Malaysian conglomerate YTL Hotels, which owns the newly opened Gainsborough Bath Spa – the only hotel in the UK with direct access to natural thermal waters – is expanding its luxury portfolio with the acquisition of three properties in Edinburgh, Berkshire and London. Dato Mark Yeoh, executive director of YTL Hotels, said the company will be undertaking “exciting enhancements” at each property. “Our core philosophy of not just building properties,

International spa and wellness consultancy Blu Spas is working on a project to develop a resort in Paradise Valley in Montana, close to Yellowstone National Park. The site is being developed at the Yellowstone Hot Springs, near the national park’s northern access, and is in the same location where the LaDuke Hot Springs and Corwin Hot Springs were popular resort and bathing destinations more than a century ago. Designers, engineers

The W group's Amsterdam hotel has been extended with the renovation of the historic Bank building, which houses a 300sq m (3,229sq ft) Away Spa set in the former vault. Originally designed by F.W.M. Poggenbeek in 1908, the building was one of the first concrete constructions in The Netherlands. Spa consultant 4SeasonsSpa worked with designers Baranowitz + Kronenberg and consultants Raison d'Etre to create the spa, which is housed behind

Evian Spa will expand its presence in the Asian market with a new spa on the 86th floor of Lotte Hotel Group’s Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea. Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate, is building the 555m-high (1,821ft) tower, which will be Seoul’s first super-tall skyscraper and the sixth-tallest building in the world. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the 123-storey tower will include department stores, cultural facilities,

The St Pierre Park Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort on the Channel Island of Guernsey has redeveloped its spa and fitness centre to the tune of £2.5m (US$3.2m, €2.9m). Owned, operated and designed by Hand Picked Hotels – which bought the property last year – the spa includes a new indoor pool and wet area with mood LED lighting, an infinity wall, and floor-to-ceiling windows. A two-tier volcanic stone sauna

The Global Wellness Institute’s Wellness Communities Initiative has written a white paper to address critical issues surrounding the fast-growing wellness real estate market – estimated by the GWI to be a US$100bn (€90bn, £81bn) global marketplace. The initiative focuses on communities developed with proactive health and wellness, ecological sensitivity and social connectivity in mind, and the paper seeks to define what makes something a wellness community, what the minimum criteria

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas will debut in the US in 2019 with its first urban location, Six Senses New York, a luxury Bjarke Ingels-designed hotel being developed by HFZ Capital Group in New York City. The flagship urban location is located between Manhattan’s popular High Line and the Hudson River on 10th Avenue, encompassing the entire block between 17th and 18th streets in the heart of Chelsea. The overall

Spa operator Raison d’Etre will open a two-storey, 4,600sq m (49,514sq ft) LivNordic Spa at the Katara Beach Club in the Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar. Set to open in Q1 2017, the Katara Beach Club by LivNordic Spa & Wellness will be on two club floors, with the ground floor for men and the first floor for women. Designed by Gillian Docherty of Studio HBA in Dubai, the

The Six Senses Zil Pasyon resort, located on the private island of Felicite in the Seychelles, has opened. Designed by the Six Senses Architecture and Design team along with Richard Hywel Evans of London-based Studio RHE, the resort features contemporary architecture and interiors, and has been designed to “embrace the untouched picturesque landscape of the island,” the company said. It features 28 one-bedroom pool villas and two two-bedroom pool villas

Mandara Spa will operate a spa at the Lotte Hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia, set to open in mid-2017. The five-star property is situated near Saint Isaac’s Square, and constructed on the historically significant location of Yakunchikova’s mansion, built in 1849. The original building design was drawn up by the French architect Adrian Robin and has reportedly housed famous historical figures such as John Quincy Adams, the first US ambassador

Italian architect and spa designer Alberto Apostoli has created a wellness centre in the south of France that evokes a medieval crypt. Atrium - Spa & Beauté has been built on one of the mazy streets of Mâcon, the historic gateway town to Burgundy. The client wanted a spa and sauna complex that reflects the history and religious background of the town – typified by the adjacent Church of Saint

A £5m (US$6.5m, €5.8m) proposal to reopen Turkish baths in Newcastle, UK, has moved a step closer with the council approving planning permission. Charity Fusion Lifestyle is behind the project, which will see the baths and pool re-established in the north-east city by 2018. The venue will be kitted out with new health and wellbeing facilities, a spa and bistro cafe. Work is expected to begin in early 2017 to

The Well Living Lab – the first human-centred research centre investigating the links between health and well-being and indoor environments – has announced its founding “alliance members”. Architecture and engineering firm Arup, technology giant IBM, real estate developer Lendlease and energy saving window company View Inc are among the founding supporters of the project. The announcement was made during the first Well Living Lab Alliance Summit, held on September 13

Tracy Lee of consultancy TLee Spas is working on plans for a destination spa at the upcoming Auberge Chileno Bay Resort & Residences in Los Cabos, Mexico, set to open in December 2016. The resort is set in the 1,200-acre community of Chileno Bay, and offers a “modern active and outgoing spirit in its design and lifestyle,” the company said. The signature spa will include ten treatment rooms, a couples

