Talk:Spa towns

France?

I'm sure there are some french ones.. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 10:40, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Spa vs Spring?

Prompted by the Buxton issue, which is regarded as a 'Spa town', but I think it was to do with a mineral water spring as opposed to a baths (like Matlock). Perhaps this is something the article's understand section should clarify? Sfan00 IMG (talk) 10:40, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

What Buxton issue? It seems that historically, baths were usually placed where natural springs already existed; I don't see why we need to make a distinction. Powers ^(talk) 19:29, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Spa towns

Swept in from the pub

I created this stub using my alternate account.

Would appreciate some people taking the plunge so to speak and adding to it, as I am only familiar with a few of the British ones, and I'm not sure if the Spa (resort) town is purely a Western European thing.

I'm planning on adding to the "destination" list, based on the Wikipedia article.

ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 21:39, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

Definitely not! Spas are a big thing in Korea and Japan, although they tend to be individual establishments than a whole town. There are some dedicated towns such as Beppu. Even Australia has some in Daylesford. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 22:48, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

Yeah. Onsen is a pretty good analog for spa, isn't it? Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:02, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

I noticed that this article is likely going to become another long list, which we really should try and avoid. Rather than list the town of Sedona with no context it would be far more preferable to have a full paragraph on Spa towns in the United States. I'll give this a try. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 01:27, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

I just noticed another thing. Spas is a seperate well filled article that already exists! Would recommend merging. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 01:47, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

And yet another article on the same subject :) - Hot_springs Andrewssi2 (talk) 01:48, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

I think Spas has a very different focus, mostly on things like massages etc, whereas Spa towns are usually baths. However, yeah, looks like Spa town and Hot springs are mostly the same, I'd suggest merging those, but not Spas. Drat70 (talk) 08:29, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

You also in the UK had some costal resorts that started out as being much closer to the 'traditional' spa= mineral baths.

I will also note that you have modern 'health and beauty' centers that are called Spas ( per the named article), that have no connection with the original mineral spring/mineral baths. You also have things called various "Health farms", which are more like (expensive) residential gymnasia, and pyhsical training centres.

Yeah, there are "spas" like you describe throughout cities like New York and Los Angeles. No natural springs or mineral baths at all in those. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:59, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps some articles in this area need renaming or clarifcations?.

I'd started the stub, because many of the UK Spa Towns, the legacy of former "traditional" spa use is considerable, even if the towns aren't nessecarily host to Spas in the modern sense. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 10:21, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

I think a town named Bad xyz (in Germany) is definitely distinct from an individual facility doing the whole "wellness" shtick. And I think we could definitely have an article on towns like that. But yeah, just a list of town names is not desirable. In many cases spa towns have a lot of nice buildings dating back to the 19th century and in at the very least one case a crowned head in a spa is at the beginning of one of the more consequential wars in European history. But that has more to do with Bismarck than with Bad Ems itself. Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:35, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

So given that there are now three articles, each with their own take on what a spa is, I think it is worth making the distinction between them. For example, do we really care about German and English towns that were traditionally spa towns but today have little or no spa facilities.

Also worth making the distinction between facilities that offer natural mineral water (eigher hot or cold), and 'modern spa businesses' that offer face packs and massages. Andrewssi2 (talk) 09:54, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

Well Buxton is still a resort destination even if it's not still in the old-style spa business, and yes I think there should be a distinction between the old 'mineral' bath/springs sites and Health and Beauty centres which are typically part of larger resorts. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 11:15, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

This article and "Spas"

Overlap and neither is particularly comprehensive. Should they be merged? Hobbitschuster (talk) 15:00, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

And Hot springs? Much of what in Spa towns here could be under a Historical Spas section in Spas.. (Like Postal History in Postal service)ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 18:35, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Support. /Yvwv (talk) 23:56, 11 February 2020 (UTC)