spa, recovery + longevity consultancy

Spa programming is the process of defining the spa’s service mix, room types, and supporting spaces based on the target guest, positioning and operating model. It typically covers treatment menu assumptions, consultation needs, wet/dry components, relaxation areas, back-of-house support, and how the guest journey flows from arrival to departure.

The guest journey describes how users move through the spa—from arrival and changing to treatments, thermal experiences, recovery, and relaxation. Sequencing is critical to comfort and perceived quality, especially when combining wet and dry areas. Good sequencing reduces confusion, improves privacy, and supports staff workflow and service timing.

Treatment rooms vary by modality and service level: single, couple, accessible rooms, and specialist rooms where enhanced services are offered. Planning must consider acoustic privacy, storage, therapist workflow, lighting control, and adjacency to consultation, relaxation and support spaces—so rooms function efficiently and feel premium.

A hydrothermal suite is a group of thermal experiences—often including sauna, steam/hammam, experience showers, plunge pools, heated loungers and relaxation. Planning focuses on wet/dry zoning, sequencing, hygiene, privacy, and safe circulation. Technical coordination is key due to humidity control, drainage, and servicing requirements.

Wet/dry zoning separates areas with high water exposure (showers, steam, plunge) from dry areas (lounges, corridors, treatment rooms). This protects finishes, improves safety, supports hygiene and maintenance, and reduces operational issues. It also influences MEP strategy, drainage layouts, and material specification choices.

A recovery zone supports post-exercise or stress-reduction experiences, often bridging fitness and spa. It may include touchless therapies, stretching, breathwork, relaxation and quiet recovery seating. Planning emphasises privacy, acoustic comfort, session turnover, and clear operational rules—particularly where hotel and membership users overlapA recovery zone supports post-exercise or stress-reduction experiences, often bridging fitness and spa. It may include touchless therapies, stretching, breathwork, relaxation and quiet recovery seating. Planning emphasises privacy, acoustic comfort, session turnover, and clear operational rules—particularly where hotel and membership users overlap.

Touchless therapy suites are dedicated rooms or pods for technology-enabled wellness experiences where the guest self-administers or receives minimal staff interaction. Planning focuses on session logic, dwell time assumptions, ventilation/heat loads, power/data needs, sanitation protocols, and acoustic separation to protect a calm experience.

Longevity-led wellness integrates assessment and personalised programmes into the spa journey. This may include consultation spaces, screening areas, and flexible multi-purpose rooms that can evolve over time. The key is to plan circulation and privacy so wellness feels clinical only where appropriate, while keeping the overall experience hospitality-grade.

Back-of-house planning includes linen handling, storage, staff circulation, prep areas, cleaning, waste, and plant rooms access. BOH is a major driver of operational efficiency and service quality. Poor BOH planning leads to clutter, noise, and staff circulation conflicts—often undermining even the best interiors.

Capacity planning estimates peak demand and how many users can comfortably use the spa at once. It informs the number and size of treatment rooms, thermal capacity, changing provisions, relaxation seating, and staffing logic. Utilisation assumptions help prevent overbuilding or creating bottlenecks that damage guest experience.

Acoustic privacy is essential for treatment rooms, consultation spaces and quiet relaxation areas. Planning must consider adjacency, door strategies, partitions, equipment noise, and background sound masking. Without acoustic control, spas feel busy and insecure—reducing perceived quality and limiting the ability to charge premium rates.

MEP coordination is often the difference between a spa that “looks right” and a spa that performs reliably. Humidity control, ventilation, heat loads, drainage, waterproofing interfaces, equipment clearances, and maintenance access must be addressed early—especially for thermal suites and technology-enabled recovery modalities.