Since the World Spa & Wellness Awards launched in 2012, it has grown to become one of the most prestigious and respected accolades in the industry.
One of the main reasons the awards are so valued is because of the rigorous and transparent judging process.
Who judges the World Spa & Wellness Awards?
The judges for the World Spa & Wellness Awards are all experienced industry professionals so entrants can be sure that the people scoring their business know exactly what it takes to make a standout spa run efficiently
Judges include some of the leading business leaders in the wellness industry. For 2025, the line-up includes global and regional spa directors of major groups including Hilton, Four Seasons, Banyan Group, Six Senses, Marriott and Banyan Group.
Being a judge for World Spa & Wellness Awards is completely voluntary and unpaid.
Judges are all passionate about raising the bar in our industry and helping to shine a light on the businesses that set the standards.
Crucially, every judge signs a confidentially agreement, keeping everything they read on an entry form or see during a judging visit completely secret.
Judges are personally invited by the World Spa Wellness team and cannot assess any business they have a vested interest in.
What is the World Spa & Wellness Awards judging process?
There are two rounds to the World Spa & Wellness Awards Awards judging – the first is the online entry stage to decide the finalists.
All entries are distributed to the relevant judges for that category, who get a fixed time to review and score against set criteria.
Judges may not confer and do not know who made the shortlist until it is announced. The shortlist comprises those spas that score the most points from the collected, confidential scores.
The second round: visits and interviews
Once the shortlist is announced, each finalist in the regional and worldwhide spa categories is visited in person by a judge, who experiences treatments, accomodation and food as a normal client would, then also interviews the spa director or owner about the business.
The visiting judges tell finalists at the time of booking who they are and arrange a mutually convenient time to visit.
The visiting judge then files a report on everything they see and experience, from pre-visit, through the full experience and any follow-up.
The visiting judge then joins all other judges in their category on a deliberation call where they answer any additional question about each finalist experience and business.
All judges then score each finalist against set criteria (again, without conferring) and submit their scores individually and confidentially to be totalled up by the World Spa & Wellness Awards team before winners are announced.
The World Spa & Wellness Awards night
The final winners of all categories are announced at the awards night in London – for 2025 it will take place on Sunday, March 2.
The night itself is attended by the industry-leading judges as well as the finalists, all of whom run the best spa businesses worldwide.
So, there is no better place to network with the biggest names in the spa and wellness industry than the World Spa & Wellness Awards gala dinner. Register your interest to join us and be notified as soon as tickets are available.
