Strøm Old Quebec has taken Canada's Best Day Spa honors at the World Spa Awards for the third straight year, reinforcing STROM Group's position as one of the continent's leading wellness operators. The recognition arrives as the company accelerates expansion plans beyond its Quebec home market and into the broader North American hospitality landscape.
The Scale Behind the Award
Founded in 2009, STROM Group has grown to 10 wellness destinations and spas across Quebec, employing more than 1,500 professionals and drawing over 700,000 visitors annually. Its portfolio spans a diverse range of hospitality and wellness formats—from Strøm Nordic Spa and the urban sanctuary concept AWŪ, to Förena Cité thermale, Sibéria Spa, and Spa Nordic Station. The Group also operates Nord restaurants and the BORÉAL skincare line, alongside branded retail collections and its own media channels including a magazine and podcast. For hospitality operators tracking integrated wellness-and-dining models, STROM Group's multi-brand structure offers a compelling case study in vertically integrated guest experience.
Expansion and Operator Implications
CEO Guillaume Lemoine framed the award as validation of both the Old Quebec property's team and the Group's broader operational philosophy. "This award celebrates not only the remarkable work of the Old Quebec team, but also the collective expertise behind every Strøm," he said. "As we expand across Canada and into the United States, we will carry that same philosophy of balance and accessible well-being into each new market." That cross-border ambition is significant for the North American hospitality sector: Nordic spa and thermotherapy concepts have gained considerable traction with wellness-focused travelers, and STROM Group's track record of winning internationally benchmarked awards could strengthen its positioning as it enters new U.S. markets. Operators in restaurant and hospitality development should note the Group's deliberate integration of gastronomy and skincare into its wellness model—a format that blurs traditional category lines and raises the revenue-per-visit ceiling well beyond a conventional spa visit. With nearly one million visitors across its network annually, STROM Group has demonstrated that the Nordic wellness format can scale without sacrificing the experiential standards that drive repeat visitation and premium pricing.
What's Next
The Group has signaled that responsible, disciplined growth—rather than rapid franchise expansion—defines its approach, with an emphasis on honoring the cultural and natural landscapes it enters. For the broader North American hospitality and foodservice industry, that model will be worth watching as wellness tourism continues to outpace conventional lodging and dining growth categories.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
