SpaCast

UC Irvine Offers "Fundamentals of Spa Design" this May

UC Irvine Extension, the pioneer of the first Spa and Hospitality Management certificate program on the West Coast, announces the program’s newest elective course offering – “Fundamentals of Spa Design.” Uniquely developed to meet the demands of the burgeoning spa market, the new course addresses the multitude of details involved in the concept, design and construction processes for spa projects. The two-day course will be held May 20 and 21 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UCI Learning Center in Orange, Calif., with a field trip to Takara Belmont – a recognized leader in design, furnishings and equipment for the spa and salon industry – located in Laguna Hills, Calif.

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First "Men Only" MedSpa Opens in Los Angeles

Men's Renaissance Health Center (MRHC), the first medical clinic and MedSpa to focus exclusively on a professional man's desire to look and feel his best, is now open in Los Angeles.   MRHC is unique in offering the three most sought-after men's treatments in a single location including hair transplantation, sexual health, and facial rejuvenation. All MRHC procedures are dispensed under the personal supervision of a medical doctor and registered nurses using the most modern and least invasive FDA-approved techniques, medications, and lasers in a relaxed, spa-like ambience. As the first "men only" facility of its kind, MRHC sets the standard for cosmetic and wellness treatments for the modern successful man.

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Silversea Cruises Launches New Spa Concept

Silversea Cruises has launched a new spa concept throughout its four-ship fleet, starting with Silver Shadow. The new spa brand, known as The Spa at Silversea, will replace the line's existing Mandara Spas and feature new treatments and ceremonies designed to offer a more personalised and holistic spa experience.

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Read more about Spas at Sea

New Spa Director for Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa

Marriott International manages three properties in Jordan, the Amman Marriott Hotel, the Petra Marriott Hotel and the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa. 

Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Hopp as Director of Spa at the resort.   Mr. Hopp's background in the spa industry includes positions with Marriott's Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona as an Assistant Spa Director; Tampa Marriott Waterside in Florida as Director of Spa and Recreation; Ritz Carlton in Doha Qatar as Director of Spa and Recreation; JW Marriott Cancun as Spa Director; Spa and Fitness Club in Kuwait city, Kuwait, as General Manager, and, most recently, Director of Spa Operations at the Intercontinental Phoenicia.

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Spa Suites are Resorts' Latest Thing

If Phoenix's myriad hotel renovations are like an arms race, as one consultant put it, the Royal Palms on Camelback Road is pulling out the big guns:   Spa rooms.

The cozy boutique resort, where President Bush often stays when he's in town, is emerging from a $12 million renovation. The owners stripped a portion of it down to the frame and reconstructed an enclave of 70 rooms situated around a courtyard with fireplaces and a reflecting pool.  The rooms have bigger bathrooms, better soundproofing and better views of Camelback Mountain. Eight of the units are spa suites, a new concept in Phoenix, where guests can order from a special menu of in-room treatments. All aspects of the rooms focus on a "spa lifestyle," right down to the minimalist brown, taupe and sage decor. There are massage tables hidden under daybeds, ballet barres, yoga DVDs, light therapy lamps, European soaking tubs and steam showers.

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Wine Spa Opens in Colorado

OLAVIE Chardonnay Wine Therapy Spa Treatments Barrel Out of Wine Country and into the Rockies. OLAVIE is proud to announce that beginning April 1st, The Broadmoor Spa will start providing their wine therapy spa treatments and products. While OLAVIE Chardonnay wine therapy spa treatments have been popular in the wine country for quite a while, they recently gained momentum across the nation, receiving press coverage in widely-read magazines such as Lucky and Life & Style. The Broadmoor Spa is one of the the first major spas in the Rockies to recognize the anti-aging benefits of the Chardonnay grape seed and offer OLAVIE treatments and products.

