Spa bubbling after awards

Rotorua's Wai Ora Spa has pulled off a three-peat, with the spa again taking two top awards in the 2013 World Luxury Spa Awards.

It's the third year in a row the spa, at Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort in Holden's Bay, has picked up one of the awards.

This year the spa was named winner of the Best Luxury Spa Group award for the Australasia and Oceania region. It was also the winner of the Best Luxury Destination Spa in New Zealand.

The awards come on top of what has already been a good year for Wai Ora Group, with its Mokoia Restaurant taking out a Beef and Lamb Excellence Award and the Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort taking out a Trip Advisor Travellers Choice Award.

Wai Ora Group chief executive officer Bryan Hughes said the wins were a major achievement. "To have the Wai Ora Spa recognised at such an international level this year, taking out the continent award for Best Luxury Spa Group in the Australasia and Oceania region is a fantastic accolade to the level of service and standards that the Wai Ora Spa have met and achieved in the last year, and can only cement Rotorua's position as a premier spa destination."

Mr Hughes said he believed one aspect that set Wai Ora Spa apart was that they made and used their own products and had signature therapies based on Maori culture.

He said even the design of the spa reflected nature. Mr Hughes said there were two ways a spa could go - high tech with the most modern machinery or high touch at the other end of the spectrum. "We are very much based on high touch."

Mr Hughes said he believed the more high tech people's lifestyles became, the more they appreciated the connection of high touch.

Mr Hughes said he would like to see more spas in Rotorua.

"If we want to make [Rotorua] a true spa destination the more spas we can have the better."