London - Britain’s only natural spring thermal spa is to open on August 7, four years behind schedule and over budget, its operators said on Friday.
Work on the state-of-the-art Thermae Bath Spa started in 2000 in Bath, in the west of England, a mecca for spa enthusiasts since Roman times, and it should have been finished in 2002.
Carefully designed to fit into the town’s Georgian architecture, it features a rooftop al fresco hot tub, open winter and summer, with dazzling views over the surrounding Somerset hills.
But a string of glitches - peeling paint, leaks in the steam room, vandalism, the need to drill more boreholes than expected - forced opening day to be rescheduled more than a few times.
Backed by the local Bath and North East Somerset municipal council, with lottery funding, the spa also should have cost 12,2-million pounds (R22-million) - but the final pricetag will exceed 40-million pounds (about R73-million), local officials say.
Left waiting in the wings to actually run the place was Dutch spa operator Thermae, which Friday felt confident enough to announce August 7 as the opening date, with bookings to be taken from July 17.
“I have a dedicated team all ready and eager to offer spa bathing in the natural thermal waters and a wide range of treatments in an inspirational setting,” Thermae managing director Henk Verschuur said.
“I also believe the opening of Thermae Bath Spa heralds a new and exciting era for Bath as Britain’s most famous spa destination.”
Bath is the only place in Britain where hot springs bubble to the surface, but thermal bathing has been off-limits to the public for two decades, after a health scare forced the shutdown of previous antiquated facilities.
Ruins of its Roman baths remain one of the nation’s top tourist draws. - AFP
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