Five-star classification
Criterion 1Official five-star classification in your own market, current and verifiable. This is the entry requirement, not the qualification.
Membership
Membership of the ELIXIR Collection is an audited standard, not a listing you can buy. Roughly one applicant in four is admitted, and members are re-audited every two years.
The criteria
The complete schedule runs to 71 pages and is free to request before you apply. Many houses use it as an improvement checklist and never apply at all, which is a perfectly good outcome.
Official five-star classification in your own market, current and verifiable. This is the entry requirement, not the qualification.
A minimum of 1,200 m² of wet and treatment area, at least one therapist per eight rooms, and treatment rooms that meet the hygiene schedule in full.
For medical members: a named responsible physician, written supervision lines, documented escalation, and emergency equipment checked on a schedule an auditor can read.
Independent water testing at the stated frequency, plant records, and a lifeguard or supervision policy for every body of water on the property.
Assessed by overnight visit: what happens when a guest is unwell at two in the morning, and whether the night team can reach a doctor.
Published energy and water figures, and pay at or above the sector median with rosters issued in advance.
The process
You score your house against all six criteria and send the evidence. Most applicants pause here for a season to fix what they find.
Classification, plant and water records, staffing rotas, incident logs and complaint handling, read remotely.
Two assessors, two nights, booked as ordinary guests. One night is unannounced.
Admitted, admitted with findings, or declined — in writing, with reasons. Declined houses may reapply after twelve months.
Your landing page in the collection, the mark, collective enquiries, and re-audit every two years.
What members get
A one-off joining audit of €9,800 including the overnight visit, then €7,200 a year per house. There is no commission on bookings and no charge for enquiries sent through the collection.
Four to seven months. Most of that is the applicant closing gaps found in their own self-assessment, which we send before anyone visits.
About one in four applicants. The most common reasons for refusal are thin overnight staffing and spa plant records that cannot be produced on request.
Yes, where they are genuinely different. We will not admit two near-identical houses in the same valley simply because both meet the standard.
Minor findings carry 90 days. Major findings suspend membership immediately and the house comes off the collection page that week, with the date shown on the register.
No. Golf & Spa members must meet the full spa standard as well as the course requirements — a good course attached to a weak spa is not a member.
Applying
Request the criteria, score your house honestly, and write to us when the gaps are closed. We would rather admit you next year than decline you this one.
Searches this directory only. Not medical advice, and not a booking system.