SIDE STORY

 The Rotorua Bath House
The Bath House, designed along the lines of elegant European spa, incorporated the Tudor style of architecture, half-timbered construction, gables, towers and a grand staircase. Opening in 1908 as the Great South Seas Spa, the Bath House offered a range of therapeutic treatments based on the water from nearby geothermal springs. The north wing accommodated male patients, while women were treated in the south wing.

At the height of its fame, some 70,000 baths were given each year, along with 30,000 special treatments including massage, mud baths and electrical therapy. By the 1940s, faith in spa treatments waned and the fashion for rest-cures faded. In 1963 the Rotorua City Council took over control of the Bath House and three years later all treatments were transferred to nearby Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
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