Blue Mountains, NSW: The Fairmont Resort Leura's new Ubika Spa, a two-storey pamper palace

When it comes to back stories, few hotels in NSW can rival the colourful past and fluctuating fortunes of The Fairmont Hotel Leura.

From rack and ruin in 2009 to rescue in 2012 by one of Australia's most curious squillionaires, to hosting the Dalai Lama in 2015, if the walls of the hotel's Sublime Lounge could talk you'd be glued to your fireside chair till dawn.

You'd hear tales of an unswimmable green pool, no sheets on beds and plates stacked in hallways, with nary a staff member in sight after immigration officials were rumoured to be prowling the place. You'd hear how it was abandoned by its owner, going first into spectacular decline, and then receivership.

The story would then move on to Dr Jerry Schwartz, the long-haired cosmetic surgeon turned hotel mogul who paid a reported $26 million for it and has been pouring millions into it ever since. (He has also this year picked up the Hilton Surfers Paradise in January for $70 million).

He has spent up on everything from new rooms (12 suites were built for His Holiness and his entourage in 2015), to a children's amusement arcade complete with karaoke room, a full-size basketball court and an outdoor adventure park with a high ropes course across the treetops of the Blue Mountains National Park. And in one for the wow-factor files, one of the resort's lakes is currently being drained and turned into a full-sized ice rink.

Fast forward to a weekend in February and, on your writer's third visit over the years, this latest chapter of the Fairmont chronicles looks to be its happiest since it opened 30 years ago.

The main thing the 224-room resort has always had going for it is its location, set on a plateau overlooking the dramatic and genuinely breathtaking Jamison Valley, a magnet for bushwalkers and campers. The foyer with its soaring windows capturing the valley views is still its best feature while the tropical fish in a huge glass tank set into one reception wall seem a long way from home.

We are here to experience the new Ubika Spa, a 16-suite, two-storey pamper palace which opened at the end of 2018. Elegant new sandstone pathways lead us to a minimalist, modern complex opposite the main resort, where fashionable loungers, magazines and herbal tea beckon in a Zen-like space.