BESIDE the seaside

Ellen Cummings talks to Michelle Young about Solent Hotel and Spa’s newly renovated wellness facilities

Solent Hotel and Spa in Whiteley, Hampshire, has undergone a significant transformation of its wellness facilities, designed to enhance the guest experience while reflecting the property’s South Coast roots.

The renovation, which introduced a new pool, salt sauna, eight-person hot tub, tropical rainforest storm shower and outdoor cabanas, was completed in early 2025, in a move to reposition the spa as a key wellness destination for locals and hotel guests alike.

Supporting local wellness

Solent Hotel and Spa is a hub for wellness in the Whiteley area, actively supporting the wellbeing of its surrounding community. Spa operations manager Michelle Young says, “We work closely with a lot of different businesses. We’re quite central in our location – being close to Whiteley Shopping Centre. We also work with a lot of the businesses in the Whiteley Business Park area. We’ve linked that with memberships.”

The spa offers local business employees a corporate membership rate, enabling them to access the spa facilities, including the sauna, steam room, gym, and holistic classes such as meditation and yoga.

“My lovely membership advisor goes round and does outreach to different places, so they can come in and use the facilities,” Young adds.

As a result, Solent Hotel and Spa, which is part of the Daniel Thwaites group, attracts a diverse mix of visitors, from day guests to hotel residents and families enjoying tailored packages. “We’ve got a Little Miss VIP package offered to children who can come in and have their nails painted with a little glass of orange fizz,” says Young. “We incorporate a variety of guests.”

The spa’s approach to wellness goes beyond skin-deep, with a strong emphasis on supporting mental wellbeing. “We are all about encompassing mental health,” explains Young. “Meditation and yoga – and even just working out in the gym – can have a massive impact on your mental health and how you feel daily.”

Recognising the stress and busyness of modern life, the team places high value on providing moments of calm and restoration through spa days and treatments.

Planning the refresh

The decision to renovate the wellness space had been in the works for some time, prompted by practical needs as well as the desire to elevate the offering. “It had been on the cards for a long time. We had issues within the pool plant area,” says Young. “Management also decided to put us back on the map again as a spa hotel.”

What the team hadn’t fully anticipated was how much impact temporarily closing the spa would have on the wider hotel. “Lots of guests stay here purely because they want to swim and relax,” Young shares. “If they’re working, they want to be able to take an hour’s break out of their day and have that time to themselves. It had a huge impact on our business when we didn’t have that offering.”

Since reopening, however, the spa has bounced back with strength. From the start, the renovation was focused on delivering standout features to add value to the guest experience. “We knew we wanted a new pool and to add something extra so that we have a unique selling point,” says Young. “Our new salt sauna enhances the detoxifying element. We’ve also added the tropical rainforest storm shower.”

Further elevating the outdoor space, the team is adding two nautical-themed cabanas to the patio area, which will be bookable as part of a spa day.

The planning and design was a collaborative effort between Daniel Thwaites’s head of interior design Rachel Wootton and group spa director Gemma Barratt. “They wanted a wellness feel alongside a homely, welcoming hotel feel,” says Young. “It’s got features that reflect the lovely South Coast too, with stripe patterns – like striped cushions – tying back to the nautical theme.”

Managing the process

Delivering the refurbishment wasn’t without its challenges, particularly as parts of the spa had to remain operational. “We were still partly open, so we were still delivering treatments – and treatments and building noise don’t really go together,” Young recalls. “It was quite a mission to do.”

The total part-closure lasted three months, but the project involved detailed weekly meetings with contractors, complex logistical planning and consideration of how the space would function.

“It’s not just about how it looks aesthetically – it’s about the running of the place as well,” says Young. “Plumbing, plant rooms, pools, saunas and steam rooms – it needs to be functional.”

One unexpected challenge was the closure of the spa’s front reception for six weeks, which forced the team to reroute members through an alternative entrance. “You don’t necessarily think until you’re in that situation that you’ll need to organise all the different routes and access points,” Young says.

Coastal inspiration

From the moment guests enter the spa, the design takes cues from the hotel’s seaside location on the South Coast. “You’ll see along one of the walls we’ve got a built-in booth with extra seating and striped cushions,” says Young. “We have some lovely artists’ paintings on the wall with a seaside theme as well.”

Even smaller design elements, such as coral-inspired décor and the nautical theme of the new cabanas, all tie back to the sea and the surrounding Hampshire landscape. “In the hotel, they have a lot of nautical things linked in too,” Young adds. “It all connects.”

The investment in the spa’s renovation has already begun to pay off, not only in guest satisfaction but in reaffirming the hotel’s status as a wellness destination.

With its new salt sauna, tropical showers and nautical-themed aesthetic, Solent Hotel and Spa is embracing a refreshed, experience-led approach to wellness – one that emphasises relaxation and local connections.

As Young reflects, “It was a rollercoaster to oversee – but seeing the space now, it really was worth it.”