Rebecca Doyle appointed spa and wellness director at Arora Group

Rebecca Doyle has been appointed group spa and wellness director at Arora Group.

Her role includes commercial and operational responsibility for the Arora Group’s spas, which include Fairmont Windsor Park, Sofitel Heathrow Terminal 5, Intercontinental London and the soon-to-be-refurbished Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa.

She will be working with the in-house team on the design concepts and delivery at Luton Hoo, which will be joining the Fairmont Group.

Doyle will also work closely with the spa managers in each location to deliver exceptional spa experiences for guests.

Experienced operator

Doyle comes to the Arora Group with a wealth of spa insider knowledge and experience.

Most recently she worked as spa and wellness manager at Three Graces Spa at Grantley Hall in Yorkshire, and she has also been employed as spa manager at Waldorf Astoria in Edinburgh.

Her career has taken her to France and she has worked as a spa consultant for a number of years with clients including Ritz Carlton and the Marine and Law Collection.

Fairmont Windsor Park

Currently most of Doyle’s time is spent at Fairmont Windsor Park as operational spa director.

“Windsor Park is full time at the moment. We’re looking at the guest journey and we’re looking at the retail side,” she explains. “When I started there was a six-page treatment menu. We now only have 20 treatments in total. I’d rather have my team doing 20 treatments than trying to navigate themselves around doing 40 treatments.”

Spa team development

Doyle says she is firmly committed to staff development and motivating the team to be its very best: “For me it’s very much about developing the spa team. We can offer them apprenticeships but then once we’ve got them, we need to be clear about what progression looks like. They have to have clear objectives.”

“We must remember that they’re not always going to be apprentices. They need to understand that they can become a therapist and a senior therapist, and therapist treatments manager who could go by a brand as a training manager.”

“I see it as my job to excite them about this industry, especially when it’s had such a difficult time, post-Covid.”

Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa

Doyle will  be working on the multi-million pound redevelopment of Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa. The launch of this project will coincide with the hotel’s rebranding as a Fairmont property.

In her role as group spa director she will be assisting with design concepts and delivery of the new spa experience at the hotel.

“I was really excited when I read that the Aurora group had purchased the property, because to get that investment is really important. Then it was announced that the property will be branded Fairmont, which is going to really elevate it to another level completely.”

Garden-focused spa design

“I think that when we design the spa it will be very much garden focused. Bringing the outdoor in and working with that historical factor that you’ve got within the hotel.”

The gardens have historical grade-one listed status, having been designed by the famous gardener, Capability Brown. The hotel also has grade-one listed status so will present a number of challenges in terms of design, but also offers great opportunities for storytelling, having played host to guests including Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill.

“I am hoping that will work really well with the transatlantic guests because now the real wow factor is going to have two golf courses,” says Doyle.

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