Updated: 11 November 2026
Short answer: a hotel spa in the UAE is planned by six parties, and most late changes happen when one decision has no named owner. The operator fixes the room programme and operating values, the interior designer fixes the wet-zone order, the MEP consultant sizes the plant rooms, the main contractor delivers falls and waterproofing, the spa contractor builds and commissions the rooms, and each equipment manufacturer certifies its own product. Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions has worked on 577+ hotel and resort projects and coordinates its UAE work from its Dubai office in Latifa Tower, World Trade Centre.
Why does ownership matter more than the drawing set?
Because a spa drawing can look complete while three people each assume someone else checked the drain. On hotel projects in Dubai and across the UAE, the expensive surprises are rarely design ideas; they are gaps between trades. A steam room drawn without a floor fall, a plant room sized after the layout was frozen, a chiller placed where it has no free air. Each of these is a decision that belonged to someone and was not signed.
The fix is simple to write and hard to keep: one owner per decision, written next to the decision, with a date by which it must be closed.
The operator: which rooms, and at what values?
The operator, or the hotel's spa director, owns the room programme. That means which rooms the spa has, how many guests each serves at once, and the operating value of each room. These values drive every later choice of heater, steam generator, chiller and ventilation.
RoomOperating value we design toFinnish sauna80–100 °CSteam room40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidityHammam40–50 °C room air; heated marble platform (göbek taşı) surface 40–45 °CCold plungewater from 2 to 15 °CSnow roomabout −10 °C (TechnoAlpin)If the operator changes a value late, for example asking for a colder plunge after the chiller is ordered, the equipment and sometimes the plant room change with it. For the month-by-month order in which these decisions fall before an opening, see our hotel spa opening timeline for Dubai.
The interior designer: what order do the wet rooms go in?
The interior designer owns the guest route: warm, hot, cold, rest, and the loop a guest repeats. The route decides which rooms sit next to each other, and therefore which walls are wet on both sides, where showers sit between heat and cold, and how far a guest walks in bare feet.
The designer's sign-off should include door swings, shower positions and the rest area, not only finishes. Finishes come last. Wood species, stone and tile can change late without moving a drain; the order of rooms cannot.
The MEP consultant: where does the plant go?
The MEP consultant owns the plant rooms and the services that feed every wet room: drainage, power, water and air. A steam generator, a pool filter, a plunge chiller and the ventilation for heat rooms each need space, air and service access.
The decision that most often lands without an owner is plant room size. When it is sized after the spa layout is fixed, there is usually no room left to grow it. The consultant should receive the spa contractor's equipment data early enough to size it at the coordination stage, together with electrical loads for each heater and generator.
The main contractor: are the falls and membranes right?
The main contractor owns the shell: slab levels, screed falls, membranes and the flood test in every wet room before the first tile. The steam room and the hammam set the levels for the rest of the spa because they need the deepest falls and the most structure, especially where marble is used.
A written flood-test record for each room is worth more than any later inspection. Once stone is fixed, a leak is found by breaking it.
The spa contractor: who builds and starts the rooms?
The spa contractor owns the rooms themselves: sauna cabins and benches, steam room and hammam build-up, plunge finish, the integration of equipment, and commissioning. On our projects, cabins and benches are built in our Istanbul workshop and installed by our own team. A single sauna takes about 2 weeks; large projects can take up to 6 months on site, depending on scope.
Commissioning is also a spa contractor decision with a hard rule: each room is run at its operating value with the hotel's controls before it is accepted. Our wider notes on room programmes and space planning are on our hotel spa design page.
The manufacturers: who certifies the equipment?
Each equipment manufacturer, such as EOS for heaters or Condair for steam generators, owns the certificate for its own product. The spa contractor selects, installs and commissions the equipment; it does not certify it. Keeping this line clear in the submittal saves weeks of comments from the MEP consultant.
Handover: who receives what?
Handover is owned jointly: the spa contractor delivers, the operator's team receives. The operator should leave with operating training for each control panel, a daily and weekly checklist, manufacturers' manuals and certificates, and warranties in writing. Ours are 24 months on workmanship and manufacturing, a 24-month manufacturer's warranty on electrical and mechanical equipment, and 5 years on structure and waterproofing. For equipment we install, spare parts are kept in stock in Istanbul.
One table to pin on the site office wall
DecisionOwnerClosed beforeRoom programme and operating valuesOperatorMEP coordination startsWet-zone order and guest routeInterior designerSlab levels are setPlant room size, loads, drains, airMEP consultantAuthority submissionsFalls, membranes, flood testsMain contractorFirst tile or stoneRooms, equipment integration, commissioningSpa contractorStaff trainingEquipment certificatesEach manufacturerSubmittal approvalFrequently asked questions
Who submits the drawings to the authorities?
The hotel's consultant. In Dubai the usual route is Dubai Municipality, Dubai Civil Defence and DEWA; the spa contractor supplies the technical details the consultant needs.
Does the same split apply to a hotel spa in Abu Dhabi?
Yes. The parties and decisions are the same; only the authorities differ. We coordinate Abu Dhabi projects from our Dubai office.
When should the spa contractor join?
Before the MEP design is frozen, so that drains, loads and plant space for each room are on the approved drawings.
About the author. Alican Aykaç, Managing Partner, Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions. Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions has designed, manufactured and installed saunas, steam rooms, hammams and pools since 1987 in its own facility in Istanbul and is in its 40th year, with 19 people in Istanbul and TS EN ISO 9001:2015 certification: 5,000+ projects in 41+ countries, including 577+ hotel and resort projects, and 732 documented references in 32 countries and territories. UAE projects are coordinated from the Dubai office in Latifa Tower, World Trade Centre.
