AB Hotels unveils private members spa at Sopwell House Hotel, with design by Sparcstudio

Spa designers, Sparcstudio, have unveiled the £14million Cottonmill Spa for Sopwell House Hotel, after 21 months' construction.

Sopwell House, a part of the AB Hotels group owned by the Bejerano family, has had a three-storey glass-fronted extension and private spa garden added.

Themed on barefoot luxury, the spa has spacious rooms flooded with natural light, Tom Dixon lighting, bespoke furniture, and a warm palette of natural tones complemented by turquoise accents of Onice Smeraldo marble.

Talking to Spa Business, Beverly Bayes, Sparcstudio’s creative director said: “We really wanted to focus on the finer details, because that’s what people really judge you for."

Debi Green acted as spa consultant, developing the property’s operational standards, while Edinburgh-based ISA architects were chosen to assist in the delivery of the building.

Elemis, Espa, iS Clinical and Aromatherapy Associates products are used in treatments, and Elemis and Espa will be retailed to guests.

At the heart of the spa is the Garden Relaxation Room which connects guests to both indoors and outdoors through thermal hydro-pools that flow into the new garden. The outdoor area includes its own firepit, three jacuzzis and a multi-sensory shower.

Sparcstudio collaborated with Ann-Marie Powell, a gold-medal-winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show designer, to create the garden.

The Whisper Room acts as another relaxation area for guests with bespoke beds looking over the spa garden. This floor includes three heated marble loungers and a panoramic sauna.

The spa offers multiple thermal experiences to guests, including a salt steam room, a botanical steam room, and two saunas.

Cottonmill spa also has its own Deep Relaxation Room, a cocoon-like experience based on traditional Chinese medicine. Guests lie on six warm, softly-vibrating Four Senses loungers intended to soothe the body and stimulate meridian lines, while herbal oil aromas induce a meditative state.

Additional treatment rooms include a Gharieni Quartz room, a Vichy shower from Dornbracht, and a double treatment suite.

Dornbracht was chosen to provide multi-sensory showers throughout the spa, including Sensory Sky, which simulates the sensation of showering in the open air, a rain shower that simulates a lightning storm and a luxury shower in the garden.

Facilities also include a hair, makeup and nail Salon, the Sitting Room for guest relaxation, and the spa restaurant, the Pantry.

Cottonmill Spa is being billed as the UK’s first private member's spa and will offer two tiers of membership, the Cottonmill and the Club at Cottonmill.

Cottonmill members can access treatment discounts and offers, retail discounts, complimentary classes, the Cottonmill app membership and discounted hotel rooms. An individual annual membership costs £1,800 (€2033, $2217), alongside a £350 (€395, $431) joining fee.

The higher tier membership, The Club at Cottonmill, includes all Cottonmill benefits and its own exclusive perks, with an individual annual membership fee of £3,750 (€4236, $4619) plus a £500 (€565, $616) joining fee.

The Club at Cottonmill provides exclusive access to a specialist fitness and lifestyle induction, an introductory PT session, complimentary classes plus discount on guest appearances, exclusive offers and discounts with selected brand partners, and a laundry and dry cleaning service.

The spa operates through personalised Gantner wristbands which grant members access to the entire three-floor spa, track workout progress through integration with the Technogym Mywellness Cloud, and control changing room lockers.

Hotel guests from Sopwell House Hotel have complimentary day access to the spa and day access is also available to non-guests through booking.