HOAR CROSS HALL, UK: A stately spa experience

Hoar Cross Hall spa hotel in Staffordshire, UK, has revealed a host of upgrades following the completion of the property’s most extensive renovation project to date

INTERVIEW BY LAUREN HEATH-JONES

Set inside a 150-year-old former stately home in 43 acres of Staffordshire countryside, Hoar Cross Hall – owned by luxury hotel and spa group Barons Eden – has emerged from a two-year programme of works to upgrade its 97 bedrooms, communal areas and spa.

The £14 million (€16 million) redesign represents the most significant investment in the history of Barons Eden. Improvements have included the addition of a new treatment lounge for guests to relax in the spa before and after treatments and the renovation of its Spa Boutique, The Parlour and Barber Shop.

The spa offers hydrotherapy and saltwater pools

Now complete, the 8,000sqm spa offers a total of 41 treatment rooms, ten saunas and steam rooms, five relaxation and snooze lounges as well as hydrotherapy and saltwater pools.

Signature experiences include the Nordic Heat & Ice suite, which offers a full circuit of thermal experiences with an Aspen wood sauna, thermal showers, thermal cabins and aromatherapy and salt inhalation rooms. Treatments are provided by Elemis, Lava Shells, Voya and Jessica.

A stylish relaxation room provides a sense of privacy

European Spa talks to Edward Law, director of Barons Eden, and Hoar Cross Hall’s director of spa and leisure, Phil Murphy, about creating a spa that provides unique moments of indulgence for all guests.

What was the driving force behind the redesign?

Edward Law: We wanted to ensure that Hoar Cross Hall, as one of the biggest spa resorts in Europe, both met and exceeded guests’ expectations. Our goal was to update the property to bring it in line with our luxurious offering but in a way that still honoured its heritage and celebrated its history.

A guest enjoys a Winter Glow spa day treatment

It’s a beautiful old building, it’s believed to have been first built in the 15th century, but a lot of attention and money needed to be dedicated to it. There’d been a period when sufficient care hadn’t really been spent on the property and some areas were in need of total renovation. The bedrooms are a great example: they’d had facelifts but hadn’t had a proper overhaul since they’d been built. A lot of it was also just the natural cycle to need to upgrade the property and the facilities. Sustainability was another factor.

Phil Murphy: With the spa, we wanted to create a luxury offering with a variety of experiences so that every guest is catered for. Barons Eden’s mission statement is to treat every guest as a friend of the family and give them experiences that bring them back, and the spa really embodies that ethos.

We offer 41 treatment rooms, ten saunas and steam rooms and five slumber and relaxation spaces. We also have The Parlour salon, the Barber Shop, a gym, fitness studios and the hydrotherapy and saltwater pools. We’ve also overhauled our treatment menu.

Relaxation beds line the pool

We wanted to look at the individual’s spa journey and have something for everyone. For example, we’ve seen male clientele increase within the spa since coming out of lockdown. So our luxury grooming experience in the Barber Shop has been really popular and it’s great to offer experiences for male guests who don’t want spa treatments, while still being able to offer male-targeted treatments for those who do.

What challenges have you faced during the work?

Edward Law: Aside from the pandemic, the biggest challenge has been the scope of the project. It’s like the saying about painting the Forth Bridge... it’s an ongoing process with no set end. We’ve got ourselves to a good place now, but we’re not going to stop. We’re going to continue to invest and upgrade as we go.

Skincare brand Voya provides its seaweed-based treatments

We currently have 77 projects in the pipeline for Hoar Cross Hall and its sister spa Eden Hall in Nottinghamshire, where we have planning permission to begin developing an outdoor spa in the courtyard.

What is the spa’s special USP?

Phil Murphy: I would say the Nordic Heat & Ice suite is our USP. It was the first element of the spa that was created when we embarked on this project. It was designed by Jamie Strachan of HiP Creative Consulting and was inspired by Scandinavian spa traditions. It’s based on four principles – hot, cold, rest, repeat – and is a complete thermal circuit with an Aspen wood sauna, an ice shower, a heated shower, a lavender aromatherapy room and a salt-inhalation room.

The Nordic Heat & Ice Suite is a comprehensive thermal circuit

Our hydrotherapy pool and saltwater pool are also unique experiences. The hydrotherapy pool is kept at 33-34C and aids relaxation, reduces stress and heals sore muscles, while the saltwater pool has minimal levels of chlorine so is kinder to the skin. The salt water acts as a natural exfoliant and promotes the bodies relaxation response, while our starlit swim grotto provides the ultimate relaxing experience.

