Named as ‘Scottish Spa of the Year 2024’ by The Sunday Times, the Old Course Hotel offers Scotland’s most advanced contrast therapy experience and is launching a series of exclusive and transformative seasonal wellness retreats.
With sweeping views over the Old Course and a location in the ‘Home of Golf’, surrounded by some of the finest links courses in the world, the hotel celebrates active wellbeing. Just steps from the stunning Fife coastline, the Kohler Waters Spa – the only Kohler outpost in the UK – has re-emerged following a renovation with revolutionary thermal facilities inspired by coorie, the Scottish art of finding warmth, comfort and sanctuary after embracing the cold.
At the heart of the spa is contrast therapy, a process of alternating between hot and cold to promote healing, stimulate circulation, improve muscle recovery and enhance overall vitality. “Sometimes known as the Nordic cycle, contrast therapy works by triggering your physiological response to hot and cold,” explains Edinburgh-based wellness expert, Anna Deacon, in her forthcoming book, Wild Fix Scotland.
“Exposure to heat causes blood vessels to dilate and widen, whilst the cold makes them constrict and narrow. Using the microstresses of cold or hot conditions makes it possible to adapt our bodies through a process called Hormesis, which increases resilience and health. The process of switching back and forth creates a pumping action that is believed to help decrease inflammation.”
From the left: snow cabin, Espuro foam steam room and plunge cold pool at Kohler Waters Spa, Old Course Hotel, St Andrews.
At Kohler, guests can easily move between the restorative warmth of the saunas and the crisp chill of the cold plunges. “The contrast process works as a rotation of around 12-20 minutes in the heat, followed by 1-3 minutes in the cold”. However, Anna stresses “how long you should stay in really depends on many different things; everyone must find their own level, and this will depend on how much food you have had and how well you are feeling.”
Known benefits of sauna include improved sleep, better immune function, reduced risk of respiratory illness and pain relief. Cold is cited as reducing stress, improving memory and aiding symptoms of anxiety and depression. Increasingly, these practices are being adopted by elite sports men and women in their training schedules to improve their competitive performance.
The spa’s thermal suite also features a stunning new world-renowned KLAFS snow and sauna cabin delivering the ultimate contrast therapy experience, an upgraded hydrotherapy suite and the UK’s first Espuro foam steam room. The latter is an innovative, skin-pampering ritual where guests are cocooned in fragrant, plant-based foam that rises from special vents in the floor of the room. The feeling is both luxurious and holistic, whilst at the same time social and immensely enjoyable, if not a little child-like.
“Following the recent transformation of Kohler Waters Spa,” says the hotel’s General Manager, Phyllis Wilkie, “the hotel has solidified its position as a premier destination for wellness experiences in Scotland and beyond. Guests can indulge in world-class spa treatments and enjoy delicious, nutritious offerings thoughtfully crafted to nourish the body and enhance their overall wellbeing journey.”
Other restorative experiences that can be tailored to your visit include floating sound meditation, sunrise yoga, transformative sleep workshops and expert talks.
The basket of comforts for sunrise wild-swimming at the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews,
include a fluffy towel, hot drinks and luxurious biscuits.
During my visit, I had the chance to embrace the ultimate wake-up ritual with a sunrise sea dip at the magnificent Castle Sands. Chauffeured by mini-bus in our dry robes at 6.30 am, equipped with creature comforts – furry towels, flasks of hot tea and biscuits for our return to shore – it was an exhilarating and character-building experience. I had the pleasure of meeting and swimming (well, not quite swimming exactly as I only lasted a few minutes at such icy temperatures) with triple Olympian and Olympic silver medallist, Kerrie-Anne Payne. Kerrie-Anne, a passionate advocate for open water swimming, runs bespoke retreats at the hotel and gave us an illuminating talk about the potential benefits of taking the plunge (enhanced mood, improved circulation and reduced muscle soreness among others) over a restorative lunch in the Spa Café.
Building on the spa’s new facilities, the hotel has partnered with Deacon, who is a leading advocate for Scottish cold-water wellbeing (she wrote Taking the Plunge in 2019) and will be launching an exclusive series of seasonal wellness retreats to extend on the hotel’s wellbeing offer. “Being involved in curating the Old Course Hotel’s retreats,” she says, “has been incredibly rewarding because there’s such a natural alignment between the resort’s vision for active wellbeing and my approach to contrast therapy and cold-water immersion.”
“The Scottish coastline provides the perfect raw, beautiful, and invigorating backdrop for these transformative experiences.”
– Anna Deacon
The seasonal retreats, General Manager Wilkie says, are “driven by an ethos of active wellbeing, and inspired by collaborations with respected figures to empower guests to push limits, embrace balance, and discover a new way of being.”
The hotel is also equipped with a Fitness Centre, virtual and instructor-led classes, personal trainers and a 20-metre lap pool with a hot tub and sauna.
The first retreat, ‘Step into Summer’ debuting in May 2026, will feature broadcaster, author and endurance athlete Louise Minchin. It will combine the expert-led contrast therapy sessions using the spa’s KLAFS facilities with cold water swimming, energising and mindful practices including yoga, meditation and photography, and discussions around personal approaches to active wellbeing and the healing power of nature.
More information about the Old Course Hotel’s wellness offerings, HERE.
Details about Anna Deacon, HERE.
Author: Linda Hunting
Other restorative treatments recommended by I-M Inquisitive Minds include Cellular Interval Training and water-based therapies at the Kronenhof Spa.
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