Leading technology partner for luxury hotels, Journey has acquired the Good Spa Guide, expanding its presence in the UK spa and wellness sector with the relaunch of the guide's website as a direct booking and discovery platform. Announced on 2 November 2026, the acquisition brings together Journey's hospitality technology and booking infrastructure with the Good Spa Guide's independent spa assessments, consumer reviews and established industry reputation.
The relaunched platform allows consumers to search, compare and book assessed spas directly, alongside purchasing spa vouchers. For participating operators, the development introduces a new route to customer acquisition, with Journey positioning its membership model as a lower-cost alternative to traditional online travel agents.
Established in 2006, the Good Spa Guide attracts approximately 1.4 million users annually and is recognised for its independent Spa Spy assessments and Bubble rating system. The business will continue to operate as a standalone brand within Journey, led by Managing Director Gregor Ritchie, with its independent assessment process remaining in place.
The acquisition represents a further expansion of Journey's hospitality technology offering, extending its services beyond hotel booking and revenue management into consumer-facing spa discovery. The new Good Spa Guide website enables users to search for spas by location, compare independently assessed properties, read consumer reviews and make bookings directly through the platform. For spa operators, the membership structure provides access to Journey's technology, including its Experience Management System, Booking Engine and Journey Vouchers, supporting live availability, direct bookings and gift voucher sales. Journey says its membership model offers a more affordable route to market than online travel agents, which it estimates typically charge commissions of between 20% and 25%.
The development reflects a wider focus across hospitality on increasing direct revenue and reducing reliance on third-party booking platforms. Simon Bullingham, Founder and CEO of Journey, said:
"Journey has always had one mission: to drive direct business for hotels. Our digital marketing, websites and hotel technology help our partners grow more profitably, instead of losing revenue to online travel agents and third parties. The Good Spa Guide shares that purpose. For more than 20 years it has supported the spa industry, and earned the trust of spa-goers and the respect of operators.
We've invested to make that judgement count at the moment of decision, with a clearer rating, a published method and a direct way to book. And because Members pay a fraction of typical online travel agent commission, more of every booking stays with the spa. Journey is where hotels and spas go to grow."
Journey's wider technology platform is currently used by more than 1,300 hotel and spa properties, providing systems for experience management, bookings, marketing and payments.
Alongside the acquisition, the Good Spa Guide has introduced a refreshed brand identity and updated its Bubble rating system to provide greater clarity around how spas are assessed. Under the revised framework, three Bubbles represents Good, four indicates Great, five signifies Excellent and Five Luxury Bubbles denotes Outstanding. The updated assessment methodology evaluates spas against five published criteria: Peace, Practice, People, Place and Promise. Each spa's online profile will also display the date of its most recent assessment, providing consumers with greater visibility into the evaluation process.
The Good Spa Guide has emphasised that its assessment model will remain independent, despite the introduction of paid memberships. According to the organisation, membership fees cover the assessment process but do not influence the resulting rating, and paid placement will not determine a spa's position.
Lesley Bacon, Spa and Wellness Director of the Good Spa Guide, said:
"Today, spa is now one of the main reasons people choose a hotel, and one of the hardest things to choose well. A spa day is rarely an ordinary day. It's the birthday, the annual leave, the afternoon someone else covered the school run. Getting it wrong costs more than money. Our Good Spa Guide experts have already been and checked, so guests can relax, stop searching and book with confidence.
Our Spa Spies have always done a rigorous assessment. Now we're telling consumers exactly what we check, and making it simple to book. Journey's investment doesn't change how we assess. Membership pays for the Assessment, but it has never paid for the outcome. And for spa-goers, the message is simple. Relax. It's in the Good Spa Guide."
The acquisition and relaunch come shortly before the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026, which will take place on 16 November at Sopwell House in St Albans, Hertfordshire. This year's awards have attracted 361 entries across 20 categories, with more than 260,000 consumer votes recorded. For Journey, the acquisition creates an opportunity to connect the Good Spa Guide's established consumer audience with its booking and revenue management technology. For spa businesses, the new platform introduces another distribution channel at a time when operators are increasingly focused on booking conversion, customer acquisition costs and revenue retention. The deal also places greater commercial significance on the Good Spa Guide's independent assessments, positioning its established ratings and consumer trust alongside direct booking functionality. The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Hospitality technology company Journey has acquired the Good Spa Guide, expanding its presence in the UK spa and wellness sector with the relaunch of the guide's website as a direct booking and discovery platform. Announced on 2 November 2026, the acquisition brings together Journey's hospitality technology and booking infrastructure with the Good Spa Guide's independent spa assessments, consumer reviews and established industry reputation.