The Spa at Carden Park, UK

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

European Spa visits Carden Park, in Cheshire, to enjoy its gleaming, stand-alone £10 million spa that promises to make guests ‘feel good from the outside in’

Report by Sarah Camilleri

Open since January this year, The Spa at Carden, located in the heart of Cheshire in north-west England, is fresh, new and unashamedly hedonistic. Totally focused on luxury and escape in equal measures, the two-storey purpose-built facility covers more than 4,500sqm, which includes an extensive 2,200sqm spa garden that enjoys views over the surrounding countryside.

Designed for celebrations and premium treatments, the spa is the result of a £10 million (w11m) investment by Carden Park’s owners, Steve and Sally Morgan, following many years of detailed planning and research by a team that includes lead general manager Hamish Ferguson, spa director Steve Ewing and a host of spa specialists.

The Spa at Carden is unashamedly a ‘place to be seen’ – its stylish, contemporary interiors and laid-back experiential garden with relaxation pods and all-weather Bollinger Champagne Bar are perfect for guests who want to follow in the footsteps of TV’s Edina and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous, or those who love Instagram. Unlike at many spas, WiFi is embraced and extends out into the spa garden, where an upbeat Ibiza soundtrack and thermal experiences can be enjoyed all year around.

Sparkling strategy

Years of development went into the spa concept before construction could begin 18 months before its opening. “Originally, we weren’t planning to have such a large garden outside, but I convinced our owners this was where we needed to go,” confirms Hamish Ferguson.

“I have seen so many spas all over the world and believed we needed some more space, to give it a real ‘wow’ factor. So many people love going to Iceland to experience the geysers, hot tubs and being at one with the elements. I thought ‘why can’t we make that experience work here in Cheshire?’”

Having operated the hotel’s original, smaller spa for many years, Ferguson and his team were galvanised to ensure their new stand-alone facility in the estate grounds could meet future market demand. “Spas are in danger of being approached in the same way forever and losing momentum,” he states. “I think the concept we have delivered here is actually the future for spas. It’s more fun, more social, and allows people to enjoy everything we offer on the Carden Estate.”

Light and space

The Spa at Carden’s double-height reception features an impressive living moss wall, a bijoux retail area and a sweeping white Carrara marble staircase, leading guests up to the first floor Elements lounge and restaurant. “‘Feel good from the outside in’ is our promise to guests and it’s one we carry across every aspect of the spa experience here,” says spa director Steve Ewing. “We have brought the outdoors inside with our concept – reflecting a huge movement in the industry to embrace mindfulness, the feeling and benefits of the outdoors, and a desire to connect with nature.”

“So many people love going to Iceland to experience the geysers, hot tubs and being at one with the elements. I thought ‘why can’t we make that experience here in Cheshire?”

Hamish Ferguson Director and general manager, Carden Park

A living moss wall provides a natural backdrop in the double-height reception area.

The spa offers guests relaxation as well as celebration

For check-in, a customised Ojmar cashless wristband system also allows guests to charge drinks, meals and extra treatments to their band, with a convenient pay kiosk allowing credit card details to be added to the bands before their journey begins. “The setup of the IT system to facilitate a complete customer journey from booking stage to arrival was so important,” explains spa and leisure revenue manager Emma Pridding, who is a UK Spa Association board member and has worked at Carden Park for 23 years.

Design excellence

The spa’s contemporary interiors, successfully delivered by Barr + Wray’s design team, imbue a relaxing ambience and provide a stylish spa journey that incorporates the natural elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water (see box, right). The first floor Elements lounge, with its light oak floors and contemporary teal and moss-green furniture, offers panoramic views of the spa garden below and the golf course beyond. This serves as a refreshing social hub for arriving guests or those returning to enjoy an indulgent menu of brunch, spa salads, light bites and afternoon teas.

Adjacent to Elements, the spa’s spacious changing rooms are luxuriously finished with gleaming Porcelanosa mosaics in soft golds and creams, and spacious Crown lockers finished in light oak, each offering BC Softwear robes, flip-flops and a handy bag for the day. Smart design detail means parts of the changing rooms can also be discreetly sectioned off to provide privacy for VIP spa groups.

Beyond the changing rooms, a plush carpeted corridor gives guests access to an opulent spiral staircase down to the indoor pool, thermal zone, treatment area and garden.

“We needed to shift up the gears from our previous spa offer, so we engaged our product partners to help transform our team – not just as therapists but also as individuals.”

Steve Ewing Spa director

Behind the project: Taking an elemental approach.

Barr + Wray’s design director, Graeme Banks, discusses the ‘inside out’ approach taken at The Spa at Carden

“Many spas now take on a similar idea, but here we have also taken on the concept of ‘inside out’ where we give as much to the outside as to the inside. We have used an abundance of natural materials to instil this concept, including timber, limestone mosaics and slate. These elements link the building’s architecture to its interiors, the spa garden and also the treatments offered.

