Matfen Hall

Its never too late to seek advice....

Overview

This fine mansion originally built in the 1830's was more recently extensively restored into a magnificent country house hotel. In 2002 it was voted Best Small Hotel in England by the English Tourism Council. In May 2003 we were asked to assist with an extension to include a Spa.

Objective

The owner sought to offer something more than the usual leisure facility for members and hotel residents, aspiring to compete with the best in the UK. It was evident from our research that demand for Day Spa programmes was very strong, but the offer was weak in the locality. We identified a gap in the market and convinced the owners to change the concept of the treatment facility, invest a little more and cater for longer staying Spa goers. Also, any Spa concept would have to enhance and serve the hotel's strong wedding market.

Constraints

The leisure & Spa extension was under construction when we were commissioned to improve the initial concept. Much of the build structure had been committed, only the spacial allocation within the supporting walls could be changed.

The hotel is relatively small with 53 rooms and is 20 minutes away from a major conurbation, it was unlikely to attract passing trade, consequently the facility mix had to be good enough to attract any non-residential trade from 20 minutes or more. We had to be confident in our advice to make a radical change at this late stage.

Achievements

We turned an ordinary treatment operation into a very successful Day Spa, changing concept, layouts and features within pre-determined footprints and spaces. Howard Consulting now supports the operation assisting the operator exceed their wildest dreams. We now know from sales segmentation stats' that if this operation had not changed in concept it would have failed, as only 1/3rd of it's business is derived from hotel residents..the rest is Day Spa business.

The Spa is one of the most prestigious in Northumberland. We negotiated exclusivity with both Versace and [comfort zone] to provide a unique all-Italian treatment menu.

Client Satisfaction

"As an hotelier, the Spa was a completely unknown quantity for me and without Howard Consulting's invaluable input we would never have been able to achieve the facility and successful business that we have today. The Pamper Day business has exceeded even our wildest expectations so much so that we are unable to satisfy demand from our hotel guests!"