The concept for Naked Retreats did not emerge from a carefully constructed master plan. Instead the idea was deeply personal. When South African entrepreneur Grant Horsfield arrived in Shanghai over 10 years ago, he found himself yearning for the open spaces of home. Having recently met Hong Kong-born architect Delphine Yip, his wife-to-be, he knew he wanted to remain in China. But to survive the hustle and bustle of his adopted city, he realised he would have to find his own rural retreat. “Cape Town offers people an incredible lifestyle – it’s easy to find fresh air, simple luxuries and peace,” says Horsfield. “While Shanghai was extraordinary, there was nowhere for a country boy like me to escape to on the weekend. So we started to actively look for a location, a place of genuine quiet.”

The Horsfields stumbled upon the secluded farming village of Sanjiuwu while exploring Moganshan, a bamboo and pine-clad mountain 220km west of Shanghai, which once served as a haven for the city’s foreign elite until communism set in. Home to a small, ageing community, with no throughway, Sanjiuwu seemed ideally suited to their idea of a rural refuge.

Naked is born
Although they had no previous hospitality experience, the couple committed to raising their own finances for a ‘back to basics’ guesthouse and struck up a relationship with the local Deqing government. Eventually acquiring and renovating eight farmhouses, they opened Naked Home Village in 2007 with 21 rustic rooms. Here was the chance to test out their theory that the stress, noise and pollution of city life was creating a need for accessible retreats that would allow people to return to nature and regain balance. They chose the name ‘naked’ because it encapsulated their philosophy of temporary retreat from an urban lifestyle to a more elemental rhythm.

Foreigners reacted well to the simple offering but the Chinese weren’t so positive. “Our Chinese guests weren’t as excited by our rustic style,” confirms Delphine Yip-Horsfield. “Since their grandparents and parents had grown up in village settings, the farmhouses weren’t considered ideal holiday destinations. They longed for more luxury amenities. They wanted fewer stairs to climb in their high heels, air-conditioned rooms, more activities including a spa, and F&B choices.”

For the Horsfields, there was little doubt they would need to start catering for the affluent Chinese living in and around Shanghai if their business was to build critical mass. With this in mind, they raised CNY300m (US$48.8m, €39.1m, £31m) to fund a larger resort in the same valley. Occupying 60 acres (24 hectares), Naked Stables opened in 2011 with 121 bedrooms, three restaurants, a clubhouse, a conference centre, horse stables and an array of recreational facilities – including the Naked Leaf Spa.

“Our relationships with the local government body and village council proved crucial,” observes Horsfield. “Every step you take in developing and constructing a project like this requires local government approval so the fact we had already nurtured ties with villagers and officials made a big difference.

“Village people are understandably nervous about outsiders so with our first project, we had to work hard to gain their trust. We provided employment, looked after their families and improved the environment. When we chose the land for Naked Stables, the local government couldn’t understand why we wanted to build somewhere so steep, with no water, and no through road. But that’s exactly how we preserve the integrity of our locations.”

In pursuit of wellness
The protected reserve of the Moganshan foothill ideally serves the Naked way of life, where a combination of healthy activities – hiking, biking, yoga, swimming, horse riding, tea picking, archery, fishing, pottery, weaving – fresh food, outdoor living and therapy is promoted. Though relatively new in China, the popularity of Naked Stables underlines that local consumers are becoming interested in restorative escapes – occupancy in 2014 stood at just over 70 per cent and almost 90 per cent of customers are Chinese. Indeed the Horsfields were inspired by another wellness destination – Thailand’s Chiva-Som. “If you have a luxury resort in China, you absolutely need a spa just as you do a good restaurant,” Horsfield points out. “But Naked is about achieving inner balance so the green location, design, cuisine, activities and spa all support that ambition.”

Comprising 14 treatment rooms – six in the main spa building and eight individual huts – Naked Leaf Spa is found in a pine forest glade. “In China, a spa treatment will satisfy four of the five senses,” says Yip-Horsfield. “What’s different about our spa is the way it caters for the sense of sound – how guests are surrounded by the relaxing sounds of the forest. That’s not always easy to find in China, where hotel spas are often tucked away in basements.”

Accordingly, the spa rituals have been inspired by sound – thought to harmonise energy fields in Chinese tradition. The 150-minute, CNY1,280 (US$208, €167, £132) Wind Detoxifying Ritual, for example, takes place in one of the huts, affording a peaceful outdoor setting and comprises a coconut charcoal body scrub, Oriental tui na & gua sha massage, plus signature Naked Leaf facial, to combat tiredness.