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Related Story:  Spa Index Media was the first online spa directory to compile of a list of spas offering vinotherapy and wine based treatments and programs.  Find a Vinotherapy Spa Online

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First Thermal Spa opens in Gruyere, Switzerland

The newly built baths near the Swiss cheese capital open to the public this weekend. Fed by nearby hot springs, the spa is the first attraction of its kind in the canton of Fribourg.  The thermal bath of Gruyère, opening Saturday March 31, promises a relaxing new destination not far from the Lake Geneva region. The attraction offers two hot water swimming pools to soak in while enjoying the mountain views that surround the village of Charmey, in the Gruyère region.

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Lake Austin Spa Resort named #2 Destination Spa by Conde Nast Readers

Conde Nast Traveler magazine has awarded Lake Austin Spa Resort with top honors as the #2 Destination Spa in North America in their annual readers' poll in the April 2007 issue.  The 2007 readers' poll will have some spas seeing red, as this is the first time that the three top honors have been awarded to properties with fewer than 50 guest rooms. Lake Austin Spa Resort was voted #1 for both location/setting (score of 98.3) and guest rooms (87). In addition, the property tied in the top honor for cuisine (87.5). The popular destination spa is known for creating a casual, upscale feeling in a highly personalized, almost residential spa setting while offering cutting edge programs such as Mother/Daughter Weeks, the Culinary Experience(TM), a Gathering of Wise Women, and the innovative and new Urban Cowgirl retreats.

See Lake Austin Resort and Texas Spa Resorts

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Spa Week Toronto

Canada boasts one of the highest life expectancies (about 80 years) and lowest infant morality rates of
industrialized countries, which many attribute to Canada's health care system.  . . .   Knowing that one has health care is a very reassuring fact. However, Spa Week's mission extends beyond going to the doctor when you aren't feeling well. Spa Week (April 16th-22nd) is promoting the concept of "Healthy-Care." Healthy-Care affords you the luxury of putting control of your health directly in your hands. It's all about being healthy and staying healthy! This spring, Spa Week will be bringing $50 spa treatments to consumers in Canada in an effort to introduce a new generation of consumers to the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and to open up the spa industry to the masses.

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Wellness and Spas Trade Fair 2007 - Dubai

This year’s Wellness and Spas Trade Fair  (May 20-22, 2007) will tackle the growing problem of obesity across the Middle East, with a dedicated floor section aimed at fitness and exercise. “Pulse,” a collection of exhibitors demonstrating aerobic, resistance machines and exercise equipment, will showcase the benefits of a good workout as a fun part of a trip to a spa and an ideal way to help maintain the optimum body weight.

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Middle East Spa Resorts

Sticking it to your Spa Guests

Highly competitive hoteliers looking for the next new innovative service might consider acupuncture. While the 5,000-year-old practice has been around a long time, it’s certainly far from commonplace, but some hotels are seeing green by sticking it to their guests. The reaction when it was offered recently at the Spencer Hotel in Chautauqua, New York, was all positive, says owner Helen Edginton. She decided to introduce it after her personal experience.

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Spas Offering Traditional Chinese Medicine

New York Spa Resorts

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New Amenities Mean New Competition

Kids clubs, concierge floors, celebrity chef restaurants, spas, water parks, golf courses – they’re each becoming mainstays of the country’s top resorts and hotels. But for guests and meeting groups looking for an amenity or two out of the ordinary, there are beginning to be a plethora of options.  The Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Birmingham, Ala., for example, offers Porsche courtesy car transportation for guests staying as part of the Porsche Driving Experience.

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Alabama Spa Resorts

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Spas – How to Stay On-Trend and Make Money

By Judith L. Singer, Ed.D., and Patty Monteson, M.S.,
Owners, Health Fitness Dynamics, Inc.

One of the most popular marketing terms in the hospitality industry is the 3 letter word called “spa.”  Other industries have since adopted this term as a marketing tool, e.g., auto spa, spa tea, spa shoes, spa pillows, spa music, spa candles, spa cuisine, spa lifestyle, etc. Spas have become an adjective as well as a noun.  They are a commodity as well as an experience.  This is good because it broadens the awareness of the term, but there is a danger in the hospitality industry with people jumping on the spa bandwagon to develop or operate a spa without always understanding what the consumer expects, what it costs to build and operate, what are the economic realities and risks, etc.

