JUDGING PROCESS


Impartial Judging Process

Any awards scheme stands and falls on its judging process, which is why the World Spa & Wellness Awards has invested heavily in judging, to ensure a transparent and scrupulously fair scheme.

Judges are based in the same continent as the awards they are judging. All are spa professionals, with many owning and operating spas themselves. Operators will not judge a category they enter.


The process

  • An independent panel of judges from the spa and wellness industry will examine all entries. No one judge will have undue influence.
  • Each judge scores individually.
  • All scores are added and up to six finalists are chosen for each category
  • All entrants will receive an email after the first-round judging detailing whether or not they have achieved finalist status.
  • Official visitor:
    • All finalists for the Spa of the Year and Worldwide Health & Wellness Destination of the Year categories will be contacted by an official visiting judge, who will make an appointment to see the facilities. They will stay overnight and experience two treatments including your signature body treatment and one other (such as a massage or facial). Afterwards they will then report back to the judges.
    • The cost of the stay (up to a maximum of two nights where travel and timings are difficult), food, soft drinks, treatments, and transfers are to be covered directly by the shortlisted property.
    • This does not include alcohol, retail and costs associated with any additional guests (including any uplift on accommodation, all food, all drinks, all treatments and retail associated with this additional individual). If these additional costs are covered by the property, the property will be disqualified.
    • These visits will take place between Tuesday 10 September and Tuesday 5 November.
  • Judges will have a deliberation day where they discuss the findings of the official visitor and review the original entries.
  • Judges do not agree on a winner as a group but instead score independently using pre-defined criteria.
  • Judges submit their final scores to the World Spa & Wellness Awards organising team, who then total up all the scores from all the judges. The finalist with the highest collective score wins.

Finalists in this category will then be required to provide a video (based on set criteria) and to attend a virtual official interview on Tuesday 22 October 2024. If you are unable to attend the virtual official interview you will automatically be disqualified from the Awards.

Finalists in this category will be required to attend a virtual interview on Wednesday 23 October 2024. If you are unable to attend, you will automatically be disqualified from the Awards.