Roche says the idyllic setting of Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island bodes well for the spa business. Roche says the idyllic setting of Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island bodes well for the spa business.

Building a modern Arabia
Like the hotel, which combines architectural elements of an Arabian castle with the contemporary feel of the Park Hyatt brand, the spa combines traditional and modern elements.

While some of the treatments such as Arabian Aromatherapy — as the name suggests — centre on more traditional practices, Atarmia also introduces some new treatments to the region.

“When building a spa within an international hotel you must consider guest expectations. It’s a vast market with GCC nationals wanting their skin whitening and brightening and other international guests lying in the sun for hours on end and then requesting anti-aging treatments. But all of these markets are becoming more results-focused,” says Roche.

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“Guests are looking for something that goes beyond facial care — they can do that at home now. It’s about bringing nature and science together in a spa so guests don’t have to go into a white room with doctors wearing white coats.

In the past clinics were the only places you could find treatments such as ‘dermabrasion’, but we’re offering that here now alongside other medical-grade treatments that don’t involve putting toxins in your body or going under the knife,” she adds.

Other ‘cutting-edge’, results-based treatments offered at Atarmia include Le Alternativa, a non-invasive treatment labelled the ‘new Botox’, and hydra-facials, a form of non-laser skin resurfacing.

High-tech treatments
While stressing that machines can never replace the sense of ‘touch’, Roche’s research and guest feedback suggests there is an increasing demand for such machine-based therapies, which she coins an “industry turn”.

“There’s a trend for people wanting machines these days, the spas have done an amazing job in educating guests that soap and water doesn’t do the job anymore.

“Our machines come in for skin-damage reversal to a certain degree and ultimately prevention. We’re the only spa in Abu Dhabi to offer Solitone 2500 [for regenerating and repairing the different skin layers], based on technology developed by NASA scientists.”

These high-tech therapies also help to give the spa an edge in terms of its revenue potential. Not only do these machine-based treatments generally cost more, but they are crucial to building up customer loyalty with the walk-in market, according to Roche.

“Treatments such as La Alternativa work best in courses. To build the effect of having a session of Botox, clients should aim for five treatments. So that’s where we’re looking to bring our repeat business among the local and expatriate market,” explains Roche. “You get an immediate result from these kinds of therapies too,” she adds.

One of the appeals of the hydra-facial is reduced “blotchiness”— fitting in perfectly with Roche’s plan to target weddings business.

“The extraction is done by a machine, there’s no squeezing or anything that would cause the skin to blotch up so it’s a facial brides can have done on the day – it’s amazing for its skin cleansing and smoothing effects, not just anti-aging.

“We’re targeting weddings business; we've had some very successful ones in already. The leisure guest is the one we really want to tap into – because when they come they have the time and the inclination.”

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