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Starwood now offering The Phoenician Residences in Scottsdale

From Luxist:

The Phoenician, a luxury resort in Arizona at the base of Camelback Mountain, is going fractional. The Phoenician Residences will be new buildings on the grounds of the Phoenician. 

Read the blog post at Luxist

Visit the Phoenician Online

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First Luxury Spa Hotel Now Open in Vero Beach, Florida

Zero, no more. The seaside town of Vero Beach, FL opened the doors to its first luxury hotel today. Located on prime oceanfront property on Vero Beach’s famed Ocean Drive, the Vero Beach Hotel & Club is a new four-story condominium hotel featuring 83 one-, two- and three-bedroom, fully furnished designer suites with exquisitely detailed West Indies-style design and décor.   Gracious amenities and intuitive service will be hallmarks of the Vero Beach Hotel & Club experience, which will include a signature restaurant, luxury spa, private beach club, poolside cabanas, heated ocean view pool and aquaspa, pool bar and grill, fitness center, executive boardroom, private event room, golf privileges at a local country club and concierge, laundry, valet and business center services.

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Related Website: Florida Spas by SpaIndex.com

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Shangri-La Opens New Dedicated Spa Academy

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has opened its first dedicated spa training center, the Shangri-La Spa Academy, in Manila, Philippines.  In addition to practical skills, academy trainees learn about chi philosophy, the universal life force that governs well-being and personal vitality, the inspiration of Shangri-La's CHI experience, as well as instruction and knowledge on how to deliver the Shangri-La style of service within a spa environment.

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Related WebSite:  Asia Spa Resorts on SpaIndex.com

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Mall medical spas cater to need for speed

A trip to the mall used to mean shopping and maybe a bite to eat. Now, a mall customer can stop to have some minor surgery or a laser treatment at a medical spa.  . . .

Medical spas - especially those in shopping malls - have bridged the gap between the doctor's office and the cosmetics counter. There are more than 2,000 medical spas in the country, and though they accounted for 3 percent of all spas in 2004, that grew to 7 percent in 2006, according to the International Spa Association.

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Related website:  Medi Spas on SpaIndex.com

Spa Boutique for a Cure on March 10, 2007 in West Hollywood

Come enjoy a relaxing afternoon of pampering, shopping and mingling at Spa Boutique for a Cure's second annual event March 10, 2007 at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood, California. Money raised at this event will go directly to support breast and ovarian cancer charities. Spa Boutique for a Cure event menu will include spa treatments and massage (provided by Euforia Day Spa and Mobile Spa Massage), designer shopping, red carpet, henna tattoos, live music, food (provided by Angelina's Catering), drinks, raffle, silent auction, give-a-ways, door prizes and more.

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Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa completes $17 million transformation

Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa in California has announced the completion of its $17 million transformation with the March conclusion of all major construction. The largest luxury hotel in the Southern California mountain community, the property’s dramatic transformation included redesigned guestrooms, meeting and public spaces, a re-imagined restaurant and bar, BIN189, and the new 11,000 square foot, full-service Spa of the Pines.

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Browse California Spa Resorts on SpaIndex.com

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Earn a Spa & Hospitality Management Certificate from UC Irvine Extension

Invest in a Spa and Hospitality Certificate Program that is designed for your success. Learn the skills necessary to become an effective leader in a burgeoning industry.  With a flexible loan program, you can defer your registration fees while earning your certification, in less than one year. 

To receive additional information about UC Irvine's Spa and Hospitality Management Certificate Program, click here
http://unex.uci.edu/services/contacts/stayinformed/?actioncode=B03&sourcecode=UNXWEB

Learn Now. Pay Later. Enroll at:
http://unex.uci.edu/certificates/business_mgmt/mgmt_supervisory_skills/spa/

View Spring Quarter Program Schedule:
http://unex.uci.edu/certificates/business_mgmt/mgmt_supervisory_skills/spa/courses.asp
Questions? Email kstam@uci.edu