Ms. Olsen

Spas, Health & Fitness

In-Hotel Room Versus In-Spa Facility Therapies

By Casey Olsen, Owner, Spa Sources

Spa services are becoming more and more creative and innovative with the advent of more sophisticated product lines and therapy equipment. The spa facility offers the guest a true escape from the rigors of a person's daily life and is often the best location for complete de-stressing. Or is it?

When a traveler books a vacation, we all now know that a spa is one of the top three amenities that are desired by the potential guest. After all, today's vacations take on many forms to include adventure to sport, such as golf, tennis, swimming, hiking to family orientated to seeking a refuge to do nothing. The vacationer really has become extremely particular when booking their valued time off and really wants to make the most of this long-looked-forward to respite. The resort or hotel property must offer a wide range of enticements to compete for this valued guest business and sometimes just a spa facility may not be enough to motivate the culmination of the much sought after reservation.

Everyone has a spa, everyone has a great hotel room and everyone is price competitive, but what about innovating on what you already offer? What about bringing the spa to the guest in the comfort of their hotel room or suite? Why not, seems like such an effortless service to offer, right? Let's have some fun with this.

Take a sample guest scenario. Our guests' names are John and Debra Jones. They hail from Dallas or Memphis or Boston or L.A. or Portland. You decide. John is a successful banker or stock broker or attorney or doctor or techie. Debra has her own consulting firm or she is an attorney or doctor or broker or domestic goddess. Their kids are grown or teenagers (more reason for some time away) or pre-teens. They have a long weekend approaching and the grandparents have offered to take the kids for that time. They've done their research diligently and have settled on a resort near a beach.

Being travel savvy, they have advanced booked their spa treatments and restaurant reservations and were offered optional simultaneous in room massages. They liked the sound of that, so went for it. After checking in they went to the pool and saw that they could also get a massage pool side but decided that in their hotel room would fit them better.

Both Debra and John went into the spa early Saturday morning to work out and take a steam. Debra wanted a facial while John went for an exfoliating body treatment, while in the facility. Their in room massages were scheduled for 5 pm, so they had time to lay by the pool and have lunch. At 4:30 pm they returned to their room to find a message from the spa to verify their 5 pm massages and a gentle suggestion that they be showered previous to their appointment time so that they could reap the maximum relaxation benefits from their therapy.

At 4:50 their therapists arrived to set up the portable massage tables and prepare the linens needed for the treatments. The therapists requested that they disrobe, climb on to the tables and get under the sheets on the treatment beds while they stepped out of the room. Both Debra and John were ready to relax. Upon returning the therapists asked if there were any health issues that they needed to be aware of before beginning the treatment, there being none, they proceeded with the hour massages.

Since Debra and John had been in the spa previously, they had paid for their in room massages earlier in the day, but if they had not gone to the spa they would have been asked to sign a charge receipt following their in room treatments. All went well and Debra and John where pleased with the service. They requested another treatment on the following day.

This scenario went as we wish for all in room treatments to go, however, this sometimes in not the case. This little story is optimal, but imagine if the couple had been fighting with each other and the atmosphere was tense in the room, or drinking at the pool all day, or were difficult individuals to deal with. Your spa staff would have had to be expertly trained on how to handle many potential uncomfortable situations. Or let's say that the guest was a single man or woman and they approached the therapist in an inappropriate manner or claimed that the therapist attempted inappropriate behavior. The seclusion of the hotel room then provides for a potentially liable situation and it comes down to he said we said.

In room treatments are definitely wonderful, however, your therapists need specialized training when dealing with a guest outside of the spa facility. Even if you offer poolside treatments in a cabana, these situations can still occur. On that note, they can, and sometimes do, occur within the spa treatment rooms themselves. A word of caution here. Your spa manager must be versed in some form of liability focus in their staff training and if they are not, contacting an expert is money well spent. Whether it is a seasoned spa consultant or your representing law firm, this aspect is vital to the spa staff on-going training programs. Certain waivers may be required, although, may not hold up in court, they show intent by the hotel ownership to protect both the guest and employee. Having the staff sign training verification forms is also recommended.

In room treatments can also be a bit complicated if your spa scheduling system is not set up for them. In room treatments should be more costly to the guest than the same treatment offered in the spa facility. Extra allotted time is required for the staff person to travel to and from the guest rooms taking away from potential service time in the spa.

It should also be noted, that many local authorities do not allow for their local hotels to offer in room spa treatments, deeming them as an arena for potential illegal activities. So, before you begin offering this service, check with local authorities so you do not risk reprisals.

Oh, and do you want to know how John and Debra's weekend went? They had a great time together and vowed to not wait so long for another spa getaway and while they were gone, their grandparents called the same hotel and booked themselves a WEEK checking in the very next weekend!

Casey Olsen is the principal owner of Spa Sources, a comprehensive health spa consulting firm. With 23 years of Spa Design and Review, Management, Staffing, Marketing, Budgets and Forecasts, Complete Spa Operation Set-up, Liability Guidance, Accounting, Equipment and Product Identification, Spa Sources provides comprehensive assistance in the creation of new, and the renewal of existing spa facilities. As one of the industry's foremost health spa consultants, Ms. Olsen provides invaluable guidance to developers planning their luxury resorts that include a health spa facility. Ms. Olsen can be contacted at 760 341-3311 or spasources@earthlink.net Extended Bio...

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