SpaCast

Dorit Baxter in New York Launches New Style of Pregnancy Massage

Dorit Baxter, after serving a high-end New York clientele for over twenty-five years, especially designed a massage to create a "motherhood mood". This pregnancy massage is for those who want a unique way to diffuse the pressures of becoming pregnant, while creating a serene mental and emotional environment for conception.

Dorit Baxter's spa has become an affiliate of the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR), to increase awareness of the effects massage can have on fertility. The CHR, one of New York's most recognized reproductive endocrinology and infertility centers, has already highlighted the importance of massage to create a relaxed mood for those hoping to become pregnant. By creating the Motherhood Mood massage, Dorit Baxter wants to increase trust and understanding among the population of men and women that struggle with infertility and emotional fatigue.

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Harrah's opens new Red Door Spa in Atlantic City, NJ

Harrah's Atlantic City becomes the official home to "Endless Summer" today with the debut of a new 172,000-square-foot glass, dome-enclosed swimming pool complex and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa.

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Embassy opens North Carolina's Newest Golf and Spa Resort

The Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord Golf Resort & Spa came to fruition early this year when the $65 million Embassy Suites complex opened alongside Concord's existing Rocky River Golf Club, just a half mile from Lowe's Motor Speedway. Together they comprise North Carolina's newest golf resort. 

"We took what was here and added the complete package - luxury hotel, spa, dining and convention center," says Crawford. "No resort in the state has the meeting space that we do."

In fact, Crawford believes this new resort is unparalleled on a national scale.

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Millcroft Inn & Spa Wins "WOW" Award from Ontario's Finest Inns

Ontario's Finest Inns & Spas, an association of the top inns and spas in Ontario, recently held its AGM at The Millcroft. On the agenda was a review of the results of its stringent Quality Assurance Program.  Each member property is inspected anonymously at regular intervals and is evaluated on every aspect of its operation: ambiance and character, initial reservation process, guest greeting, cuisine, guest rooms, public areas and overall hospitality.

For 2007, The Millcroft Inn & Spa received a score of 91%, which was the second highest score in the association. Also, this year Ontario's Finest Inns & Spas inspectors created a new award category - the WOW! Awards. These honours are bestowed upon the member properties that, during inspections, demonstrate an exemplary level of quality or innovation.

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See Millcroft Inn and Spa on SpaIndex.com

New Director of Spa Development for Kor Hotel Group

Kor Hotel Group, the Los Angeles-based hotel, real estate development and management firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Liz Ratcliff to Corporate Director of Spa Development.

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Medi-Spa Lets Clients Preserve Frozen Stem Cells

A medical spa that specializes in skin care and anti-aging programs is now collecting and storing adult stem cells through a new procedure used in only two other clinics nationwide. Azani Medical Spa announced an agreement with New York-based NeoStem that will make the spa the first in the region to collect adult stem cells. Once collected, they will be stored at a laboratory in Los Angeles.

Patients at Azani Medical Spa can undergo a three-hour procedure in which a stimulating agent activates the body's stem cell production and then the cells are removed by drawing blood and cryogenically freezing the cells, said Dr. Monica Gavin, who founded the spa in September 2005.

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Racy Medi-Spa Billboard Stirs Debate

A billboard for a salon and medical spa, promoting cosmetic procedures and featuring a woman wearing little more than an off-the-shoulder top, has outraged some residents who say it sends the wrong message.

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UK Based Spa Show Relaunched

London-based Expomedia Group has acquired the UK based Spa Show, a consumer event targeting a high-end audience interested in spa vacations held every November, from Spa Shows Ltd. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Carnival Launches Contest to Name New Spa

Passengers on the Carnival Splendor have been given an opportunity to name the ship’s brand new 21,000 square foot luxury spa and, in doing so, win themselves a cruise holiday for two on the ship.

Carnival Splendor will set sail for the first time in July 2008 and in addition to the panoramic sea views and stunning cruise itineraries on offer, you can also enjoy what Carnival Cruises has dubbed its "most spectacular spa ever".

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New Spa Director for Villa Group Spas in Mexico

The Villa Group has announced the appointment of Claudia Susanna Ghartey to the position of Regional Director of Spas for The Villa Group Resorts Vallarta. In her new position, Ghartey will oversee all spa operations for the 17,000-square-foot European-style Spa adjacent to Villa del Palmar Flamingos Beach Resort & Spa and Villa La Estancia Beach Resort & Spa situated beachfront in Nuevo Vallarta. She will also be assisting with the positioning of the Bay Breeze Spa at Villa del Palmar Beach Resort & Spa in Puerto Vallarta.

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Eaglewood Resort & Spa promotes Greg Parsons

Benchmark Hospitality International has announced the promotion of Greg Parsons to managing director for Eaglewood Resort & Spa, located in Itasca, Illinois, near Chicago. Bill Upshaw, regional vice president for Benchmark, made the announcement.

