ton , on Kalispel Tribe sovereign land , it was able to reopen on May 5 , likely making it one of the first in the country to do so . Yvonne Smith , senior director of resort experience , used the brief closure as an opportunity to pare back and reevaluate . “ We did an analysis on which services were scheduled the most ,” says Smith ; profit margin and cost-per-treatment were also factored in . This evaluation led to La Rive cutting its express treatments , spa packages ( due to a lack of food service ) and hot stone massage ( due to the extended cleanup ). Smith says that the simplified menu had benefits beyond the obvious , too : “ The other side to this is that when somebody calls to book and doesn ’ t know what service they want , the more services that are on the menu , the more time it can take to book .” Simplifying the menu sped up the booking process and allowed Smith to cope with elevated demand despite having a smaller front-desk staff .
“ 2020 was a difficult year and people needed to be reminded of the importance of self-care , so my focus for the creation of this menu was balance and wellness .”
— ANGELA BATTAGLIA , Spa & Leisure Services Manager , Scottsdale Camelback Resort
Mandy Warr , owner of The Remedy Day Spa in Albuquerque , New Mexico , followed a similar logic as she approached her spa ’ s menu upon reopening last summer . “ Our first consideration was , ‘ What are we allowed to provide ?’” Warr says , which meant eliminating the obvious , such as Vichy treatments . But following other guidelines had knockon effects for The Remedy ’ s menu — for example , social distancing and capacity regulations led to the streamlining of services to only 60-minute time increments . This allowed The Remedy to “ stagger staff schedules , stagger guests and make sure that guests and staff encountered each other as infrequently as possible in common areas ,” adds Warr .
In contrast , when Scottsdale Camelback Resort ’ s spa reopened in June , it did so with a full menu , albeit with a limited staff . “ Since so many other spas were not reopening ,” says Spa & Leisure Services Manager Angela Battaglia , “ we saw a need in the market .”
Holiday Overhauls
When La Rive Spa initially scaled back its menu , says Smith , “ I think originally we thought that we would go back to where we were , because at that point we thought we would be fully open in July or August .” However , as the year drew to a close and operations in the pandemic approached an equilibrium — a “ new normal ”— many spas , including The Remedy Day Spa and La Rive , considered treating their menus as blank slates , just as they would during a normal menu overhaul . La Rive Spa changed its
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