Dubai-based spa and fitness consultant and management company Esadore International has launched its own full-service spa brand, Nine Degrees, billed as the first entirely Middle Eastern spa concept.
Esadore has created an in-house range of spa products — manufactured in France and packaged in Dubai — signature treatments including a hammam, and three different spa modules under the Nine Degrees umbrella: urban, resort and wellness.
Speaking at The Hotel Show last week, where Nine Degrees made its debut, Esadore International senior spa consultant Jacqueline McCumiskey said: “We looked at all of the different Middle Eastern countries in terms of their history, their culture, their wellness aspects, their ingredients, flavours, fragrances and the origins of these ingredients as well. We haven’t just chosen these ingredients because they smell nice, they have got a medicinal purpose to them, so we researched that as well.
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“Basically we’ve looked at a few different aspects of each country, we’ve chosen small areas and the ingredients, [which were] quite an important part from each country, brought it all back to Dubai, created a modern themed spa and we’re launching Nine Degrees today.”
McCumiskey, who moved to Dubai in 2000 to manage Cleopatra’s Spa in Wafi, said Esadore was targeting developers, hoteliers and private standalone spas with Nine Degrees.
“Were keeping it exclusive; products are exclusive to our spas only,” she said, adding that initially the focus was on developing the brand in the UAE.
She explained that hotels could have the option of taking on the Nine Degrees brand and managing it themselves, or that Esadore could “actually operate it for them”.
“We have got a lot of interest, we’re in negotiations with a couple of spas at hotels,” McCumiskey revealed. “We will be launching our own flagship, most probably if everything goes to plan that will be in Downtown Dubai area, it will be our own spa, our flagship that we own, that we manage, standalone.”
She said the three modules meant Nine Degrees was “very flexible”.
“The urban spa will be the most modern, the resort [is suited to] destinations, with a larger treatment menu, yoga, fitness.
“Wellness is the largest spa, dedicated to the alternative — naturopaths, reflexology, nutritionists — [as well as offering] our signature treatments.
“Everyone wants wellness at the moment and we felt it was necessary for us to develop that aspect as well. We wanted Nine Degrees to be available in what the market really wants at this time,” said McCumiskey.
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