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Roche is a trained naturopath, ayurvedic specialist and spa therapist
With a background as a naturopath, ayurvedic specialist, and spa therapist, Nichola Roche, Aman’s new group director of spa, has big plans for the luxury hotel’s wellness offering. She plans to make it more comprehensive, by adopting a 360-degree approach to health, and to develop a lifestyle brand – incorporating herbal teas, spa products and cookbooks – to “enable our guests to take a piece of Aman home with them,” she says.
“I want to create a more integrative approach at all Aman spas, which means ensuring all our health services and spa therapies are holistic, allowing a more in-depth and longer-lasting healing,” says Roche.
Roche was previously regional spa director for Akasha, and before that was spa director for flagship spa ESPA Life at The Corinthia Hotel in London.
Having experienced a variety of cultures throughout her career, Roche says she’s able to extract elements from her background and draw on healing methods from around the world, in order to position Aman as a true wellness brand. “Traditionally, Aman has been known for its incredible destinations, where guests can relax and rejuvenate. I want to create a more serious wellness offering, by building on and strengthening what’s gone before,” she says.
Retreats and wellness immersions – such as the new spa houses and immersions at coastal retreat Amanoi in Vietnam – will be a focus, as well as a new take on Aman’s spa offerings. “I want to make our treatments more results-focused, so they deeply nourish, ground and purify our guests. We’ll focus on providing health benefits rather than simply relaxation,” Roche explains.
One of Aman’s core concepts is that each location is different, and Roche plans to focus on that in developing spa programming, incorporating the local culture into offerings and focusing on indigenous healing. “We never repeat a concept; every property is individual, and we start with a blank canvas for each,” she says.
Later this year, Roche will also concentrate on key destinations that are renowned for healing, such as Bhutan, drawing inspiration from the country’s renowned measure of prosperity through happiness to create a ten-day Pursuit of Happiness retreat that will include oracle reading, meditation and yoga.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Jeremy McCarthy
Mandarin Oriental’s group director
of spa and wellness discusses mental
wellness, spas and technology
Promotional feature: Beautyworld Middle East
Set to take place May 14-16, 2017 in Dubai, Beautyworld Middle East is billed as “three days to rediscover wellness and shake up the industry.”
Promotional feature: ESPA
ESPA has been a leader in the field of therapeutic skincare and luxury spa design and management for 25 years. Founder Susan Harmsworth explains how the company’s recent brand evolution will make ESPA even more relevant to the future of wellness
Promotional feature: Riceforce
Rice Force is set to make further inroads into the spa market in 2017 with the
launch of its new aromatic oils and treatment protocol
Promotional feature: Oakworks
Oakworks’ new Masters’ Collection range, which will consist of over 15 models by the end of 2017, has been designed to offer spa operators the ultimate in modern styling, with solutions and functionality that address each spa’s practical needs
Roche is a trained naturopath, ayurvedic specialist and spa therapist
With a background as a naturopath, ayurvedic specialist, and spa therapist, Nichola Roche, Aman’s new group director of spa, has big plans for the luxury hotel’s wellness offering. She plans to make it more comprehensive, by adopting a 360-degree approach to health, and to develop a lifestyle brand – incorporating herbal teas, spa products and cookbooks – to “enable our guests to take a piece of Aman home with them,” she says.
“I want to create a more integrative approach at all Aman spas, which means ensuring all our health services and spa therapies are holistic, allowing a more in-depth and longer-lasting healing,” says Roche.
Roche was previously regional spa director for Akasha, and before that was spa director for flagship spa ESPA Life at The Corinthia Hotel in London.
Having experienced a variety of cultures throughout her career, Roche says she’s able to extract elements from her background and draw on healing methods from around the world, in order to position Aman as a true wellness brand. “Traditionally, Aman has been known for its incredible destinations, where guests can relax and rejuvenate. I want to create a more serious wellness offering, by building on and strengthening what’s gone before,” she says.
Retreats and wellness immersions – such as the new spa houses and immersions at coastal retreat Amanoi in Vietnam – will be a focus, as well as a new take on Aman’s spa offerings. “I want to make our treatments more results-focused, so they deeply nourish, ground and purify our guests. We’ll focus on providing health benefits rather than simply relaxation,” Roche explains.
One of Aman’s core concepts is that each location is different, and Roche plans to focus on that in developing spa programming, incorporating the local culture into offerings and focusing on indigenous healing. “We never repeat a concept; every property is individual, and we start with a blank canvas for each,” she says.
Later this year, Roche will also concentrate on key destinations that are renowned for healing, such as Bhutan, drawing inspiration from the country’s renowned measure of prosperity through happiness to create a ten-day Pursuit of Happiness retreat that will include oracle reading, meditation and yoga.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Jeremy McCarthy
Mandarin Oriental’s group director
of spa and wellness discusses mental
wellness, spas and technology
Promotional feature: Beautyworld Middle East
Set to take place May 14-16, 2017 in Dubai, Beautyworld Middle East is billed as “three days to rediscover wellness and shake up the industry.”
Promotional feature: ESPA
ESPA has been a leader in the field of therapeutic skincare and luxury spa design and management for 25 years. Founder Susan Harmsworth explains how the company’s recent brand evolution will make ESPA even more relevant to the future of wellness
Promotional feature: Riceforce
Rice Force is set to make further inroads into the spa market in 2017 with the
launch of its new aromatic oils and treatment protocol
Promotional feature: Oakworks
Oakworks’ new Masters’ Collection range, which will consist of over 15 models by the end of 2017, has been designed to offer spa operators the ultimate in modern styling, with solutions and functionality that address each spa’s practical needs
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.
Eighty-four per cent of consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their lives, with this
percentage increasing year on year, according to a preview presentation of McKinsey’s Future of
Wellness 2026 research report.
Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of
a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Global Wellness Day (GWD) marked its 15th anniversary on Saturday 13 June 2026, with the
theme: #JoyMagenta – a celebration of the healing qualities of simple gestures and activities
that spark joy.
