Charlotte Church's The Dreaming Retreat Pauses in December

A well-known Welsh retreat is closing its doors for the winter with no date to come back, which says something about how hard the year has been for smaller wellness businesses. Elsewhere the news is of money going in: a finished £25m makeover in North Yorkshire, a Surrey spa hotel sold out of administration with plans for a wellness centre, and a new garden spa in the Malvern Hills.

Charlotte Church’s The Dreaming will pause from December

The Dreaming, Charlotte Church’s retreat at Rhydoldog House near Rhayader in Powys, will pause from December, the BBC reported on 15 October. The team said in a social media statement that it needed time to “reassess” what it should offer, and could not say when the retreat would return. The house, which dates back to the 15th century, was the home of Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard; Church bought it in 2021.

Spa Business, reporting on 14 October, said the pause follows a severe fall in bookings that the retreat put down to the cost of living and rising running costs. The Dreaming says it has hosted more than 3,000 guests, including hundreds through a pay-what-you-can place offered on each retreat. Its remaining autumn retreats are still on sale and its online course carries on.

The autumn retreats are still being sold, so if you are booked on one there is no sign it is affected; if you hold a voucher or deposit for a later date, raise it with the retreat now rather than in December. Our guide to cancelling a retreat and your refund rights sets out where you stand if a provider cancels, and the best burnout retreats in the UK covers others built around rest and the outdoors. Reports at the BBC and Spa Business.

Aldwark Manor finishes a £25m makeover, with a new Salus Spa

Aldwark Manor Estate in North Yorkshire has shown off the results of £25 million of work since Depho Estates bought it in 2019, The Caterer reported on 12 October. The old swimming pool has been knocked down and replaced by an infinity-style pool, and the new Salus Spa adds a hydrotherapy pool, a spa garden with an outdoor sauna, an indoor sauna and steam room, cryotherapy, and a gym. The last piece, the three-storey Salus Wing, is due to finish this month with seven treatment rooms, two meeting rooms and 17 more bedrooms.

The estate also has a redesigned golf course, a renovated two-AA-Rosette restaurant with a retractable roof, and a Michelin Guide-listed restaurant in one of its new buildings. Prices for spa days were not given. For other North Yorkshire options, our spa days in York and Yorkshire spa days guides are the places to compare. Report at The Caterer.

Lythe Hill Hotel & Spa is sold, and the buyer wants a wellness centre

Lythe Hill Hotel & Spa in Haslemere, Surrey, has been sold to a Dubai family office after about 18 months in administration, The Caterer reported on 14 October. The 60-bedroom hotel on 22 acres went into administration with RSM in March 2025 and was marketed by Christie & Co at £8.25 million. The administrators say it will keep trading without disruption to guests.

Chris Dexter of 7Hospitality, who represented the buyer, said the plan is to “build a world-class wellness centre”, add rooms and move the hotel to five-star service. That is a statement of intent, with no timetable or budget yet, so book it for what it is today: a country house hotel with a leisure club, spa and lake. Our Surrey spa days guide lists the alternatives nearby. Report at The Caterer.

The Cottage in the Wood opens The Forest Spa in Malvern

The Cottage in the Wood hotel in Malvern, Worcestershire, has opened The Forest Spa, Boutique Hotel News reported on 13 October. It has an indoor relaxation room, a garden with a fire pit, a hot tub, a sauna, a cold plunge pool filled with local water, and treatment rooms for massage. Guests can follow a self-guided hot and cold circuit between the sauna and the plunge pool.

The hotel is a five-minute walk from Malvern’s Holy Well and is pitching the spa on the town’s Victorian water cure history. Prices were not published in the report. For other options in the county, see our Worcestershire spa days guide, and outdoor spas in the UK lists more places built around a sauna and a cold plunge. Report at Boutique Hotel News.