Scotland’s first loch-side wood-burning sauna experience has opened on the shores of Loch Tay. The Hot Box has been created by architects McKenzie Strickland Associates on Taymouth Marina in the village of Kenmore. Stretching 40ft (12.19m), the sauna is designed to offer panoramic views across the loch to the adjacent hills. Guests of the sauna are encouraged to sit in the sauna, where there is a wood-burning stove, before leaping

Actor Brad Pitt traveled to Croatia last week to tour the site of a proposed €1.5bn (US$1.7bn, £1.3bn) resort development near in the coastal town of Zablace, local media are reporting. The plans are to transform the city of Zablace into a “modern ecologically-responsible planned community,” People magazine reports, complete with a flagship luxury hotel, shops, villas, a school and clinic. Swiss-based investment company TFI Holding has invested €60m (US$68m,

The nonprofit Global Wellness Institute is launching a Wellness in Architecture Initiative with a mission to bring together diverse thought leaders to raise the awareness on how our surroundings affect us. Initiative members will gather emerging evidence of the effects that the built environment has on humankind – diving into scientific corners of academia, interviewing experts within the building industry, collecting personal experiences of healing spaces, and more. “Our goal

Spa consultancy and management company Duniye Spas will operate the spa the the upcoming Hurawalhi Resort in the Maldives, an eco-conscious resort set to open 1 November. The 600sq m (6,458sq ft) spa will feature five overwater treatment rooms with outdoor baths and glass floors – designed for clients to watch fish and ocean creatures as they have a treatment, said Renate Hermes, group spa director for Duniye Spas. Treatment

Destination spa Rancho la Puerta is opening three new Villas Cielo, or ‘Heavenly Villas,’ this October. The private villas – Azul Terra and Verde – are designed with wellness and relaxation in mind, and are designed to be highly customisable. Designed by Nicole Petersen of Petersen Design Management, the villas aim to capture the spirit of Mexico through artisan decor and Mexican-inspired art and custom furniture. Each casita is themed

Starwood Hotels has expanded its Latin American portfolio with the opening of the 119-bedroom W Punta de Mita in Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit. Owned by Fideicomiso Los Veneros, the new hotel is part of the multi-use oceanfront development Los Veneros. Designed by ASET/AOMA in collaboration with Oakland, California-based design firm Mister Important Design and Starwood’s in-house design team, the concept is inspired by the local bohemian surf culture found on Mexico’s

A new London exhibition is set to explore communal bathing culture through the work of contemporary architects and designers. The immersive show – called Soak, Steam, Dream and organised as part of the 2016 London Design Festival – uses photography, film and archive objects to showcase international bathhouse projects by designers as varied as Peter Zumthor, Kengo Kuma and H3T architekti. Each project has been chosen for its role in

The US$4.2bn (€3.7, £3.2bn) Wynn Palace has opened in Cotai, Macau, with a 4,497sq m (48,403sq ft) room spa – one of Macau’s largest. Designed by TAL Studio and inspired by the royal residences of China’s most fabled dynasties, the 22-treatment-room spa is designed to honour the grandeur of the imperial court. Guests arrive at the Grand Court, where a solid brass Foucault pendulum is suspended in the air, its

The giant Baha Mar resort complex slated for the Bahamas will resume construction in September, following a new agreement with the Bahamian government and the Export-Import Bank of China. Bahamas Prime Minister Perry G. Christie said the US$3.5bn mega-resort – which is to include a Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, Rosewood at Baha Mar, Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar and SLS LUX at Baha Mar – will be completed and

The Grand Velas Los Cabos is set to open in Mexico in late 2016, with a two-level, 35,000sq ft (3,252sq m) spa that will include a guided water journey. Architect Ricardo Elias, principal of Elias and Elias Architects in Guadalajara, has designed the hotel with traditional Mexican architectural details, and also worked on the interior design, along with Ernesto Vela and interior designer Melin Castro. The spa will include 16

Hospitality group Taj Safaris has opened its first lodge outside of India; a traditionally designed retreat within a national park once used as a hunting ground by Nepal’s royal family. Leopards, rhinos and Bengal tigers roam the UNESCO World Heritage listed Chitwan National Park located near the city of Bharatpur. The thick grasslands, meandering water bodies and abundant wildlife – including 68 species of mammal and 550 native bird species

The 1,400sq m (15,069sq ft) Resense Spa at Kempinski Hotel Summerland Beirut in Lebanon is set to open on 5 September with a visually impressive circular building in the resort garden. The standalone day resort spa, which is spread over two floors, will house one double spa suite, six single treatment rooms and two scrub rooms, as well as separate male and female relaxation lounges and a spa cafe. “This

Hollywood star Robert De Niro will build his planned luxury hotel in London’s Covent Garden after the deputy leader of the local council hailed the design as “one of the finest schemes we have considered in years”. Permission for the The Wellington Hotel has been granted, enabling the star of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to increase his burgeoning hospitality portfolio. Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox have designed the 83-room hotel,