“There are many things that make The Spa at Carden unique, but the biggest draw has to be the spa garden and the sheer amount of facilities it can offer all year round. The concept takes inspiration from the grounds of Carden Park and links the spa to the outdoors through every detail: the colour palette, outdoor experiences and all the materials we selected.

“We didn’t want to go down the route of being too rustic, but wanted to create a more natural, refined and elegant experience. Two of my favourite places in the spa are the central rotunda spiral staircase (below) and the tepidarium.

The central staircase reflects the design’s ‘elemental’ focus

“The staircase really is the heart of the building and the main highway linking the changing rooms to the experiences and treatments below. You get glimpses of this from the Elements restaurant, so it needed to be a special space of transition.

“The tepidarium is a great room to relax in after enjoying the thermal circuit, but it also has an individual cooling mist system so guests can cool down in a stimulating and relaxing experience. Also our two-tier lounging bio-sauna offers bespoke body-contoured benches with full height views out over the garden.

“Finally, I must highlight the fabulous Bollinger Beauty Bar. The design in here is intentionally different to the rest of the spa as we wanted to bring a little bit more ‘bling’ to the Cheshire countryside.”

A warm welcome at the outdoor fire-pit.

The Spa at Carden’s ‘inside out’ design approach means that interiors carry natural characteristics while the outdoors offers an abundance of comfort and therapeutic experiences.

Spa al fresco

UK-based Nicki Kurran Spa Consultancy was appointed by Carden Park to achieve operational proficiency and advise on all aspects of the concept. Over the course of two years, principal consultant Nicki Kurran worked in close collaboration with the spa design team, which included Hamish Ferguson, Steve Ewing, Barr + Wray and the main contractor for the project, Pave Aways.

“The Spa at Carden’s tagline ‘feel good from the outside in’ really has been reflected throughout the facility. It’s all about indulgence and relaxation,” explains Kurran. “I think the gardens and the thermal area are outstanding. They offer so much and have been an instant ‘wow’ with our first wave of guests.

“There’s always a second ‘wow’ when they discover the thermals and pool area though – there’s just so much more than people are expecting. In the spa garden, larch wood saunas, hydro healing and a beautifully situated fire-pit relaxation area link back to the elements as well as to the selection of Elemental Herbology as our flagship brand.”

On the menu

The spa’s 14 tranquil treatment rooms are kitted out with Living Earth Crafts treatment beds and spa textiles are provided by BC Softwear. Therapist uniforms were supplied by Inline London and the range of highly personalised Elemental Herbology face and body treatments on offer are based on the brand’s Traditional Chinese Medicine-inspired Five Element Theory.

For example, the Garden Therapy at Carden Park signature treatment is a top-to-toe 90-minute experience that incorporates fresh therapeutic herbs from the spa garden. A full body massage using Thai herbal poultices is followed by a nurturing facial. The experience is completed with a glass of Carden Park Estate Reserve sparkling wine from the on-site vineyard in either the deep relax room, the panoramic relaxation room or the nature-themed sensory room. “Our bespoke Elemental Herbology Five-Element consultation ensures every treatment is personalised,” explains Ewing. “It also helps our therapists to really engage with every guest they look after. The treatment menu was designed with our therapists’ wellness in mind and we wanted to give the team as many tools and skills as possible so that they can go into the treatment room and deliver an amazing experience.”

Other British brands selected for Carden Park include nutri-cosmeceutical brand OSKIA, founded by Georgie Cleeve, which specialises in bio-cellular skin nutrition. Organic therapies from Made for Life Organics, founded by Amanda Winwood, complete the menu.

Informal dining with views over the surrounding estate in the Elements restaurant.

Finishing touches

Adjacent to the Elements restaurant, the chic Bollinger Beauty Bar, designed to be a ‘spectacular five-star experience’, offers an elegant menu of premium beauty services from Jessica, Margaret Dabbs, Mii makeup, Lashus and Déesse. “We selected Margaret Dabbs podiatry pedicure for the hands and feet to ensure we could provide a truly results-driven treatment,” says spa manager Stephanie Parry. “We then selected Jessica as it offers an amazing finish to the treatment thanks to its highly respected products. They complement each other very well.

