The owner of the St Michael's Hotel and Spa in Falmouth has announced a £6 million investment programme which will see its health club more than double in size, an additional 32 bedrooms and suites created and its restaurant refurbished and extended.

Work will start in October on the project which will take in the current St Michael's site and the former Falmouth Beach Hotel "Croft" site. Once completed, hopefully by next May, the new development will all be rebranded as the St Michael's.

The aim is for the St Michael's Spa and Wellness Resort to be one of the top leisure facilities in the south west. Both the spa and health club will more than double in size and will become separate units linked by a walkway.

The existing health club will relocate to an extended and expanded facility to be created out of the former Falmouth Beach Club. The new facility will accommodate up to 2,500 members and include a three storey "urban style" gym, three studios dedicated to spinning, holistic and fitness classes and treatment rooms. The 17 metre pool will also be refurbished, improved and reopened next February.

St Michael's Spa will become dedicated to treatments and relaxation with seven new treatment rooms including Rasui mud and flotation experience rooms, a hydrotherapy pool, new steam and sauna cabins, relaxation areas and a spa cafe.

In addition, the main hotel public spaces will offer an open plan reception, bar, lounge and dining experience. The Flying Fish restaurant will be fully refurbished and extended with the addition of a sea-facing terrace for alfresco dining.

The Falmouth Beach Hotel "Croft" site, which survived the fire in 2012, will be redeveloped, adding a further 32 premium rooms and suites. Four eco woodland lodges, with private decks and hot tubs, will also be created in the St Michael's spa gardens.

"It's very exciting," said hotel owner, Nigel Carpenter. "We have got all the investment needed for this. We were one of the first hotels to have a spa in Cornwall, now many other hotels have them so we need to leapfrog them and get ahead again."

Work is continuing to secure the investors needed to enable the £16 million "Liner" development of residential apartments to move forward. "It will definitely happen, but getting that investment is taking longer than originally thought" said Nigel. "We hope to start it in January and it will be about an 18 month build."

If all plans move ahead as hoped, the entire redevelopment of the site could be completed by the end of 2019.

In the meantime, the search has begun for a new managing director for the St Michael's Hotel and Spa which will allow Nigel to "take a step back." Once the new MD is in place, Nigel will become chairman and will "concentrate on developments beyond the St Michaels."

He said: "Now is the right time in our development to seek an experienced managing director to take St Michael's to the next level. The new £6 million investment will be transformational and make St Michael's one of the top destination resorts in the whole south west."