How spas are designed so that you’ll never want to leave

Entering the renovated Damai Spa at Grand Hyatt Singapore, one does not encounter a reception desk. Instead, the introductory scene is a quiet spectacle of bulbous lamps, floating like glowing moons above a large marble table. 

Sculptural, roughhewn stone slabs stack against walls. At the same time, the window frames a bucolic view of the Oasis — a winding garden designed by Grant Associates as a verdant prelude to the wellness experience. 

Tactual moments continue into the corridor leading to the spa facilities — timber slats on one side, bamboo-patterned off-form concrete walls on the other, and dewdrop-shaped pendants scattering concentric light circles on the floor, like water droplets on a pond.

Clearly, every surface has been considered to create an engaging environment.

“The choice of materials is central to our wellness philosophy. We deliberately selected natural, tactile and sensory-rich elements, such as plastered stone, solid timber and brushed stone — not only for their aesthetic qualities but also for their emotional resonance. These materials ground the guests in the present moment, and evoke a sense of authenticity and warmth,” states Anaïs Van Bellegem, vice president and Brussels branch managing director of Tokyo-based NAO Taniyama & Associates, which designed Damai Spa as part of a full hotel renovation completed in June. 

Appealing to the senses

It’s a recurring theme in the trend of designing hotel wellness spaces, reflecting new expectations in the overall burgeoning wellness market, which, according to a report by McKinsey, has become a $2 trillion industry. Gen Zers and millennials, especially, increasingly prioritise wellness as more than just an occasional massage treat. 

“Younger generations self-report higher levels of burnout and worse overall health compared with older people, but are also more exposed to health-related content on social media (where they are more likely to be influenced to make a wellness-related purchase than older generations are),” the report reads. 

A white paper released by Accor in February 2025, “Making Waves: Rethinking Spa and Wellness Design for a Modern Era”, explains the uptick of membership clubs among hotel spas and fitness clubs. Partygoers are preferring to socialise at communal saunas and water-based therapies such as cold baths.  

As a result, emphasis has shifted to understanding how guests experience the spaces, rather than offering typical spa amenities. The aim: Move away from an “amenity-driven experience to thematic guest journeys”.  

Van Bellegem agrees, saying, “Wellness today is no longer confined to isolated treatments; it’s about offering layered personal experiences.” She explains how guests begin their wellness journey by walking through the Oasis garden before entering Damai Spa, which prompts a mental reset of calm and restoration. 

Going beyond physical relief

To achieve this means asking relevant questions. “The right mood begins with clarity of intention: How do we want guests to feel, and how can the space support this? We design from the inside out, guided by emotional resonance. The mood is shaped through light, proportion, texture, silence and movement,” Van Bellegem remarks. 

Martin Palleros, founder of Thailand-based Tierra Design that focuses on hospitality projects, observes a growing emphasis on biophilic design, multi-functional wellness zones, and a stronger focus on privacy and personalisation within shared spaces. This means that hotel wellness spaces should provide “more than leisure; they must support physical, mental and emotional health”. 

The recently opened Layan Life by Anantara in Phuket, which he designed, is an ideal case study, having won a prestigious Liv Hospitality Design Award. The wellness centre, located on the lush grounds of Anantara Layan Phuket Resort, does not just have meditative interiors but also embraces the natural surroundings as part of the wellness journey. 

The building’s pavilion-style design opens up the interiors to nature. Palleros comments that the use of timber throughout the space “helps soften the built environment, encouraging a sense of calm and welcome for visitors regardless of the duration of their stay”. 

The popularity of holistic wellness centres such as Layan Life by Anantara, combining treatments like traditional Thai medicinal massages with high-tech bio-hacking options ranging from cryotherapy to hyperbaric oxygen therapy, provides architects and designers with new challenges — to “balance technical, program-heavy areas such as treatment rooms and fitness studios with open, nature-oriented spaces”, says Palleros. 

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The solution: Integrate “controlled environments within a broader design perspective that emphasises natural light, ventilation and seamless indoor-outdoor transitions to reinforce the wellness mission.” 

Closing the gap between the in and out

Another example that employs biophilic design as a foundational concept is Clinique La Prairie, which is set to open in 2026. It is set in Phuket’s Tri Vananda luxury residential estate, filled with lakes and trees. 

“Due to the project site having been preserved without disturbance or alternation for a long period, and combined with the abundance of water sources throughout the area, the natural environment within the project has been able to establish its own rich and thriving ecosystem, currently existing in a state of well-being,” explains Jaras Pongpienrak, principal of Habita Architects that is leading the project. 

Such healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly rare on the island due to the escalating real estate projects. “Preserving a site with an ecosystem intact is both essential and regarded as a duty of the project’s design team,” Pongpienrak stresses. 

“The coexistence of humans and nature is a delicate matter. The relationship must be balanced and sustainable. Humans and nature are interdependent. We heal nature, and in return, nature heals us — both physically and mentally.” 

This is perhaps the most powerful wellness statement, and pertinent in reflecting Clinique La Prairie’s 5 Pillars of Longevity, Well-being, Medical, movement and Nutrition that aims to shift guests’ health status towards “a well-being stage”. 

Pongpienrak expounds that doing this involves both quantitative design (such as a low community density to minimise impact on the existing ecosystem) and qualitative design, which includes reforestation and harnessing clean energy resources to preserve and enhance ecological quality. 

Indoor plants, outdoor walkways and terraces “create that connected-to-nature feeling that’s so important for relaxing and recharging”, says Carl Almeida, managing director of P49 Deesign, who worked on the interiors. Soothing colours, organic textures, and natural materials like wood, along with an intuitive wayfinding system, also foster a restful experience. 

“What really matters to pull this off?” he expounds. “It’s about keeping everything simple and clear, creating spaces that feel peaceful through good proportions and natural touches, and making sure the environment connects guests with nature.”

Presence over prescription

This concept of a life of wellness is not just for holidays, but has seeped into our social urban lives. A closer example is the recently opened Nowhere Baths at Dempsey. 

“New wellness trends have moved away from the idea of the spa as an isolated, exclusive retreat. Instead, there’s a renewed focus on ritual, slowness and reconnection — both with the body and the environment,” states Pan Yi Cheng, founder of Type0 Architecture.

He continues, “Our design reflects this by offering an unfolding journey of sensorial zones: dry, heat, dense humidity, cold immersion, cascading water. The progression is not rigid or linear, but fluid and intuitive, encouraging exploration.” 

Today, designing for wellness is more about the “why” rather than just the “how” — unlike traditional spaces for relief and rejuvenation, which are often designed for separation with clearly compartmentalised functions, symmetry, and a decorative sense of luxury to signal “retreat”, as well as polished materials, explains Pan. 

Nowhere Bath’s immersive design projects a new way of thinking about calming spaces, he says, “not as places that insulate us from the world, but as environments that reconnect us to it, privileging atmosphere, ritual and presence over prescription and control”.