“Lashus lash lifting and Brows by Mii are also highly sought after. It’s all about providing more than guests expect. As well as a luxury pedicure or manicure, you can also add on skin rejuvenation and, of course, a glass of Bollinger Champagne.” Describing the fixtures and fittings in this area, Nicki Kurran adds: “With the help of Ellisons we sourced three Belava Impact Pedi chairs with custom foot spas. Guests can also upgrade their pedicure with an add-on LED skin rejuvenation treatment and we have three Déesse Pro LED masks to enhance their pedicures. Provided by Harpar Grace in the UK, Déesse Pro LED system offers six LED treatment modes including anti-ageing, purifying, brightening and calming programmes for the skin. Five further masks are available in our treatment rooms for separate treatments and for use as part of our OSKIA Signature facial.”

Treatments are performed on beds from Living Earth Crafts.

Thermal journey

Guests booked on spa days can enjoy the indoor pool and thermal zone or walk out into the spa garden to enjoy an array of outdoor hot tubs, a hydropool and relaxation pauses. The Spa at Carden also offers significant wet spa experiences and thermals designed and supplied by Barr + Wray. With a focus on relaxation and multi-sensory wellbeing, guests can enjoy indoor and outdoor vitality pools complete with stainless steel air recliners and neck and body massage jets. Adjacent thermal experiences include a salt steam room, featuring a central citrine crystal and starry sky lighting; three experience showers; a tepidarium with overhead cold mist showers providing an instant, gentle cool-down; an aroma steam room featuring healing quartz crystals; and a bio-sauna with ergonomic stepped seating.

Outside in the garden, the central Bollinger Champagne bar is surrounded by three impressive social hot tubs supplied and installed by Rigo Spa, and several futuristic relaxation pods from Ornate Garden, one of which is completely Bollinger branded for parties looking to really dial up their bubbly celebrations.

The spa’s combination of luxury facilities in a spacious relaxed environment make it the perfect location for social spa experiences.

Cooling mist system in the tepidarium provides a stimulating relaxation experience.

A guest enjoys the view and premium beauty services in the Bollinger Beauty Bar.

Team excellence

Ewing and his team are carefully monitoring every aspect of the facility now it is open and paying great attention to guest feedback in order to ensure they provide a truly memorable experience.

“Our spa packages range from individual treatments to half-day packages, full-day packages and the Ultimate Bollinger Experience, but we are very careful with capacity,” says Ewing. “We run three sessions per day and the system is set up to ensure that only a certain number of guests can access the spa garden and thermal experiences per session.”

Another focus for The Spa at Carden is the wellbeing of its team, which was recognised as integral to its overall success right from the beginning of the project. “We knew we needed to achieve a higher level of customer service and shift up the gears from our previous spa offering,” reveals Ewing. “So we engaged our product partners to help transform our team – not just as therapists but also as individuals. We started to get them into the habit of developing as a team, and created a spa culture that rewards achievement.”

Ewing is emphatic about the need for The Spa at Carden to look after its team in every way possible and he believes this should be the case for all spa operators. “The idea of our therapists doing the upmost for every single guest – every single time they visit – is essential to everything we do here,” he states.

“Throughout the industry, we need to protect the wellbeing of therapists, ensuring among other things that they benefit from proper breaks,” Ewing continues. “You can’t expect them to work in treatment rooms all day without space to relax. We also provide good meals and place a strong emphasis on health and hydration. There are still things to improve, but the wellbeing of our team is a big focus as it encourages high-level performance.”

Ultimately, he believes, creating wellness in a spa team will bring dividends in the wellness of its guests. “It’s about the experience,” concludes Ewing. “We are here to provide exceptional experiences for guests each time. We want them to be able to say ‘that was the best spa day I ever had and I’m going to come again’.”

SPA STATISTICS

The Spa at Carden

+44 1829 731007

www.cardenpark.co.uk

Owners: Steve and Sally Morgan Director and general manager: Hamish Ferguson Spa director: Steve Ewing Spa manager: Stephanie Parry Architect: Dennis Swain, HB Architects Spa consultancy: Nicki Kurran Construction: Pave Aways Interior design: Barr + Wray Investment: £10 million Spa size (including garden): 4,500sqm Treatment rooms: 14 Spa team: 25 therapists plus 30 additional team members across reception, F&B and housekeeping Suppliers: Barr + Wray, WDT, Sommerhuber, Crown Lockers, BC Softwear, SpaSoft, Ojmar by Simple Locking Solutions, Porcelanosa, Ornate Garden, Inline London, Vive Technologies Wet spa and thermal experiences: Internal and external vitality pools, salt steam room, tepidarium, aroma steam room, bio-sauna, Finnish sauna and experience showers Outside: Three hot tubs designed and supplied by Rigo Spa. Garden sauna by Barr + Wray Product houses: Elemental Herbology, OSKIA, Mii, Margaret Dabbs, Jessica, Made for Life Organics and Déesse Light Therapy Masks by Harpar Grace Treatment beds and loungers: Living Earth Craft treatment couches and Belava pedicure chairs supplied by Ellisons