“Greg has been a vital part of the Benchmark organization for over a decade,” said Mr. Upshaw. “He has done an outstanding job leading operational teams for multiple properties within the company’s growing portfolio, and has significantly enhanced revenues and profitability at Eaglewood Resort & Spa.

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Cal-A-Vie Launches New Online Presence

Belay Development, the Los Angeles- based interactive consultancy, has redesigned and relaunched the web site of the exclusive Cal-a-Vie Health Spa. The spa was featured on the May 22, 2007  episode of "The Big Weigh In: Best Life Weight Loss Challenge Update" on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The spa's site is listed on the Oprah.com site's page related to that episode.

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Personal Spas: Mimicing Luxury Hotel Bathrooms

“I think what’s happening in the whole residential sector is that people are wanting amenities they have in hotels,” said Sue Firestone, an interior designer in Santa Barbara, Calif. “People are building almost their own resorts rather than their own homes.”

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Fallsview in the Catskills reborn as a Dahn Hak principled resort and spa

It's been a long, slow death for many of the great resort hotels in the Catskills, but a few are finding new roles in today's market. The Fallsview has new owners - and a plan they think will work. 

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The Fallsview Best 5 will be a fully equipped spa, with additional programs that will make the resort a "relaxation center."  ['W]ithin the next 18 months, the indoor tennis courts will be converted to a 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot fitness center that will include the usual amenities, but the focus will be on Asian-style mind/body/spirit programs and a healthy lifestyle.  The new facility is owned by a group of investors, part of a network of places operating under the principles of Dahn Hak, a program of self-development created by South Korean Ilchi Lee. The hotel's name, Fallsview Best 5, refers to five principles of the program.

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Ohio Medi-Spa Owner Arrested for Practicing Medicine

An arrest warrant was issued for Richard Annabella last month after he was charged with practicing medicine without a license at his Bella Derm Medi-Spa in Westlake, Ohio.  As a result of an investigation, 36 women told police about painful weight loss treatments they received -- treatments they said did not work.

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Missouri Attorney General Secures Refunds for Jilted Spa Members

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Wednesday that refunds are available for members of the now-closed Club Nutrition & Fitness Health Spa which closed its doors March 1.  Nixon’s office has obtained $20,000 for member refunds from a letter of credit submitted by the spa’s owners, according to a news release.

Health spas in Missouri must provide proof of either a bond or a letter of credit to the Attorney General’s Office when they open. The bond or letter of credit then is used to provide refunds, if the health spa closes, for consumers who pay for membership fees in advance and a suitable alternative is not provided to those members. Money for consumers is paid out of the Health Spa Regulatory Fund.

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Florida Spa Owner fined $17,000 for operating in the wrong zone

A Warm Mineral Springs (Florida) resident is presenting a conceptual plan to build an 80-unit resort, using the Warm Mineral Springs lake as the main draw to bring tourism to the city.  Mira Matchin has been trying to run a spa and wellness center using residential houses in Warm Mineral Springs. However, Sarasota County Florida has fined her more than $17,700 because she was operating her business in the wrong zone. The zoning Matchin needs does not exist in Warm Mineral Springs.

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Spa Deception

(CBS) NEW YORK.  Twenty-five years ago, there were only a handful of spas in the United States. Today, Americans spend billions of dollars a year being primped and pampered at more than 10,000 spas scattered across the country. However, CBS 2 HD has a warning: before signing up for services, read the fine print.

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Hotel Bel-Air Announces Plans For The Spa

Hotel Bel-Air has announced plans for ar new spa, a 12,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility, secluded amid the hotel’s 12 acres. The extensive project will break ground this September and debut in August 2008.  

Located in the north section of the property, the spa will feature 10 private spa suites, a yoga and Pilates studio, an organic juice bar and a 1,000 square foot fitness center. In addition, 3 residential spa suite guestrooms have been added, bringing the total count to 94 rooms, with in-room treatment areas and facilities.

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New Wine Spa Planned on Czech-Austrian Border

A Czech-Austrian wine spa likely to be built in South Moravia.   The spa should include a wine pavilion that should offer treatment by means of wine and grapes extracts, a wine bath and other services, the daily said.

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Visit Spa Index Media's list of Vinotherapy / Wine Spas

The butt facial - the new fad

Spas across the US - from New York, to Miami, Los Angeles and Minneapolis - are promoting "butt facials", promising to tighten, lift and tone the posteriors of clients eager to don their bathing suits and make an impression on the beach.

"I call mine the 'butt lift' and it has got pretty popular especially as the weather gets warmer and the (northern) summer nears," said Kristine Panariello, who runs a spa boutique in the Reed Centre in New York.

