Hotel and spa design in Australia – are we a decade behind? It’s a question that might ruffle a few feathers, but it’s worth exploring.
Because after more than three decades moving between continents, cultures, and construction sites, I’ve seen what true luxury looks like—and I’ve also seen where Australia hesitates. It’s not just about texture and lighting with fancy dinnerware and cocktail glasses. The new generation is expecting a whole lot more if they are going to choose your hotel for their next stay.
We like to think we’re progressive in Australia. But in hotel and spa design? In my opinion, we’re often a decade behind. Not for lack of talent. Not for lack of vision. But for something far more practical… risk.
Europe builds with confidence. The Middle East builds with audacity. Asia builds with intention. And Australia? We pause. We question. We dilute.
Because without the population density, the stakes feel higher. The margins tighter. The risk… personal.
And yet, I’ve always believed that the real risk is playing it safe.
I grew up in hospitality, the daughter of a true publican. Hotels, to me, were never just places to stay—they were places to disappear into. Equal parts refuge and adventure. A third space that lived somewhere between home and fantasy. A place where you could quietly unravel… or become someone else entirely, if only for a night.
That’s what great hotel design does.
It doesn’t just house you—it transports you.
The best spaces aren’t simply beautiful. They are immersive. Layered. Sensory. You feel them before you understand them. The shift in lighting as you move through a corridor. The softness underfoot. The scent that lingers from pure essential oils just long enough to stay with you after you’ve left. The way sound is absorbed, or echoed, or deliberately silenced.
It’s not design. It’s choreography.
And spa design? That’s where it becomes almost sacred.
Because a spa isn’t just another facility you “add on” to a hotel. It’s the emotional heartbeat. The exhale. The place where the guest experience deepens from surface-level luxury into something far more meaningful—restoration, connection, even transformation.
And yet, too often, I walk into developments where the spa feels like an afterthought. A row of treatment rooms. A pool. A gym “attached” as a value-add.
Where the box has been ticked on functional, but it’s entirely forgettable. We have to do better than that. Are we ambitious enough to do better than that?
Across my career—from the South Pacific to the Middle East, and traversing Australia’s cities and regional landscapes—I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the world’s most recognised hospitality groups: Shangri-La Group, InterContinental Hotel Group and The Star Casino Entertainment Group and still today get called to advise. These were not just projects—they were opportunities to express a belief I’ve carried with me from the beginning.
The most memorable spaces don’t just look beautiful. They feel soulful, and they have their very own stories to tell.
That story doesn’t begin with finishes and furniture. It begins way before that with true intention.
It’s in how the spaces flow; it’s how the guest journey unfolds.
How operations, design, and experience are seamlessly aligned—before a single tile is laid.
Because true luxury isn’t visual. It’s operational.
It’s hiring the right people. Training them across disciplines. Designing systems that support—not suffocate—the experience. It’s the fragrance that greets you in the lobby. The timing of a welcome. The quiet confidence of a space that knows exactly what it is.
After years abroad, returning to Melbourne felt natural. But returning to the way we build? That was confronting. Because the detail matters. And detail is where we often fall short.
We’re still building in blocks. Rooms. Corridors. Amenities. As though guests move through a hotel in straight lines. But they don’t. They wander. They feel. They remember moments—not floor plans.
The next era of hospitality design cannot be built on outdated, overused architecture plans. I will personally be looking to see that wellness isn’t a department—it’s the foundation.
Somewhere between tradition and transformation, did we stop asking the bigger question?
“What if hospitality and wellness didn’t just coexist—but came together, by design, to create something entirely new?”
If you’ve had a hotel experience that bring hospitality and wellness together beautifully and with intention – drop a comment and let me know.
