The Bothy at Heckfield Place: A Spa Rooted in Estate's Natural Cycles

The Bothy by Wildsmith, a 17,000-square-foot spa at Heckfield Place in Hampshire, opened in 2023, five years after the hotel. The spa is the vision of Hong Kong-American billionaire Gerald Chan, who bought the estate in 2002, and curated by Wildsmith Skin's general manager Katherine Pye. Director Reka Seres-Erdei describes it as 'the reknitting of all parts of the estate.' Access is through a walled garden; phones, children, and alcohol are banned, with a cap of 52 guests. Treatments are based on circadian rhythms, scheduled at dawn, noon, and dusk. The spa features a glass-walled pool, thermal circuit, hot tub, and subterranean treatment rooms with sounds recorded from the estate. Wildsmith, the hotel's in-house skincare line named after a 19th-century head gardener, is sold at Liberty. The estate includes a Grade II-listed Georgian manor, 438 acres, two lakes, forest trails, a working farm, and an organic home farm with biodynamic market garden. Interiors were redesigned by Ben Thompson, a protégé of Ilse Crawford. Sustainability practices include biomass boilers, harvested rainwater, and a well. The restaurant Marle earned a Michelin Green Star. The spa is only open to hotel guests.