Tell us about the new spa menu

Phil Murphy: We have partnered with Elemis, Jessica, Lava Shells and Voya to deliver outstanding treatments with long-lasting results. We’re really trying to provide an approach that is both holistic and results-driven, again so we can cater to everybody. Our body rituals include various Elemis massages, Lava Shells’ Deep Tissue Massage, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and Voya’s Voyager Massage Journey. We also have a host of facial rituals, such as Elemis’ Superfood Pro-Radiance Facial and Voya’s Sea Soothers Facial.

product partner Elemis supplies skincare expertise

There’s certainly a trend for low-touch experiences at the moment so we’re also exploring new treatments, such as Elemis’ results-driven LED mask and Voya’s Lazy Days Detox Seaweed Bath, a self-led protocol that includes a guided meditation experience. We also have our Lava Shells massage, which isn’t contactless but reduces physical contact while still being effective.

Voya’s Sea Soothers facial is available at Hoar Cross Hall

Edward Law: We worked closely with our brand partners to look at what we were offering and how it could be reinvigorated and tailored to our guests. We found that our treatment menu had evolved so much and had almost become too big. Even I was becoming confused by the range of treatments that we had, so we decided to simplify and pare back our offering. There’s so much to our spa and we have so much to offer in terms of thermal experiences and relaxation but having a treatment completely transforms the experience, so we wanted to make it as easy as possible for guests to choose the ideal treatment that would best enhance their stay.

You said sustainability was a factor in the redesign, can you tell us about your sustainability initiatives?

Edward Law: We take sustainability very seriously. We’re trying to cultivate a culture of sustainability within the business, so we’ve appointed sustainability champions and are breaking the concept down to its core components. Because it can be bewildering when you look at a business of this size and think: “How can we do everything sustainably?”

The spa’s Aspen wood sauna;

For us, it’s all about striking the right balance between the guest experience and sustainability without compromising on quality. We’re looking at everything we do in the minutest detail. The spa, for example, can be very hot, due to the thermal experiences etc, so it’s important that we have water stations throughout.

In previous years, we’d get through thousands of paper cups but now we encourage guests to use their own water bottles. We sell reusable bottles in the boutique and have changed our water fountains so there’s enough space to refill them. There are a lot of initiatives like that, which we’re encouraging across the business.

The hydrotherapy pool is kept at 33-34C to aid relaxation, reduce stress and heal sore muscles

We’ve also reduced our site-wide chemical usage by 70 per cent, from simple swaps like cleaning with ionised ‘magic’ water, to bigger things like installing filters in the spa. We’re also zero-landfill as a site, which is terrific.

There’s so much we’re doing that when you say it individually it doesn’t sound very exciting but that’s how change happens. It’s those incremental steps adding up.

SPA STATISTICS

Hoar Cross Hall +44 (0) 1283 477900

www.baronseden.com/hoar-cross-hall

Owner: Barons Eden Managing director: Michael Stott General manager: Andy Rathbone Director of spa and leisure: Phil Murphy Spa operations manager: Lori Davis Therapy manager: Milly Spilsbury Design and interiors: Jamie Strachan, HiP Creative Consulting Construction: TC Builders Total investment: £14 million Spa team: 130 Spa size: 8,000sqm Treatment rooms: 41 Hydrothermal experiences: Nordic Heat & Ice suite, 10 saunas and steam rooms including an Aspen wood sauna Pools: Hydrotherapy pool and saltwater pool Fitness facilities: Gym, two exercise studios, outdoor tennis courts, driving range and archery classes Other facilities: Five slumber and relaxation spaces, The Parlour and Barber Shop hairdressing Suppliers: Anapos, DaleSauna, Unique Pool, Ellisons, EcoKnit, TLJ Access Control, Technogym Product partners: Elemis, Voya, Lava Shells, Jessica, Geleration and Kerastase

here are plans for further outdoor spa facilities at Hoar Cross Hall

General manager Andy Rathbone explains why Hoar Cross Hall is so in-demand as a UK staycation hot-spot

“Hoar Cross Hall has the grandeur and splendour of a stately home, which of course is a draw in itself. The spa is certainly one of the greatest strings to our bow but we also have outdoor pursuits available, such as archery and cycling, we have local cycling maps, walking maps and historic maps for people who want to explore the area. “

Locally we have the National Memorial Arboretum, which is a great tourist attraction. It’s a wonderful place to go and visit, and we have some absolutely top-class golf courses around here. In terms of historic England, we have the likes of The Samuel Johnson Museum and Lichfield Cathedral, which you can actually see from the front of the hotel. There’s an awful lot to attract people to stay with us.

“On site one of the biggest draws is the standard of food and beverage that we offer. It really is a cut above, certainly compared to most hotels within stately homes. There’s very little competition in that area that stands up to what we can do.”