New spa at Alpamare in Scarborough opens this week - find out more

Wellness at Alpamare is designed to get the waterpark attraction back on track after it suffered financial worries earlier this year.

With its cliff-top location, overlooking Scarborough’s North Bay, the spa has been created by one of the world’s leading spa designers, Stefan Ghetta, alongside international specialists Spa4,

It will bring to the Yorkshire coast brand new rituals and treatments inspired by ancient therapeutic traditions from the Alps to the the Orient – including the live Aufguss ceremony, which is currently taking Europe by storm.

Dr Anton Hoefter, Alpamare chief executive officer explains: “It’s R&R as you’ve never known it before.

"Wellness at Alpamare is an experience that’s completely different from anything else in the UK, caring for the wellbeing of the mind as well as the body.

"You can free-flow through a series of saunas and steam rooms at will, follow ritual trails specially created by wellness experts, enjoy a classic treatment, or immerse yourself in an uplifting Aufguss ceremony - all with a magnificent sea view.”

Among the features at the new spa are:

* Live Aufguss rituals in the sea-view sauna, taking place several times a day. The Aufguss (the German word for ‘infusion’) is a wellness and purification ceremony performed by an aufgussmeister. During this intense and multi-sensory experience, essential oils are heated over hot stones, then directed as a scented steam towards the bathers, using rhythmical towel movements. Alpamare has a team of trained aufgussmeisters, each bringing something distinctive to the ceremony – music, poetry, scents or movement – so that each performance is totally unique.

* Sauna World with a 95?C Finnish panorama sauna, 75?C clay sauna, hay bath, foot reflexology bath, and an ice and aroma shower.

* Hamam Magic with a warm centre-stone, herbal steam bath, soap steam bath, rhassoul healing mud bath, and a foot bath.

* Relax World - a calm retreat which includes four private treatment rooms where clients can enjoy classic treatments like massage or facials.

Janet Deacon, tourism and corporate marketing manager for Scarborough Borough Council and area director for Welcome To Yorkshire says: “With the opening of its new holistic wellness centre, Alpamare Scarborough is helping to transform Scarborough into a spa town for the 21st century, leading the way – just as it did in the 18th century - as a top UK holiday destination, the ultimate place to escape the world for a while, relax, and find yourself rejuvenated.”

New spa manager Amanda Shachnaey said: “Whatever’s going on in your life, whether you need to relax or re-energise, the spa is designed to help you as an individual – whether it’s a personalised detox, an escape from everyday stress, taking time to relax with a loved one, or having fun with friends during a live ceremony or as part of a special event.

"It’s an experience that everyone can enjoy – in fact, in Northern Europe it’s so popular that it’s become a way of life.”

Opening times at Wellness at Alpamare will vary at different times of year but it will be open from 10am–10pm at weekends and in the school holidays.

Pre-booking is recommended but not always essential at off-peak times. However, private treatments need to be booked in advance.

Admission is for 10am-4pm and 4pm-10pm. Prices are £39 on week days and £44 at weekends, which includes access to the waterpark. Treatments are priced separately.