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Spa Music: Two Turntables and a Microphone

It almost goes without saying that when you are at a spa -- horizontal with cucumbers on your eyes, or with a stranger's hands kneading your back, or in the throes of having your body hair yanked out -- there will be a soundtrack, and it will probably be Enya.

Yes, we've come to accept that spa music will be easy-listening -- if it's not nature sounds or chanting monks or, perhaps worst of all, elevator music.

But does it have to be this way? Could spas get away with playing something other than rolling waves, chirping birds, and Celtic New Age? Actually, yes.

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Oenophiles of the World, Rejoice

Forty feet below the iconic grape crusher statue that graces its southern end, the Napa Valley made history again today with the opening of Spa Terra at The Meritage Resort at Napa. The luxury retreat nestled nel cuore della terra (literally, "in the heart of the earth,") is the first spa in the world to be developed entirely underground.

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RockResorts goes to Tahoe

May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) confirmed today the announcement of Lake Tahoe Development Co that RockResorts International, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, has been selected to operate The Chateau at Heavenly Village at the base of Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev. Construction of the redevelopment project has commenced and is expected to be completed in early winter 2009.

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Marriott CEO Rededicates Marco Island Resort

J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr., chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Marriott International, Inc., was on Marco Island today to rededicate the upscale Marriott Gulf-front resort, which recently underwent $187 million in renovations.

Renovations included the creation of the 24,000-square-foot Spa at Marco Island, an overhaul of the pools and a redesign of The Rookery at Marco Golf Course, including a new clubhouse.

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The Boulders Getting a Facelift

After rejuvenating thousands of visitors at its desert oasis and Golden Door Spa, The Boulders Resort is getting a face lift of its own.

Managing Director Michael Hoffmann said the sprawling 1,300-acre resort essentially will be divided in half for the $30 million makeover over the next coming months. This will allow the resort to maintain operations without disruption to guests or having construction areas dotting the property, Hoffmann said.

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Visit the Boulders online

Queens area Spa Opens with both Party and Protest

The controversial Inspa World (Malba / Queens, NY)) opened with a grand party last Thursday night in College Point as Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), the spa's leading foe, gathered with about a dozen neighbors outside to say he will not stop fighting the palatial day retreat.

Hundreds of people packed the four-story luxury spa, while Avella and residents stood across the street holding signs and chanting "spa's gotta go!" The residents said the facility, which got a special permit from the city to operate in a light manufacturing zone, brings too much traffic to already clogged streets.

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Can the Healing Powers of Spas Help Fight Addiction?

Today, spas are a luxury, a treat for stressed professionals. Historically, spas were renowned for their healing properties and "taking the waters" was a cure-all for anything from sciatica to gout. 

As a drug worker, Becky Wright had heard anecdotes on the use of spas and hot baths to treat alcohol and drug addictions.

"Detoxification for beauty is very acceptable but detoxification for substance abuse is not," Wright claims. With fifteen years' experience in the field, she applied for a grant from the Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust to research the issue further.

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Westin La Paloma Spa Taps "Free" Tucson Water

An 80-minute Sea Spa Escape at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa (Tucson, Arizona) costs $225. A 25-minute Hydrating Milk Aqua Bath is $58. Even a 15-minute Vichy Shower costs $35.  The cost to La Paloma for all that water? Nothing, apparently. 

When the spa was built in 2000, no one installed a meter. The spa taps directly into a Tucson Water main.  Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky said it appears to be an illegal connection, and the water department is investigating how it occurred.

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Six Leading North American Spas Launch Green Spa Network To Connect Personal and Planetary Wellness

Six prominent North America spas announce the formation of a network dedicated to bringing environmentally sustainable operating practices to the burgeoning spa industry. A much-needed resource for the spa community, the Green Spa Network seeks to help spas and spa professionals reap the financial and social benefits from implementing environmentally friendly business practices. The intention of the organization is to synergise greening efforts among network members as a way to support spas in reducing their ecological impact, while improving energy efficiencies and reducing operational costs.

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Spa Index Members

Branding via Spas

When the Sofitel LA was renovated last year to the tune of $40 million, the hotel was updated to include a new, signature element of Sofitel properties around the world: a spa. Since 2005 the chain has been opening beauty and wellness centers with the LeSpa name—the first was in Sofitel's Marrakech (Morocco) location.

Today, 40 Sofitels around the world, or 20% of the hotel chain's entire global inventory, have a LeSpa. This year the new Beijing and Paris Sofitels will feature LeSpas—part of a growing trend for hotels to offer guests more than a place to rest their weary heads.

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Visit Sofitel LA online

Social Spa-ing is the New Golf

It's Friday night and the techno beats are bouncing around the dimly lighted room. Perfectly groomed men and gaggles of smartly dressed young women are kicking back with wine, hors d'oeuvres and some pretty intense touching. No one is complaining about the very public interactions, especially not Leonard Lanzi.

