A huge new water park, spa and wellness centre is set to open less than an hour's drive from Liverpool.
Boasting an impressive 25 pools, 35 water slides and 30 saunas, Therme Waterpark is set to be built on a site next to the Trafford Centre in Manchester. The £250m development will be the UK's first city-based wellbeing resort and will be double the size of Therme's wellness centre in Bucharest.
Work is due to start soon to make way for the new development, which is set to open in 2025. However, with this in mind, Dianne Bourne from the Manchester Evening News took a trip to the Romanian capital of Bucharest to get a taste of what the North West can expect when Therme comes to Manchester.
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The original Therme centre in Bucharest opened in 2016. The attraction has 10 pools, 16 water slides, 10 saunas and an array of outdoor beaches, pools and fountains.
Dianne said: "Arriving at the huge glass domed structure, which is around half an hour out of the city centre of Bucharest, you get a sense of the scale of the place. But it's once you get inside that you appreciate just how spectacular it all is.
"At the entrance desk you can rent some flip flops and a fluffy rope to wear over your swimsuit or bikini, although the temperature is set at a permanent 30C inside, so it won't be long before you'll want to shrug it off. Trust me, everyone is quick to lose their inhibitions once inside the toasty glass dome. Incredibly there's the capacity for up to 10,000 people to enjoy this place every day, yet it never feels overly full during our visit - that's how massive it is.
"It's the Therme mission to very much be accessible to all - with a dedicated family zone boasting 16 zany water slides and a variety of different pools and splash parks suitable for the very youngest in the family up to the more adventurous. They've got big ambitions for Manchester next, where there will be a jaw-dropping 30 different water slides, including their very first 'living slide', clad with all sorts of flora and fauna.
"It took us several hours just to do a walking tour of the whole Therme site, which in Bucharest includes three 'zones' that you can book to visit separately for set prices, or pay to use the lot. There's the Galaxy family-friendly zone where you'll find all the slides, The Palm which is over-14s only at the central dome, while Elysium gains you access to all of the facilities - including the upper floor where the saunas and wellness centre can be found.
"And when it comes to those saunas, well, it's not just sitting around on a towel feeling like you're melting here at Therme. It's all a bit more interactive than that.
"It's famous for its 'Aufguss' sauna experiences, where you might be called to rub yourself down with honey while a therapist performs a towel dance in front of you. Or head into the Amazon Sauna for a 'Fruity Ice' ceremony, where you rub a block of frozen ice tea over your body which is sizzling away in 65C heat.
In terms of places to refuel, Dianne was impressed with Therme's offerings. She added: "There's a huge restaurant on the main Palm, looking out across the impressive beach zone (where you can also dine outside if you prefer) where you can order from the likes of health-focused salads and sushi to treats like burgers and fries.
"Up in Elysium we headed to enjoy the venue's fine dining restaurant, The Mango Tree, which boasts a seriously stunning outdoor terrace, where we even got to watch the sun set. As night falls, the experience just carries on here at Therme though.
"An array of dazzling lights sparkle to life through the palm trees, and the background music that has been there all day starts to burst up a notch or two to give a pool party vibe to proceedings. You can swim through the main Palm pool outside, where fountains also burst to life with regular light and water shows through the evening.
"Incredibly, Manchester really will have all of these outdoor experiences too - as it's an all-weather attraction, with bosses stating it doesn't matter how cool outside, the water remains warm throughout. There will be an indoor beach here in Manchester though - what is billed as the 'UK's first all-season beach' complete with lapping waves.
"Some of the attractions within the resort include Greater Manchester's first all-season urban beach, a 'next generation' waterpark, expansive thermal pools, a wellbeing spa, immersive digital art, an onsite urban farm and botanical gardens. Bosses are also keen to stress that 'environmental consciousness is at the heart of Therme' by using sustainable design and technology to create an affordable and inclusive environment."
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