on a turn-key spa solution for the Angolan hospitality firm Chicoil Group. There are six hotels under the Chicoil Group’s Chik Chik Hotels brand and a seventh one is being built in a diamond mining area in the small city of Saurimo. The Chik Chik Saurimo hotel is being developed and

Diamante Cabo San Lucas, a private resort community located on the Pacific Coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is set to open its revamped spa at its 1,500-acre (607-hectare) property in February. The 70-bedroom residence club, owned by president and CEO Ken Jowdy, will also be expanded to include 200 more rooms within the next few years, a spokesperson told Spa Opportunities exclusively. The Spa at Diamante features four treatment

A 96-bedroom resort and spa is planned to open on Myanmar’s Inle Lake in March 2015, further signs of the southeast Asian nation's growing appeal as a tourism destination. It is set to be managed by owner/operator Apple Tree Group – which also owns La Residence Hotel & Spa by Accor in Hue, Vietnam. The Sanctum Inle Resort’s spa, spread across two floors, will feature four single treatment rooms, one

A proposal for a five-star luxury lodge at the edge of Sutton on the Forest in Yorkshire, near Easingwold, has been submitted by Yorkshire-based developer Luxury Lodge Group. The £12m (US$18m, €16m) Forest Lakes development plans to feature 46 eco-friendly wooden lodges, a spa, clubhouse, brasserie, delicatessen and village store. If plans go ahead, the site will open by 2016. Developer Luxury Lodge Group, which also plans to manage the

The Le Meridien Columbus hotel has opened in the Joseph, a US$68m (€49m, £40m) mixed-use development in the Short North neighbourhood of Columbus, Ohio, US. Owned and developed by the Columbus-based Pizzuti Companies, the 10-storey high-rise broke ground in August 2013. Le Meridien Columbus, managed by Wischermann Partners, features 135 bedrooms, an in-house restaurant and spa suites. Designed by Miami-based architectural firm Arquitectonica, Le Meridien Columbus houses art from chair

The Coniston Hotel and Country Estate has announced the development of a spa adjacent to the property’s hotel building in the UK's Yorkshire Dales. Set to open in Q4 2015, the 16,500sq ft (1,533sq m) spa will offer views over the estate’s 24 acre (10 hectare) lake. Expected to create at least 35 new jobs for the local market, the new facility will offer a 15m swimming pool, thermal spa

Milford Hall Hotel, a Georgian mansion dating back to the 1800s just a short drive from Stonehenge, UK, is adding a £500,000 (US$756,200, €652,300) spa to its four-star amenities. The property is owned by Hughes Hotels, which has brought in consultancy Spa Creators to create the Lime Spa – expected to open in May 2015. Alistair Johnson, managing director of Spa Creators, spoke exclusively to Spa Opportunities, detailing the company’s

Aman Resorts, known for its high-end hotels in exotic locations, has opened its first urban property, an 84-bedroom hotel in Tokyo’s financial district. The Aman Tokyo is the company’s first Japanese venture and occupies the top six floors of The Otemachi Tower. Kerry Hill Architects was in charge of the interior design, which mirrors local cultures and traditions, with shoji paper sliding doors and a Japanese engawa porch. Two floors

Operator Swire Hotels is set to unveil a 100-bedroom hotel and 42 adjoining serviced apartments in Chengdu, China, this May. The project forms part of the city government’s conservation project to preserve the surrounding heritage buildings, which are integral to the success of a wider mixed-use development. The Temple House will be located within the Chengdu Daci Temple Cultural and Commercial Complex, a joint venture to be developed by Sino-Ocean

The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico has reached the completion of the second stage of its revival, including the addition of luxury guestrooms and a spa. The US$200m (€149m, £118m) revitalisation of the five-star property, built in 1919 by Frederick William Vanderbilt, has taken 10 years. The hotel was originally designed by Warren and Wetmore, the architectural firm known for Grand Central Station and the New York

The first Virgin-branded hotel has opened in Chicago’s Loop district in the 26-storey Old Dearborn Bank Building, originally designed by architecture firm Rapp and Rapp. The Art Deco building, a Chicago landmark, has 250 guestrooms, including 40 one-bedroom suites and two Penthouse Suites. There are four restaurants – three of which are scheduled to open between February and April of this year. The hotel’s spa will open in Q2 and

The 67-key Baglioni Hotel London facing Kensington Gardens has completed a full renovation of its spa, designed by Milanese architects Rebosio+Spagnulo. Open to both hotel guests and external clients, the Baglioni Spa offers female and male Turkish baths and three treatment rooms for massages, facial and body treatments, with products from Natura Bissé. Natura Bissé has developed unique signature facial and body treatments for the Baglioni spa, such as a