With bare feet soaking in a sudsy pedicure tub, Lanzi, an executive with Junior Achievement, is surrounded by his employees, who seemed to be having a good time making fun of the boss's calloused feet. Lanzi, for better or worse, invited the office to Happy Hour Friday at Dtox, a new place to socialize in Atwater Village near Griffith Park. Despite the name, Dtox isn't a bar, or a rehab joint, but a day spa that once a month throws open its treatment room doors to add a social element to massages, facials and pedicures.

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Golf is So Last Millenium

For years women have built professional relationships the old-fashioned way: entertaining clients or talking business with colleagues at buttoned-up dining rooms, in skyboxes or on the golf course. But women increasingly are kicking off their heels and networking as they get pedicures, try on clothes or wield sharp knives at cooking classes.

Two weeks ago, when 25 senior female attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis met to network with each other and with female law students, they didn't hunker down in the private dining room of a hip Loop restaurant. They commandeered the fitting room of an Ann Taylor store, where they spent several hours. And while the evening started with shop talk, it quickly got more personal.

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Asia-Pacific Spa & Wellness Council First Anniversary

The Strategic Planning Forum was organised by the Asia-Pacific Spa & Wellness Council (APSWC) to bring together the heads of national associations with the heads of business, including leading operators (from all types of spa), suppliers and consultants. The goal was to create a strategic plan to ensure the continued growth and health of the business for all.

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Day Spas Dominate Taiwan Market

Three hundred seventeen (317) spa facilities are currently open and operating in Taiwan according to the inaugural survey of spa facilities by Intelligent Spas. The research identified the market is dominated by day spas, which  account for 81% of all spas in Taiwan.

The report, entitled Spa Industry Profile Taiwan 2006-2008, features statistics on the Taiwan spa market, plus supporting qualitative trends and observations from spa owners and managers. It is a valuable tool for businesses competing in, or supporting Taiwan’s spa industry, to more accurately develop and plan spa-related products, services, campaigns and initiatives.

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European Spas and Beauty Institutes Merge to Capitalise on Professional Skin Care Market

Fast growth of professional skin care products in Europe has led manufacturers to seek new marketing opportunities - with a new report encouraging them to produce ranges that target both spa venues, and the more common beauty institutes.

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Patients Warned to Check Medi-spas Before Treatment

People used to go to salons for beauty treatments. Now more Americans are heading to medi-spas. Since 1999, the number of these spas has grown from just one to more than 2000. But the procedures performed can be dangerous.

It seems they are popping up all over Houston and their ads are everywhere. Medi-spas offer the latest trends in cosmetic procedures, including one that uses a laser. It gets so hot, it can permanently zap unwanted hair or dark spots on your skin. Sounds simple, but it can come with a cost. "The dermatologist told me I had second degree burns," said one customer.

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MediSpa Franchises A Hot Market

Once there were day spas, places for women (and a few brave men) to spend time being pampered and rejuvenated with lotions, potions, and massages. Today there are medical spas, or MedSpas, which take all the comfort and care of day spas and add the latest in medical technology. MedSpas provide services in comfortable retail settings, services once confined to medical settings and performed by dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

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A Merging of Medicine and Spas

At a free evening reception at the Vita Spa in Roslyn, Helen Proimus nibbled finger sandwiches and chatted with other guests about the pleasure of pampering themselves. The sound system lulled them with the soothing music of a typical spa: "Reflections of Nature," Kenny G. and "Zen: The Art of Relaxation."

When Proimus settled in a private room in the back, though, she wasn't receiving a typical spa service - no facial or pedicure or massage. Instead, Dr. Karina Bibicheff, an internist who runs the business, projected a digital scan of Proimus's face onto a screen, throwing into high relief every imperfection that might go unnoticed in softer light.

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Chevron May Enter the Spa Business

Jonathan Spiegel, a town official who deals most with the developer of the Quabbin Resort project, said Friday he has seen paperwork indicating that Chevron Oil is interested in investing.  "They have signed an agreement that we have seen," Spiegel said Friday. He's a member of the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corp.

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Spa is a Household Word: Key Trends

Spas are a leading leisure industry with nearly 14000 facilities generating more then $9 billion, in annual revenue in North America alone.

As the authoritative voice of the spa industry, the International Spa Association researches the overall industry and those who go to spas, as well as the trends that are becoming expectations for consumers.

“Similar to restaurants, hotels and fitness centers, spas play a significant role in today’s culture,” said ISPA President Lynne Walker McNees. “One in four American adults have been to a spa and know what they want from a quality spa experience. The trends are being driven by educated spa-goers who actually see them as expectations.”

Through its vast network of research on the consumer and industry, ISPA pinpoints the following spa industry trends:

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