Community, healing and comfort underpin the restoration of the 15th century monastery / photo: Hugo Thomassen
A15th century monastery and chapel in Antwerp, Belgium, has been transformed into a 108-room hotel and spa focused on community, healing and comfort.
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp sits next to the city’s botanic garden and this leafy, natural setting has been central to defining the concept of the Botanic Health Spa which spans three floors.
Designed to reflect a cloistral devotion to healing plants and herbs, the 10-treatment-room spa was brought to life by wellness consultant and designer Heinz Schletterer.
Schletterer’s brief involved crafting an elegant space featuring natural, uncomplicated and sustainably-built interiors. The finished article is an inner-city escape bathed in natural light and finished with natural stone, wood and glass design detailing.
The spa features a pool and relaxation spaces, as well as infrared loungers, a fireplace, waterbeds, a botanical shower experience, a whirlpool, vitamin and herbal bars and the Spa Bistro. Additional facilities include a historically-inspired steamroom, a panoramic Finnish sauna, a textile sauna, a salt and mineral sauna and a Kneipp walk.
History shapes the present Naturopathy, herbalism, phytotherapy and alternative medicine guide the healing philosophy of the spa. Plant-based treatments, herbal products and nutritional supplements provide solutions to help prevent lifestyle diseases.
The focus on herbal healing stems from the monastery’s history when the convent’s brothers and sisters would grow vegetables and herbs for food and to create remedies for the sick.
Furthermore, in the 16th century, renowned chemist Pieter Coudenberg established a medicinal herb garden next door – considered the precursor of the city’s modern-day Botanical Garden.
IRET Development worked with AIDarchitecten to sensitively preserve the location’s identity and create an urban retreat that brings together a sense of the building’s history with contemporary sensibilities and sustainable design.
As part of the major restoration project, the monastery’s former pharmacy has been brought back to life and established as a flagship store for herbal apothecary skincare and spa brand Saint Charles Apothecary. As well as supplying products for treatments, it promotes holistic wellbeing by curating herbal pharmaceutical remedies and developing exclusive products and scents inspired by the hotel.
Traditional European medicine The Botanic Sanctuary Spa’s healing approach is also guided by a combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and traditional European medicine (TEM). This sees spa therapists working with European herbs within the parameters of eastern healing methods.
The spa menu offers guests anti-ageing facials, medical skin solutions, performance assessments, massages, body rituals, retreats and beauty services.
TCM diagnostics, full-body scans and in-depth consultations are also offered by the spa’s dedicated holistic medicine and experienced TCM practitioner – Xavier Le Clef.
The team told Spa Business that, since opening, the average spa guest spend-per-visit has hit €160 (US$158, £139) and the customer base has been split between 40 per cent locals and 60 per cent international tourists. Roughly 50 treatments are performed each day, with massages and facials remaining the most popular.
The Botanic Health Club offers nutrition, fitness and lifestyle coaching services to complete the selection of facilities on offer. The club has chosen Technogym to fit out its workout spaces.
Workshops, yoga, meditation and mindfulness classes complete the bill to re-energise guests’ bodies and minds, while retreats are due to launch early in 2023.
Spa suppliers
Consultants:
Schletterer Consult and Marketing Deluxe
Equipment:
SPA4, Wattec NV and Dauwco BV
Wellness partners:
Saint Charles Apothecary, EviDenS de Beauté, Methode Physiodermie, Skin Vital Concept, Jet Peel, Technogym, InBody Scan, OMNIA3 and Ercolina Rehab
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2022 issue 4
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Leading medical, research, science and educational activities are all part of the new medical director’s role at the Peninsula Hot Springs Group in Australia
Menu engineering: At your service
Get inspired by the latest wellness services including a high-tech diagnostic circuit at SHA and a Zita West fertility programme at Bürgenstock
Interview: Stephan Wagner
As Saudi Arabia taps into tourism, the man heading up wellness at Amaala talks to Spa Business about what the major development is looking to bring to a previously undiscovered part of the Kingdom
Interview: Aradhana Khowala
The chair of the advisory board of the Red Sea – a Saudi development the size of Belgium – shares her passion for regenerative tourism with Spa Business
Sponsored: RKF: Dressed to impress
Following exciting new launches at Equip Hotel in Paris, including the new DresSoft line, RKF Luxury Linen is gearing up for an eco-friendly and fashion-conscious 2023
Everyone’s talking about...: Cold water immersion
A new scientific paper warns of the significant risk of cold water therapies. Spa Business investigates how operators can protect those taking part in extreme bathing programmes
Event report: Healing summit
Self-help and self-love were the key messages from this wellness event in Portugal, says Spa Business’ Lisa Starr
Sponsored: Comfort Zone: Effective by nature
Comfort Zone has revealed three new
products, including a new neck and
décolleté fluid, leveraging the power of
botanical bioactive extracts
Interview: Alex & Sue Glasscock
Editor-at-large, Jane Kitchen is put through her paces at The Ranch's new outpost in Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy and catches up with the owners
Event Report: Global Wellness Summit
The 16th annual GWS, held in Tel Aviv, Israel, homed in on the sector’s biggest issues following the pandemic. Spa Business reports on the highlights
Research: Wellness for all
A new study by the Global Wellness Institute provides a framework for businesses and governments to make healthy lifestyles accessible to all
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin Snowroom
The TechnoAlpin Snowroom made our Grand Aufguss Masters event extra special, says Robert Heinevetter
Finishing Touch: Cold call
Tumor suppression and boosting ‘good fat’ are two potential benefits of exposure to cool temperatures and swimming in icy waters, scientists reveal
Community, healing and comfort underpin the restoration of the 15th century monastery / photo: Hugo Thomassen
A15th century monastery and chapel in Antwerp, Belgium, has been transformed into a 108-room hotel and spa focused on community, healing and comfort.