Attracting Chinese consumers
Beyond the signature therapies, the treatment menu is comprehensive, incorporating TCM, Asian and European therapies, massages – CNY680 (US$111, €89, £79) for 60 minutes – facials, body and beauty treatments. Aromatherapy Associates and Thailand-based I plus Q are the two spa product lines used.

Although the Naked Leaf Spa does not cater to a specific profile, it’s clear the 35-plus spa services are designed to appeal to potential repeat clientele and those who like to sample new things. As with other hoteliers in China, the Naked team recognises that Chinese consumers are switched on by new experiences and by trying as many activities as they can afford. Seasonal promotions therefore offer price discounts in combination with other activities such as horse riding, or provide a selected additional complimentary treatment when one treatment is booked.

“It’s important that we present something new and interesting besides standard treatments,” Yip-Horsfield comments. “When our guests go back home, they have a story to tell to friends and relatives. Our spa director, Lisa Lam from Vietnam, puts together a new treatment every season, from a black sesame scrub for the winter to green tea therapy in the spring. She has also recently introduced one of the first detox programmes in China, ranging from three to five days, with complete healthy meal plans, exercise routines and spa therapies.”

Sustainability, another cornerstone of the Naked philosophy, has been applied to ground-up construction of the resort, including the spa. Yip-Horsfield, who led the design, employed cutting-edge techniques to realise their goal that Naked Stables qualify as China’s first LEED Platinum Certified resort. Indeed, it’s already been recognised as Asia’s Leading Green Resort at the 2012 World Travel Awards.

Stabilised, insulated, rammed earth walls (SIRE), used for the main spa building and one-bedroom Earth Huts, have allowed local earth from the site to be recycled. Reclaimed wood features strongly in the spa huts while energy-saving technologies across the resort include heat recovery units, a closed loop water system, bamboo pellet boilers for heating and carbonised bamboo flooring.

Using SIP (structurally insulated panels), the resort’s Tree Top Villas have been designed as prefab kit houses made of recycled plywood and Styrofoam. Complementing the local vernacular building styles, interiors draw on raw materials designed with an African lodge aesthetic, in a nod to Horsfield’s roots.

Brand expansion
Around 50 per cent of the accommodation units onsite are privately owned, which helped the Horsfields to recoup their initial capital and has contributed to year-round occupancy. While weekends at the retreat are pitched at the leisure market, the Naked team has also developed a sizeable corporate business intake during the week, accounting for 30 per cent of monthly revenue. Groups typically work in the Chinese branches of multinationals, spanning industries from fashion to automobiles, healthcare to sports.

To date, marketing efforts have focused solely on Shanghai. Rates vary, but a recent two-night promotion offered an Earth Hut from CNY1,688–CNY2,888++ (US$274-US$470, €220-€376, £174-£298) per person (minimum two persons). Still, Horsfield estimates the company turns away up four enquiries per room booked in high season. With this in mind, the original Naked Home Village (now closed) is being expanded and transformed into Naked Castle, due to open later this year, with 80 rooms and its own spa. Having discovered the ruins of a castle on-site, Naked will tap into the glamour of 1920s Shanghai to revive the structure, in addition to self-contained villas. “We think the Chinese will be attracted to this newer product,” Horsfield says. “It should appeal to those who like to share their experiences with different groups of family and friends each time.”

Naked’s projects have attracted the attention of government bodies and developers across eastern China but Horsfield is proceeding cautiously, only giving the green light to partnerships that offer natural locations away from existing industry or tourist attractions. “Site selection plus orientation is important,” he confirms. “Our properties need to be less than 2.5 hours from a major city for weekend accessibility but remain remote and private. We’re working with local governments to secure land in areas protected from vast development.”

Naked Water, set to launch in the historic Jiangsu Province in 2016, is being developed in collaboration with the Suzhou Haojing Investment and Development Company. Meanwhile, local partners in Zhejiang Province have been secured for Naked Spring – a lakeside property set on 230 acres (93 hectares) in Shaoxing – and Naked Hill, a 300-acre (121-hectare) country retreat in Yiwu. Both are scheduled to debut in 2017. All the retreats will be built and run by Naked’s 60-strong operational team in Shanghai, including 16 architects and designers, and all will have a Naked Leaf Spa component.

“Naked aims to be a leading brand for sustainable luxury hotels in China,” concludes Yip-Horsfield. “We want to bring pioneering techniques to the design, construction and operational aspects of the country’s hospitality industry.”.