14 Oct 2014
Moroccan thermal spa projects unveiled by state-owned subsidiary Sothermy
BY Helen Andrews
Sothermy, a subsidiary of the Moroccan state-owned financial institution that manages the country’s long-term savings – CDG – is developing a hot spring spa and hotel plus a public thermal bathing facility in Moulay Yacoub, one of the provinces of Fès-Boulemane in Morocco.
Sothermy (Société Thermo-medicale de Moulay Yacoub) was created in 1979 to manage Moulay Yacoub’s collection of thermal facilities. Its finance is primarily derived from CDG Development and from certain municipalities from the region of Fès-Boulemane.
The new spa and hotel will be operated by Vichy Spa International and the new public bathing centre will be managed by Sothermy, which owns the whole complex.
Following a tip-off at the Hot Spring Forum during the eighth annual Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) that was held in Marrakech, Morocco, manager of development and marketing for Sothermy Ahmed Akkari, spoke exclusively to Spa Opportunities about the two projects.
Hotel and Thermal Health Spa
The construction of the Vichy-operated 100-bedroom hotel will complement the redevelopment of the neighbouring health spa facility. This hotel spa, once complete, will measure almost 54,000sq ft (5,017sq m) and feature 68 treatment rooms.
This is estimated to be a US$30m (€24m, £19m) project across the entire resort that will commence construction in July 2015 and is expected to open in October 2017. The spa redevelopment is expected to cost US$12m (€9m, £7m) of the total US$30m. Architect Omar Alaoui from Casablanca will be overseeing the project, while Entreprise Boutcha Mossadak is the company in charge of construction.
The existing health spa currently receives 60,000 visitors per annum for a combination of health spa treatment programmes (6,000 guests) and up-market bathing and spa relaxation experiences (54,000 visitors).
The update to this spa will include a revamp of the old thermal pools, the installation of treatment facilities by Vichy and a medical zone for respiratory and rheumatology therapies.
In the mixed gender area, there will be 20 thermal baths, six Vichy showers, underwater massage cabins, jet showers, thoracic and lumbar showers and four cabins for wrap treatments. There is an Iyashi dome and two hammams in both the mixed zone and the women-only zone.
The mixed medical zone of the spa will feature three ear, nose and throat nebulisation units – these are devices that pump out a mist which the visitor inhales deeply into the lungs to clear infections. These devices are often used to deliver antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, mucus-thinning and anti-fungal medicine. There will also be three physiotherapy cabins and a functional medicine room.
Public Bathing Facility
The existing bathing facility currently receives one million visitors per annum. The redevelopment of these baths is a US$9m (€7m, £5.6m) project that will be complete in June 2015. It will boast 44 individual baths, including four for disabled guests. There will also be three further thermal pools, one for women, one for men and a third will be reserved for future use. These facilities measure 37,135sq ft (3,500sq m).
Two separate hammams, one for men and one for women, will also be added to this public bath but these will open a year later, in October 2016. The hammams will measure a total of 21,530sq ft (2,000sq m).
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