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp sits next to the city’s botanic garden and this leafy, natural setting has been central to defining the concept of the Botanic Health Spa which spans three floors.
Designed to reflect a cloistral devotion to healing plants and herbs, the 10-treatment-room spa was brought to life by wellness consultant and designer Heinz Schletterer.
Schletterer’s brief involved crafting an elegant space featuring natural, uncomplicated and sustainably-built interiors. The finished article is an inner-city escape bathed in natural light and finished with natural stone, wood and glass design detailing.
The spa features a pool and relaxation spaces, as well as infrared loungers, a fireplace, waterbeds, a botanical shower experience, a whirlpool, vitamin and herbal bars and the Spa Bistro. Additional facilities include a historically-inspired steamroom, a panoramic Finnish sauna, a textile sauna, a salt and mineral sauna and a Kneipp walk.
History shapes the present Naturopathy, herbalism, phytotherapy and alternative medicine guide the healing philosophy of the spa. Plant-based treatments, herbal products and nutritional supplements provide solutions to help prevent lifestyle diseases.
The focus on herbal healing stems from the monastery’s history when the convent’s brothers and sisters would grow vegetables and herbs for food and to create remedies for the sick.
Furthermore, in the 16th century, renowned chemist Pieter Coudenberg established a medicinal herb garden next door – considered the precursor of the city’s modern-day Botanical Garden.
IRET Development worked with AIDarchitecten to sensitively preserve the location’s identity and create an urban retreat that brings together a sense of the building’s history with contemporary sensibilities and sustainable design.
As part of the major restoration project, the monastery’s former pharmacy has been brought back to life and established as a flagship store for herbal apothecary skincare and spa brand Saint Charles Apothecary. As well as supplying products for treatments, it promotes holistic wellbeing by curating herbal pharmaceutical remedies and developing exclusive products and scents inspired by the hotel.
Traditional European medicine The Botanic Sanctuary Spa’s healing approach is also guided by a combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and traditional European medicine (TEM). This sees spa therapists working with European herbs within the parameters of eastern healing methods.
The spa menu offers guests anti-ageing facials, medical skin solutions, performance assessments, massages, body rituals, retreats and beauty services.
TCM diagnostics, full-body scans and in-depth consultations are also offered by the spa’s dedicated holistic medicine and experienced TCM practitioner – Xavier Le Clef.
The team told Spa Business that, since opening, the average spa guest spend-per-visit has hit €160 (US$158, £139) and the customer base has been split between 40 per cent locals and 60 per cent international tourists. Roughly 50 treatments are performed each day, with massages and facials remaining the most popular.
The Botanic Health Club offers nutrition, fitness and lifestyle coaching services to complete the selection of facilities on offer. The club has chosen Technogym to fit out its workout spaces.
Workshops, yoga, meditation and mindfulness classes complete the bill to re-energise guests’ bodies and minds, while retreats are due to launch early in 2023.
Spa suppliers
Consultants:
Schletterer Consult and Marketing Deluxe
Equipment:
SPA4, Wattec NV and Dauwco BV
Wellness partners:
Saint Charles Apothecary, EviDenS de Beauté, Methode Physiodermie, Skin Vital Concept, Jet Peel, Technogym, InBody Scan, OMNIA3 and Ercolina Rehab
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2022 issue 4
Spa People: Marc Cohen
Leading medical, research, science and educational activities are all part of the new medical director’s role at the Peninsula Hot Springs Group in Australia
Menu engineering: At your service
Get inspired by the latest wellness services including a high-tech diagnostic circuit at SHA and a Zita West fertility programme at Bürgenstock
Interview: Stephan Wagner
As Saudi Arabia taps into tourism, the man heading up wellness at Amaala talks to Spa Business about what the major development is looking to bring to a previously undiscovered part of the Kingdom
Interview: Aradhana Khowala
The chair of the advisory board of the Red Sea – a Saudi development the size of Belgium – shares her passion for regenerative tourism with Spa Business
Sponsored: RKF: Dressed to impress
Following exciting new launches at Equip Hotel in Paris, including the new DresSoft line, RKF Luxury Linen is gearing up for an eco-friendly and fashion-conscious 2023
Everyone’s talking about...: Cold water immersion
A new scientific paper warns of the significant risk of cold water therapies. Spa Business investigates how operators can protect those taking part in extreme bathing programmes
Event report: Healing summit
Self-help and self-love were the key messages from this wellness event in Portugal, says Spa Business’ Lisa Starr
Sponsored: Comfort Zone: Effective by nature
Comfort Zone has revealed three new
products, including a new neck and
décolleté fluid, leveraging the power of
botanical bioactive extracts
Interview: Alex & Sue Glasscock
Editor-at-large, Jane Kitchen is put through her paces at The Ranch's new outpost in Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy and catches up with the owners
Event Report: Global Wellness Summit
The 16th annual GWS, held in Tel Aviv, Israel, homed in on the sector’s biggest issues following the pandemic. Spa Business reports on the highlights
Research: Wellness for all
A new study by the Global Wellness Institute provides a framework for businesses and governments to make healthy lifestyles accessible to all
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin Snowroom
The TechnoAlpin Snowroom made our Grand Aufguss Masters event extra special, says Robert Heinevetter
Finishing Touch: Cold call
Tumor suppression and boosting ‘good fat’ are two potential benefits of exposure to cool temperatures and swimming in icy waters, scientists reveal
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
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.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
