The long-awaited spa at luxury urban resort Versace'>Palazzo Versace Dubai is now open.

Described as an upscale wellness sanctuary, the spa covers almost 1000sq m (10,764sq ft) and includes relaxation areas, seven luxury treatment rooms, a suite with private jacuzzi for couples, a nail studio and two hammams, saunas, steam rooms, ice fountains and vitality pools.

With marble floors, white birchwood walls with mother-of-pearl and turquoise mosaic plunge pools, the décor’s motifs belong to the sea world: cornucopias interlaced with small seashells and embellished curlicues.

Wellness consulting and management company GOCO Hospitality provided feasibility and design development.

Treatments have been designed to soothe and revitalise – Moroccan hammams which echo Arabian wellbeing traditions, bath rituals, age defying rituals, massage ceremonies and Middle Eastern ancestral beauty customs including steaming, scrubbing and massaging. Skincare partners include Swiss brand Dr Burgener.

Palazzo Versace Dubai cost AED2.3bn (£442.1m, €574.6m, US$626m) and was overseen by Versace in a joint venture with regional developer Enshaa Group. Located along the shores of Dubai Creek in the centre of the city’s Culture Village, the hotel’s opulent design is inspired by a neoclassical 16th century Italian palace.

The company’s artistic director and vice director Donatella Versace, who oversaw the creation of the spa and hotel, has designed the interiors and furniture for each of the 215 rooms and suites and 169 residences, giving final approval for every piece of furniture and strip of fabric.

A previous Palazzo Versace opened on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia in 2000, with another set to follow in Macau in 2017.