Cypriot bee farm to welcome wellness resort

A beekeeping and honey farm in central Cyprus is to be turned into a wellbeing resort with an expected opening in 2024.

Designed by Finnish architecture office Studio Puisto, Solea Valley Healing Resort will consist of 30 hotel rooms, 40 experiential lodges and 18 exclusive villas with a total capacity of 230 guests.

Honey and healing

Accommodation prototypes for the high end hotel will be completed in early 2023, and the existing beekeeping function will continue to be an integral part of the location.

Guests can learn about the surrounding ecosystem and beekeeping or try apitherapy (bee venom therapy). In addition to a healing spa, the resort will have a restaurant, floating pools, sauna and extensive outdoor facilities.

Ecological integration

The resort’s design goal is to minimise its impacts on the environment by integrating it seamlessly with the surrounding nature.

Sustainability is being considered in materials, construction methods, drainage, lighting and energy solutions and placement of the buildings.

Restoring natural diversity

Studio Puisto specialises in hospitality design and projects with a close connection to nature. Founding partner Willem van Bolderen, said: “One of our core values at Studio Puisto is to design sustainable projects that respect people and the environment. We believe that sustainability should cover the whole design process and the lifecycle of the resort.

“Nature is our inspiration and we want to set an example of how it can be best incorporated in the design. Beyond preserving, we aim to restore and enhance the diversity of the flora and fauna as much as possible.”

Wellbeing weaving

The studio’s director of global hospitality development, Sam-Erik Ruttmann, commented on the resort project: “The increasingly hectic world makes people want to reconnect with themselves and the environment and take care of their minds and bodies. Wellbeing elements are weaved throughout the entire stay at Solea. We want to offer our guests more than a vacation, an overall healing experience that will change their life.

“People want to have authentic experiences they can enjoy without harming the environment. At Solea, guests can explore and experience the surrounding nature like nowhere else by for example studying beekeeping and permaculture, or even by planting a tree. We believe that holistic wellbeing comes from the opportunity to not only focus and develop oneself, but also to contribute to the wellbeing of the surrounding nature and community.”

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