Creating an irresistible spa experience

Leisure & Wellbeing: Dave Courteen, Riverhills Health Club and Day Spa

Riverhills Health Club and Day Spa was finally able to fully reopen this year after a devastating fire destroyed the swimming pool hall, thermal suite and exercise studios in 2023. Having recently also celebrated our 30^th birthday, the challenge now is to re-establish Riverhills as one of East Anglia’s premier spa locations.

As traumatic as the fire was to our business, it gave us an opportunity to reset and reimagine what Riverhills is all about. Although we have just invested more than £6m in rebuilding and refurbishing Riverhills across the entire club, our belief has always been that our real product is our people.

While we were only operating with limited facilities, we used the downtime to train our staff and allowed them to get out and see what other spas had to offer. All our treatments are now in an online training portal, allowing therapists to practice and check their techniques, thereby ensuring we deliver a consistent treatment experience.

The spa guest journey

The last year has also seen us work with our staff to create a luxurious spa experience – from arrival in the car park, through to leaving at the end of the day. It’s the attention to detail that we think is so important for our guests, and we have personalised our welcome to include a freshly made complimentary fruit boost smoothie on arrival, coupled with a guided tour of the spa, to make sure each guest gets the most from their visit.

In addition, our therapists have worked on personalising each treatment. So, although the massage technique is the same, we will tailor the products we use to suit each client. If you want to use the day to really relax, then we will use lavender essential oils to help promote relaxation, but if you want to come away from your spa day feeling revitalised, then we can use a more stimulating oil.

In today’s fast-paced world, taking time out to look after our well-being is becoming more of an essential spend rather than a luxury, so having it tailored to our own specific needs is a sensible investment.

Innovative design

The benefits of combining heat treatments from saunas and steam rooms, with an infusion of cold water from a drench shower or ice bucket, are well documented and proven.

The sauna experience originated from Scandinavia where sauna goers would leave the heat to go out into the snow. At Riverhills you can recreate the original Scandinavian experience thanks to our unforgettable snow sky. When you leave the sauna or steam room, you can walk through our snow sky where snowflakes fall from the ceiling at room temperature. It’s one of only three such facilities in the UK. The slow snowfall calms and relaxes all the senses, especially as you look across our backlit wall depicting a beautiful mountain scene. It’s an irresistible experience!

With talented staff and innovative cutting-edge facilities, Riverhills really is all about living your best life.