INTERVIEW: WEE WEI LING
The spa at Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur has won numerous awards
WEE WEI LING FAVOURITES
Spa: Onsen in Japan Treatment: I regularly have tui na massage to maintain my health and wellbeing Book: Any reading material on management or philosophy Film: My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music Food: I’m a simple eater and prefer light Asian meals such as congee Activity: I take lessons in singing, keyboard and ballroom dancing. I also love gardening and Chinese tea appreciation Time of year: Christmas Piece of advice: Learn from the lessons that life provides. It’s never too late to achieve things Who do you admire: My dad
facilities are an extension of the hotel expe- rience, a way to offer value to our guests. But not all [third party] owners agree and some- times they’ll lease out their spas to squeeze out more profi t. Consequently we’ve seen owners hurt by negative publicity because they’ve brought onboard tenants who don’t deliver quality control or consistency of ser- vice. Such publicity can also be damaging for us as a hotel group even though we don’t operate the spa.”
ADAPTING THE MODEL Not every PPHG hotel has a spa, explains Wee, so when one is included – where PPHG is also the owning company – busi- ness requirements are assessed and the model adapted according to location. The revamped wellness floor at Beach Road, for example, is targeted at a local mem- bership base including corporate clients, as well as hotel guests, because it’s surrounded by mixed-use developments. Annual mem-
Wee feels spas should be thought of as guest amenities rather than profi t centres 80 Read Spa Business online
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bership, costing SG$2,500 (US$1,950, €1,450, £1,250) a year, includes access to the facili- ties and fi tness classes, as well as discounts on spa services and retail products. Approxi- mately 60 per cent of guests at this location hold membership packages. Wee is less concerned, however, about manipulating her treatment menus to feel local. She says: “Frankly I have no idea what a Singaporean spa treatment is supposed to be because we don’t have a native spa culture to speak of. I don’t believe in manufactur- ing treatments for the sake of it nor offering fanciful therapies for marketing purposes.” She’s refreshingly honest when it comes to the subject of spa size, too. At Parkroyal on Pickering, which is a 367-bedroom prop- erty, the decision to limit the new spa to four treatment rooms may raise eyebrows. But St Gregory’s founder is clear about the rationale: “This hotel is situated in the central business district and caters for cor- porate rather than leisure travellers as well as busy executives who want to drop in for short treatments. There’s no point having empty treatment rooms.” Wee acknowledges that she, like many entrepreneurs, was once preoccupied with size. But she’s witnessed ‘over-the-top facilities’ in the industry struggling to cover basic monthly costs and being forced to close. “When people ask why our spas aren’t bigger, why we don’t have more out- lets, I respond by saying I don’t believe in Cinderella dreams,” Wee explains. “I don’t
Spa Business 3 2013 ©Cybertrek 2013
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