Choose a hotel spa operator the way you would choose any long-term partner: start six to nine months out, involve the owner, the general manager and the hotel brand early, shortlist two or three operators, visit a spa each one runs, speak to a current and a former client, and put reporting, staff transfer, brand control, data ownership and exit terms in the contract before you sign. The checklist and 18 RFP questions below are vendor-neutral and work for any operator, including COCON.
When should you start looking for a spa operator?
Earlier than feels necessary. Three things take longer than owners expect: hotel-brand approval, staff transfer and the contract.
If the hotel is branded, read the management agreement first. Writing on US agreements, Goodwin Procter says the operator typically holds "the exclusive right to manage" the hotel, spa included, so outsourcing must be negotiated, and luxury operators keep approval rights "often at its sole discretion" (Goodwin Procter via Legal 500, September 2025). Agreements in London and Amsterdam vary, so check yours.
Illustrative timeline for a 300-room London hotel (an example, not a quote):
| Month | Step |
|---|---|
| 1 | Agree objectives and who decides. Check the hotel-brand agreement for approval rights. |
| 2 | Issue the RFP to three to five operators. |
| 3 | Shortlist two or three. Site visits and reference calls. |
| 4 to 5 | Heads of terms, then the contract, with data and TUPE schedules. |
| 6 to 7 | Staff consultation, employee liability information, systems, brand approval. |
| 8 | Handover. First monthly report four weeks later. |
Who should be involved in the decision?
Five people, from the start: the owner or asset manager (term, fee model, exit, capex); the general manager (how the spa fits rooms, F&B and front office); the hotel brand, if branded (approval rights and standards); finance (the report you will actually read); and HR and legal (staff transfer and data protection).
A consultant can run the RFP, but the GM should still visit the shortlisted spas. The spa is a small line on the P&L (3.4% of total revenue across 297 US hotels with a spa in 2024, and 4.2% at US luxury hotels, per CBRE, August 2025) but a visible one to guests.
How do you build a shortlist and check it?
Look for operators who already run spas like yours: same city, similar room count, same mix of hotel guests, members and day guests, and the same facilities (a pool, sauna and steam suite is a different job from four treatment rooms). Ask how many spas they run, how many they have lost, and why.
Then visit a spa the operator runs at a busy time, ideally a Saturday afternoon, and book a treatment as a guest. Check staff tenure, how reception handles a hotel guest versus a member, the plant room and changing rooms, and whether online reviews match what you see. Ask for one current and one former client. The former client is the useful one: why did the contract end, and was the handover clean?
What must the contract cover?
This is general information, not legal advice. Get your own lawyer for the contract.
Reporting
Agree now "how often and to what standard or format" the operator reports to you (Kuits Solicitors via Legal 500, July 2024). A monthly P&L is the minimum; ask to see bookings, revenue and therapist utilisation live. COCON's spas run on Trybe with live partner dashboards; other operators have equivalents. Our revenue and reporting page explains what we share.
Staff transfer
In the UK, moving an in-house spa to an operator is usually a service provision change under TUPE, and "an employer cannot choose which employees they want to transfer" (Acas). Terms and continuity of employment move with the staff (GOV.UK), and the old employer must give the new one employee liability information "at least 28 days before the transfer date" (Acas). Decide "whether there will be a TUPE transfer on entry to or exit from" the agreement, and who carries the risk (Kuits).
In the Netherlands, ask how the operator engages therapists. "Since 1 January 2025, the Netherlands Tax Administration has been checking whether zzp'ers are genuinely self-employed" under the Wet DBA; as at November 2026, "fines will only be imposed in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence", but additional tax assessments can still go back to 1 January 2025 (Business.gov.nl). A therapist on your rota, in your uniform, five days a week, is hard to call self-employed. Our staffing page explains how we employ people.
Exit terms
Borrow from hotel management agreements: termination rights tied to "underperformance, sale of the asset, or breach of contract", termination fees that are "reasonable and diminish over time", and a performance test that "sets a threshold below which the owner may have the right to terminate" (Stephen Rushmore, Hospitality Net, June 2025). Also agree the handover period and what happens to staff, bookings, vouchers sold and the spa name.
