Spa Trends: Designing a spa on a modest budget

Chris White, Senior vice president, WTS International

Although no longer doubling in volume every two years as it did in the late '90s and early 2000s, the average annual growth of gross revenue in the U.S. spa industry is 16.3 percent since 2000. A by-product of that solid growth trajectory is a new business reality for hoteliers: Today's competitive milieu in the hospitality industry practically requires that properties include spa offerings among their guest amenities. Those that don't (particularly in the upscale and luxury sectors) suffer a competitive disadvantage and are left to create offerings that compensate for the absent spa.

It should be comforting to know that hotel spas as a subcategory of the spa industry average 23 percent of net operating income. This places the hotel/resort spa second among the five conventional spa types (others are medical, day spas, destination spas or mineral hot springs, and club spas) and puts it in a rather favorable position when compared with other amenities or retail outlets that are found in hotels. Guest-capture rates vary with the character and market sector of the host property. Resort hotels capture more guests in the spa than urban hotels, and group-driven properties capture a smaller percentage of their guests in the spa than do properties dominated by Frequent Independent Traveler business. Thus, for a 300-room resort, 10 to 20 percent of the guests may patronize the spa on any given day, whereas the capture rate for an urban hotel of the same size would likely range between 5 and 10 percent.

Spa services without the spa facility

Hoteliers convinced that a spa makes sense for their hotel may still wonder what specific facilities to offer to be perceived by a guest as actually "having a spa." The answer ("less than you probably think") may sound simplistic but it is true for the majority of hotels that wish to add a spa.

ROCK AND REST WTS International designed the spaces at Hard Rock San Diego's Rock Spa, shown on these pages.

In the spa industry, the majority of services provided are massages. These account for 60 to 80 percent of gross revenue. This is true regardless of the size of spa. Massage is both a staple for committed spa-goers and the gateway or entry-level service that first timers choose most often. This is good news since massage is the easiest to staff and equip.

SPECIAL TREATMENT Design for big impact without breaking the budget. Creative use of space and careful section of materials, colors and furnishings were employed in the Rock Spa's design, shown above and left, which features a modest five treatment rooms. The spa menu, however, is diverse, including signature treatments such as the Amped-Up Sugar Scrub and Dream Weaver Massage.

Massage rooms range from 110 to 140 square feet in size and require little more than a hand sink, massage table and some wall and base cabinetry. In fact, the only potential complication with constructing this room type is that the walls need a sound transmission coefficient rating of 50 or more. This requires that sound attenuation (insulation, staggered-stud construction, sound board, etc.) be a part of the wall design. The equipment package for a massage room is quite modest, also. A massage table (with face cradle and bolster) and a technician stool can be provided for as little as $1,800 to $2,500. Hot towel cabinets, electric height adjustment for the table, stone warmers and a few other modifications can raise this cost, but it is unlikely to exceed $4,000.

Skin care is the second most popular group of services—by a significant margin rarely amounting to more than 25 percent of a spa's gross revenue. Rooms suitable for these services are almost identical to massage rooms and have a larger equipment package. Aside from the table and stool, they require a mobile supply cart and multi-function facial machine which, combined, can raise total equipment costs by 50 to 100 percent. Besides these treatment rooms, the spa needs only a reception area, modest changing facilities and a staff/prep room where operating supplies are dispensed and linens are stored.

Admittedly, the above description suggests a very modest facility and there are many situations where, due to property room count or sophisticated competition, a spa this modest would be inadequate. Still, a spa need not be big to have the desired effect on the guest experience at any given property. It should be noted that, of the estimated 1,300 hotel/resort spas in the U.S., only three are given Mobil's 5-star designation and none of these three has more than 20 treatment rooms. In fact, the smallest of them has only six.

Whatever the size of the spa, the pathway to enthusiastic guest response (and the higher revenue per occupied room and average daily rate that result) is the same. It is the careful, consistently high guest service ethic which makes or breaks the guest experience. A massage from an itinerant massage therapist whose name happens to be in the concierge rolodex will never have the impact of one given by a well-trained, professional therapist who is fully integrated into the property's mission and guest service protocols and who is committed to nothing less than full guest satisfaction.

Chris White is SVP, WTS International, a worldwide spa and fitness consulting and management firm. He can be reached at cwhite@wtsinternational.com.