ARCHITECTURE OF CONTEMPORARY SPA HOSPITALITY - CURRENT TENDENCIES IN DESIGNING SPA HOTELS

Abstract

The emergence of spa tourism as a sector of the wellness tourism marketplace is reflected in contemporary architecture of spa hotels. These facilities are essentially accommodation facilities that offer a variety of individual treatments and services for spa-seeking tourists focused on their health and wellness. The primary objective of the research is to investigate current tendencies and strategies in the field of architectural design of spa hotels, as well as to explore successful design approaches. The research begins with elaboration of basic characteristics of modern wellness tourism, followed by the definition of spa hotel as a special type of hospitality facility. Later, classification of modern spa hotel modalities is elaborated and further clarified using relevant case studies. The second part of the research is the analysis of recognized design tendencies in terms of spatial organization of spa hotels. In the conclusion, their further applicability in wider practice is discussed, and certain disadvantages and limitations are listed.

Keywords

• spa hotel
• hotel architecture
• hotel design
• wellness
• tourism