Brand control
Decide whose name the spa trades under, who signs off the menu, prices and product house, and who keeps the name and the reviews if you part ways. Renew Spa at Hilton London Bankside and Nagomi Spa & Health at Hotel Okura Amsterdam trade under their own spa names; your hotel brand may want another approach.
Data ownership
Guest and member data should belong to the hotel as controller, with the operator as processor. UK GDPR requires a written contract under which "the processor may only process personal data in line with the controller's documented instructions" and must, at the end, "at the controller's choice, delete or return to the controller all the personal data" (ICO). EU GDPR Article 28, which applies in Amsterdam, says the same. Get the data schedule drafted, not promised.
What should be on your spa operator checklist?
| Stage | What to do | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Brand approval | Check the hotel-brand agreement for approval rights | Route and timing known before the RFP |
| Shortlist and visits | Three to five comparable operators; visit one spa each as a guest; one current and one former client | Two or three left; former client describes a clean exit |
| Fee model | Management fee, revenue share or lease, with a year-one budget | Operator shares downside as well as upside |
| Reporting | Monthly P&L plus live access to bookings and utilisation | You can see yesterday's numbers today |
| Staff | TUPE (UK) or employment-status (NL) schedule | Named HR lead, consultation dates, costs allocated |
| Brand | Who owns the spa name, menu, prices, product house | Written approval rights for the hotel |
| Data | Controller-processor schedule; return or deletion on exit | Signed before go-live |
| Exit | Term, notice, performance test, termination fee, handover | Fee falls over time; handover period defined |
Which 18 RFP questions should you ask any spa operator?
Ask these of every operator, including COCON.
Track record
- Which hotel spas do you run today, since when, and under what model?
- Which contracts have you lost or ended in the last five years, and why?
- May we speak to one current and one former client?
People
- Who will be our spa manager, and what is their background?
- What is your therapist retention rate over the last 12 months?
- How do you employ therapists, and how do you handle TUPE or the Wet DBA?
- How do you train, and who pays for it?
Commercial
- What fee model do you propose, and what do you earn if the spa loses money?
- Show us a year-one budget for our spa with your assumptions stated.
- How do you price and yield treatment slots, memberships and day passes?
- What do you offer hotel guests who never visit the spa, such as in-room treatments?
Operations and brand
- What standards will you operate to, and who audits them?
- Who approves the treatment menu, prices, products and spa name?
- How will you work with our front office, housekeeping and F&B teams?
Reporting, data and exit
- What do we see, how often, and can we log in ourselves?
- Who is the data controller for our guests, and what happens to the data on exit?
- What are your proposed term, notice period, performance test and termination fee?
- Describe your last handover out of a hotel.
Our own answers are on the owners' FAQ.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to appoint a spa operator? Allow six to nine months from first conversation to handover; brand approval and staff transfer take the longest.
Do our spa staff automatically move to the operator? In the UK, often yes under TUPE if an organised group of employees provides the service; in the Netherlands, check employment status under the Wet DBA. General information, not legal advice.
Who owns the guest data? The hotel should, as controller, with the operator as processor and a contract that returns or deletes the data on exit.
Does the hotel brand need to approve the operator? Often yes, especially at luxury brands, so check the hotel management agreement before issuing the RFP.
A free spa review
If you are weighing up operators, we are happy to be one of them, or simply a sounding board. COCON runs or staffs five hotel spas in London and Amsterdam and offers a free, no-obligation review of your spa's numbers. Get in touch, whichever way you decide.
Sources
- Acas, TUPE: advice for employers and employees (last updated 23 February 2026)
- Acas, Employee liability information
- GOV.UK, Business transfers, takeovers and TUPE
- Business.gov.nl, Avoid false self-employment
- ICO, Contracts between controllers and processors: what needs to be included
- EU GDPR, Article 28: Processor
- Kuits Solicitors via Legal 500, Hotel management agreements: key components (15 July 2024)
- Goodwin Procter via Legal 500, Hotel amenities: outsourcing management to third parties (9 September 2025, United States)
- Stephen Rushmore, Hospitality Net, Understanding the owner's perspective in hotel management contract negotiations (13 June 2025)
- CBRE, The role of hotel spa departments (11 August 2025, United States)
