Australia’s Peninsula Hot Springs (PHS) is significantly expanding its offerings, adding in an educational building, new sauna rooms, a deep therapy pool, a Fire & Ice hot and cold bathing area, a ‘Food Bowl’ area with on-site agriculture and picnic areas where guests are invited to “eat [themselves] to good health,” and an arts and culture area with an open-air amphitheatre with seven pools and seated terraces for up to 700 people. Plans are also underway to add 126 rooms of accommodation, a first for the hot springs.
“The purpose of our business is to create experiences where our visitors can relax in nature and connect with the deep well of their being,” says founder Charles Davidson. “Many of our experiences are story-driven – we want them to be places where guests can be engaged in the experience.”
Food Bowl The first stage of the Food Bowl area – a 3-acre (1.2 hectare) terraced garden – was completed in December, and is used for growing vegetables, herbs, teas, mushrooms and medicinal plants.
“Visitors will be able to walk the gardens and talk to the horticulturist,” says Davidson. “The chefs in the wood-fired pizza oven area will walk with groups to collect fresh tomatoes, capsicums and other vegetables, and use for toppings on pizzas.”
The Food Bowl will ultimately have seven terraces, with a lake at the bottom and a stage that will host performances.
Arts and culture Additionally, a new arts and culture area will include seven pools with underwater speakers, allowing 70 people to float in the water and listen to talks and music while they look up at the sky. The amphitheatre has seated terraces that provide space for up to 580 people to watch plays, talks and concerts, while another 120 can listen from in the pools.
“These are two unique, open-air spaces for arts, culture, relaxation, health and wellbeing,” says Davidson.
Overnight facilities The hot springs is also building 126 rooms of overnight accommodation, including 22 private lodges with access to their own private thermal hot spring pool, as well as condominiums and a glamping area with luxury tents. These will be introduced in a staged rollout from July 2018 through November 2020, and thermal heat from the hot spring water will be used to hydroponically heat the buildings.
Education A new building designed for education has also been added. “We see ourselves as creators of spaces where wellness can be provided at both theoretical and experiential levels,” says Davidson.
Saunas that enable groups of 20 to 30 people to be in the space at once are being added so that sauna masters can train classes. Two new sauna rooms will provide a variety of temperatures and humidities and will enable a class to be held on one side while the public can enjoy the facility on the other.
A new deep therapy pool will allow guests to experience floating treatments such as watsu, and is large enough for three treatments at one time so that it can be used for education. PHS’s hammam also has a capacity of 24, as does the new Clay Ridge area, which features a programme where guests can paint mineral-rich mud on their skin before washing it off.
Davidson said he’s also developing training modules for various global bathing modalities, with the intention of creating a Global Bathing Masters programme. The programme will include training in hammam, sauna, hydrotherapy, floating water therapies, clays, contrast therapies, Kneipp therapy and more.
Fire & Ice A Fire & Ice area will include cold baths, ice baths and an ice cave for guests to experience contrast bathing – spending time in saunas and hot springs pools, followed by plunging into cold and ice experiences. The size and styles of the pools are specifically designed for social bathing experiences.
“Finding time to relax and be with friends or yourself in a natural setting is at the core of the hot springs bathing experience,” says Davidson. “There is a lot of fun and laughter to be had with friends when going in and out of what could be considered extreme bathing experiences.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Promotional feature: Oakworks
Dafne Berlanga, vice president of international business
development of Oakworks, discusses the importance of sustainability
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
Australia’s Peninsula Hot Springs (PHS) is significantly expanding its offerings, adding in an educational building, new sauna rooms, a deep therapy pool, a Fire & Ice hot and cold bathing area, a ‘Food Bowl’ area with on-site agriculture and picnic areas where guests are invited to “eat [themselves] to good health,” and an arts and culture area with an open-air amphitheatre with seven pools and seated terraces for up to 700 people. Plans are also underway to add 126 rooms of accommodation, a first for the hot springs.
“The purpose of our business is to create experiences where our visitors can relax in nature and connect with the deep well of their being,” says founder Charles Davidson. “Many of our experiences are story-driven – we want them to be places where guests can be engaged in the experience.”
Food Bowl The first stage of the Food Bowl area – a 3-acre (1.2 hectare) terraced garden – was completed in December, and is used for growing vegetables, herbs, teas, mushrooms and medicinal plants.
“Visitors will be able to walk the gardens and talk to the horticulturist,” says Davidson. “The chefs in the wood-fired pizza oven area will walk with groups to collect fresh tomatoes, capsicums and other vegetables, and use for toppings on pizzas.”
The Food Bowl will ultimately have seven terraces, with a lake at the bottom and a stage that will host performances.
Arts and culture Additionally, a new arts and culture area will include seven pools with underwater speakers, allowing 70 people to float in the water and listen to talks and music while they look up at the sky. The amphitheatre has seated terraces that provide space for up to 580 people to watch plays, talks and concerts, while another 120 can listen from in the pools.
“These are two unique, open-air spaces for arts, culture, relaxation, health and wellbeing,” says Davidson.
Overnight facilities The hot springs is also building 126 rooms of overnight accommodation, including 22 private lodges with access to their own private thermal hot spring pool, as well as condominiums and a glamping area with luxury tents. These will be introduced in a staged rollout from July 2018 through November 2020, and thermal heat from the hot spring water will be used to hydroponically heat the buildings.
Education A new building designed for education has also been added. “We see ourselves as creators of spaces where wellness can be provided at both theoretical and experiential levels,” says Davidson.
Saunas that enable groups of 20 to 30 people to be in the space at once are being added so that sauna masters can train classes. Two new sauna rooms will provide a variety of temperatures and humidities and will enable a class to be held on one side while the public can enjoy the facility on the other.
A new deep therapy pool will allow guests to experience floating treatments such as watsu, and is large enough for three treatments at one time so that it can be used for education. PHS’s hammam also has a capacity of 24, as does the new Clay Ridge area, which features a programme where guests can paint mineral-rich mud on their skin before washing it off.
Davidson said he’s also developing training modules for various global bathing modalities, with the intention of creating a Global Bathing Masters programme. The programme will include training in hammam, sauna, hydrotherapy, floating water therapies, clays, contrast therapies, Kneipp therapy and more.
Fire & Ice A Fire & Ice area will include cold baths, ice baths and an ice cave for guests to experience contrast bathing – spending time in saunas and hot springs pools, followed by plunging into cold and ice experiences. The size and styles of the pools are specifically designed for social bathing experiences.
“Finding time to relax and be with friends or yourself in a natural setting is at the core of the hot springs bathing experience,” says Davidson. “There is a lot of fun and laughter to be had with friends when going in and out of what could be considered extreme bathing experiences.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Promotional feature: Oakworks
Dafne Berlanga, vice president of international business
development of Oakworks, discusses the importance of sustainability
Private hotel owner and developer HVL Hotels will open a new luxury resort and tourism
destination called Laval Hunter Valley in the second half of 2027 in Pokolbin, Australia.
The annual wellness festival dedicated to wellbeing, culture, longevity and human connection,
called Alma, will be hosted by Rocco Forte hotel, Verdura Resort in Sicily, Italy.
Capella Hotel Group has appointed Feisal Jaffer as chief development officer as the company
ramps up its global expansion of both its Capella and Patina brands.
People taking GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound
may be losing weight, but they’re also becoming less physically active, according to new
research presented at the ENDO 2026 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property in Hawaii, US, has opened its
22,000 sq ft indoor-outdoor Spa at Mauna Kea as the final step in the property’s overall
renovation, which has cost more than US$180 million (€166 million, £140 mill
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
