The Spa and Wellness Awards recognise the businesses and individuals who have made waves in the beauty, health, spa, wellness and tourism space. With emphasis on quality, sustainability, innovation and originality, these awards celebrate the country’s best new additions to the thriving wellness sector.

The 2023 winners were announced at a gala dinner held at Woods Bagot’s recently-completed Continental Sorrento on 29 October, with projects and people recognised across five major categories.

Aurora Spa and Bathhouse, located within the Continental Sorrento precinct on the Mornington Peninsula, has received the award for Best Spa in Australia.Other finalists for the category included wellness heavyweights Endota Spa, Spa at Peninsula Hot Springs, and Spa Qualia in Whitsundays.

Completed in 2022, the Aurora Spa and Bathhouse is a sensitive postscript to the Continental experience, combining opulent design with state-of-the-art facilities and the latest in therapeutic remedies.

Aurora at the Continental Sorrento participates in the centuries-old tradition of combining transitory accommodation with thermal wellness amenity – a practice that dates back as early as the 7^th century, when the first Japanese ryokan was built adjacent to an onsen. As such, the material palette features ancient textures and tones combined with timeless design and the most recent advances in wellness therapies.

“Designed as a subterranean wellness sanctuary, the architecture and interiors reference the centuries of bathhouse tradition that precede it, from the copper-clad apothecary counter to the Italianate terrazzo tiles,” says Woods Bagot Associate Principal and Aurora interior design leader Sarah Alessi. “There is an antiquity about the materials, like limestone and copper, that even conjures a Mexican cenote.”

In addition to Best Spa in Australia award, Aurora was also named the winner for Best Urban Bathhouse and runner-up for Best Spa Experience.  

Wellness entrepreneur and Aurora founder Lyndall Mitchell was also named Wellness Warrior of the Year – an honour bestowed on individuals driving quality and innovation in the spa and wellness space.

View the full list of 2023 winners here. 

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Isla Sutherland
Content and Communications Specialist (Australia & New Zealand)