NEWH - November 2009 - (Page 10)

point-of-view spa design More than Meets the Eye Spas are not just pretty spaces By Lynn Curry PROFITABILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY are the keys to today’s hotel and resort spa creations. According to Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder (the world’s largest spa media, marketing, and gifting company), spa access and opportunity in a hotel is still the No. 1 consideration for travelers today (over other activities like skiing, golf, and beach access). With today’s decline in travelers to hotels, decreased length of stay, and according to Smith Travel Research’s Spa Study, a decline in average daily rates of more than 13 percent, it is more important than ever to create a spa that is not only beautiful and noteworthy in appearance, but profitable and functional so it will encourage guests to return to the hotel property, tell their friends, and stay longer. All of which can be accomplished with an appropriate spa facility. Spas create a design challenge in that there are inherent areas of conflict. High-energy areas such as locker rooms, salon, and fitness must coexist with the quiet of treatment and relaxation areas. The program of space needs to properly balance revenue producing treatment and salon stations with relaxation lounges and water features. The staff needs to move easily between the front of house and the back. Each of these areas should merge seamlessly with the others, providing a clean traffic flow for both guests and staff and avoiding potential chaos. All features need to be carefully considered and schematically planned so as to accommodate many functions, while at the same time maintaining the vision and integrity of the spa’s offerings. The team at Natural Resources Spa Consulting (NRi) is often asked if there is a magical formula for determining how to carve up a spa space. Unfortunately the answer is no—each project requires a unique set of calculations. A detailed guest usage analysis or feasibility study may not seem important up front, but an extensive range of questions should be answered in order to create the most profitable space possible: Is there a private membership? How many hotel or resort guests will the spa be serving? What is the breakdown such as double occupancy factor and families traveling with children? Will the spa expect large numbers at one time? Who are the guests and what are their demographics? Is group business expected? If so, what type of group business? Will there be more social and incentive business than corporate? The answers to these and a myriad of other questions hold the key to a proper schematic spa design, which will turn into a profitable venture for ownership. Once the main spaces of the spa are decided upon, pathways become the next important consideration. Corridors and guest pathways take up precious space, yet the addition of a service pathway can make the difference as to whether or not guests will see a linen cart on their way to a spa treatment. By the same token, robed guests should never see guests in fitness or street clothing, and guests dripping wet from shower or pool areas should not traverse with dry guests. It almost goes without saying that no guest should ever see the back of house transfer of supplies, food, or linens. Site lines are also imperative in this stage of design. Ultimately, the extra time taken by the design team and spa consultant to contemplate area placement and corridors will result in a thoughtfully designed spa, which will: • Create exceptional operational flow for spa management and staff, thus reducing staffing, training, and turnover, and eliminating an unnecessarily high payroll due to overstaffing. • Ensure guest experience integrity by maintaining fully stocked public areas and keeping the back of house activity completely away from any guest contact. • Create loyal guests who know they will enjoy efficient and relaxing arrivals and departures as a result of a correctly designed reception area. • Make guests feel so comfortable they will want to stay and play…an important aspect of the spa experience. And they will bring their friends. • Increase profitability by reaping the benefit of word of mouth advertising, repeat guest visits, and increased revenues to the hotel as a whole, because the guest chose the hotel because of the spa. A well-programmed spa, along with connectivity of the accompanying components of retail, salon, fitness, and outdoor adventure, will result in better profits for the entire hotel or resort project. Guests come to spas to de-stress, and with a little extra time working out a plan with an experienced spa professional up front, the design team can concentrate on all of those ideas and creations that make the space not just beautiful but stress free and magnificent as well. s Lynn Curry is the senior vice president of spa consulting firm Natural Resources Spa Consulting, Inc. Projects she has worked on/are working on include the Fontainebleau Miami Lapis Spa, Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel Sense Spa, Ameristar BlackHawk Ara Spa, and the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain Spa. Lynn can be reached at lynncurry@nrispa.com. 10 november 2009 www.newh.org tel 800.593.NEWH http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - November 2009

NEWH - November 2009
Contents
News
POV: Sustainability
POV: Spa Design
Scholarship: Icon of Industry
Design 101
Have you Seen?
Product Know-How
On the Scene
Cover Story: Burtco
Project: Bonneville Spa
Project: Spa at Encore
Project: Anaheim Marriott
Save the Date
Resources
New Members
Partner Profiles

NEWH - November 2009