ADVICE
ADVICE | DEVELOPING YOUR SPA OFFERING
OPENING, DEVELOPING
AND BUILDING A
SUCCESSFUL SPA RESORT
Guests looking for ultimate luxury these days expect a substantial and
properly staffed spa complex, says STEPHEN AYERS
the department and an operations manager
to manage the therapists, treatment room
maintenance, training and in addition
to control the expensive cosmetics and
materials on hand.
We implemented the following:
n A treatment list was drawn up including all
treatments to be offered
n Interviews with all therapists and
allocation to specific treatments
n Training of all therapists on treatment
policies from welcoming the guest to the
STEPHEN W. AYERS
CEO of STAY Ahead Hospitality
end of treatment
n All therapists became employees,
ensuring loyalty and time to the resort
rather than home treatments
I
have been privileged to manage luxury
n A minimum – maximum treatments per
day. This not only ensured maximum sales
but was appreciated by guests.
The software we installed, coupled with
training for reservations and desk staff
city, resort and spa properties over the day was introduced, with bonuses for over on each specific treatment and therapist
course of my career. I have enjoyed every achievement, and guest feedback. paid off well. It must not be forgotten that
minute at every property, but perhaps n A strict uniform policy each guest, and couples, preferred specific
none more so than being afforded the n Opened a retail store to sell cosmetics treatments, and each guest preferred male
opportunity to develop a successful spa used in the spa and sport and leisure
resort concept and manage the operation goods and clothing
for over five years.
The first and perhaps most important
thing to do was to define the identity of
the spa resort, what was to be offered to
n Implemented a policy of reservations to
of female therapists.
Add that to the long opening hours
and less popular mealtimes and you have
capture the maximum clientele during a complicated business to maximise.
stays, at all times of day. Treatments sold during mealtimes were
It took a while and we lost some
offered at a reduced rate to fill the rooms,
the guests, who were the target clientele, ‘star’ therapists but eventually had a spa to put ‘heads on the treatment beds’.
standards of food and beverage and a myriad department that was outstanding and Within one year we were known for our
of questions that there are on opening. ran like clockwork. We saved a great deal treatments and were regularly achieving
on expensive cosmetics that were now 250 treatments daily.
With the initial decisions made, valuable
feedback in hand and determining to be the controlled, and had a cadre of excellent and
best spa resort in the country, we set about loyal staff.
implementing the ideas, and in this article I
I instructed the reservations staff -
About the Author
STAY Ahead Hospitality solutions
along with the spa desk if they had time on offers Spa Resort concept, operational
their hands - to ring ALL arrivals and sell and branding development. Please
THE SPA treatments. They would ring all the following contact us for more information.
I appointed a spa manager to reorganise day arrivals first and then go backward by
will specifically address the spa.
September 2017
www.hotelowner.co.uk
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