WELLNESS SPA ESPA
products were rebranded and reformulated to coincide with the launch
to get changed or there are pool, gym and thermal facilities for members, day spa vis- itors and hotel guests. But we’ve done this without intruding on the true spa experi- ence and treatment areas. “T e challenge is to integrate all of the
experiences and make sure we’re cross referring. A woman with fertility issues, for example, might need a massage as well as acupuncture to reduce stress, or maybe some personal training or sleep coaching too. It’s all about defi ning what’s right for each individual and then using the whole team to give them the best programme.”
WELLNESS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE
It’s no coincidence the fi rst ESPA Life has been built in the UK – the home of ESPA
– as Harmsworth wanted the fl agship on home ground and the 294-bedroom Cor- inthia (see p54) was a fi tting partner. She explains: “Mr Pisani [the owner of Corin- thia] was a visionary and he ‘got’ what we were doing. He recognised ESPA was very successful in the UK and wanted a ‘wow con- cept’ – something that was really going to put the hotel on the map. “T ey’ve spent a fortune on the hotel and
spa but he sees that it will bring in a diff er- ent audience. He’s aiming for leisure clientele, but he also wants individual businesspeople who come to London on a regular basis and
ESPA Life at Corinthia by numbers
■ T ere are approximately 60 staff at ESPA Life, including
25 full-time therapists ■ An initial 50-minute lifestyle and health assessment with a
gatekeeper is £145 (us$236, €163) ■ Lifestyle programmes range from nine days to three months and cost between £1,350 (us$2,200, €1,500)
and £5,625 (us$9,150, €6,350) ■ A 50- or 80- minute ESPA personalised massage is £95 (us$155,
€107) or £145 (us$236, €163) ■ A Brazilian wax costs
£55 (us$90, €62) ■ T ere are two membership tiers – Quartz and Black – and overall numbers will be capped at 300
Design & facilities
ESPA Life ranges over four fl oors of the Corinthia Hotel, London. Styled by GA Design, it has a black and cream/white theme – inspired by the Chanel palette – with light hues used predominately at the top and darker shades taking over gradually on the lower levels. Curved walls with wave
patterns and round treatment rooms give a feeling of energy and fl ow, while a contempo- rary fi nish comes from marble, lacquer panels, strained dark oak, textured leather, polished chrome and pewter artwork. T e fi rst fl oor features the
reception, a Daniel Galvin hair salon and a spa lounge serving healthy cuisine. Down one level there’s a nail/fi nishing studio, the ladies changing room, a relaxation area for women, 15 treatment pods (all multi-purpose and with showers) and a private spa suite. T e third fl oor comprises the men’s chang-
The bottom fl oor is dedicated to hydrothermal facilities including a glass-clad amphitheatre sauna
ing room and relaxation area, the male day spa/member locker room, and a gym. At the bottom is the female day spa/member locker room and the hydrothermal area. T e heat experiences comprise a glass-clad amphithea- tre sauna where you step down into the heat, a black mosaic steamroom, an ice fountain,
stay for a couple of nights a week – although he doesn’t want the huge conferences.” Wellness, says Harmsworth, isn’t necessar-
ily something that all operators will want to take on. “Everybody thinks it’s going to be easy [to introduce wellness into spas] but I can tell you it’s not! We’ve had to get all the standard operating procedures together for the new therapies – documenting everything from how to take blood to the whole diag- nostic process – and creating a format and standard that customers trust.” T en there’s the cost of the physical build
and equipment – Harmsworth “doesn’t believe in half measures” – and the payroll. While most complementary practitioners are self-employed, those at ESPA Life are full- time – Harmsworth feels that this is the only way to create an integrated team who can off er the best programmes for the client. She adds: “I don’t think the ESPA Life
concept will be suited to many operators because it needs a good volume of guests to justify the cost. And if operators already have a [spa] formula that works for them, why would they change it?”
52 Read Spa Business online
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experience showers and heated relaxation beds. A 9m silver stainless steel swimming pool and a vitality pool with various air and water massage jets complete the off er. Suppliers include ESPA, Creative Nail
Design (Shellac), Palomar (IPL), Lycon Wax, Klafs, Barr + Wray, Fabio Alemanno Design (Cleopatra loungers), Life Fitness, Power Plate, Concept 2 (rowers), Trixter (group cycling) and TRX (suspension training).
HAPPY, HEALTHY PEOPLE
T e next ESPA Life will open at Gleneagles in Scotland, UK, by 2012. It already has a 1,680sq m (18,084sq ſt ) ESPA spa, a pool, fi t- ness area, nail studio, hair salon and a world famous golf course . An ESPA Life with a residential element
will also open in Marrakech, Morocco in early 2013 and Harmsworth confi rms there are three more sites in the pipeline. “We have to choose locations that have a
local captive market, because we’ve got to make sure it’s fi nancially viable,” she says.
“Gleneagles attracts people from Edinburgh and Glasgow and has a strong membership base. Our Marrakech development is right in the centre. T e others are city centre devel- opments. But I’m not going to rush it. We have to prove it works fi rst.” She concludes: “We’re bombarded with
information and get wrapped up with the pace of life and technology. People have lost touch with understanding their bodies and minds. My passion is to help people to be happy and healthy and to give them the space and tools to enable them do this.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 3 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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