Watering your profits

With experts agreeing that wet areas are essential spa facilities, the next stage is to establish how they should best be implemented and utilised to maximise revenues.

If a spa doesn't have a wet area, is it really a spa? That's the question posed by Peter Rietveld, managing director of Your Spa by Barr and Wray, which reflects the opinion commonly held by spa designers and suppliers that wet areas and heat areas are both expected and necessary in spas nowadays.

Of course, sauna, steam and spa pool suppliers would believe this, but they are not alone. The trend in the region's newest spas, such as those at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, Lime Spa at Per Aquum's new resort the Desert Palm in Dubai and the 10,000m² Anantara spa at Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea is for a significant focus on wet areas and thermal experiences.

Schletterer Wellness & Spa Design senior consultant Sarah Lumley explains why.

 

"Thanks to modern technology, new and improved methods are now used to create watertight, durable wet areas and pools, which aim to create a centre point of beauty, comfort, relaxation and refreshment.
 

"New shapes and sizes as well as a smart mix of different materials and elements (cement, sand, fibreglass, stone, etc) are characteristic for a new design approach. In addition, fascinating and clever lighting solutions, closeness to nature, contrasts to the conventional and an all-senses approach need to be considered as new challenges in designing wet areas," suggests Lumley.

"Pools are a basis demand: people expect a pool in a wellness and spa area," she adds. "But the pool areas need to be created in a completely new way.

Multifunctional and multi-sensored approaches, unique features to experience, as well as the holistic implementation into the whole wellness and spa concept are crucial for the active use of wet areas. It's like an extension of the expression and feeling of the spa," she says.

Rietveld says that wet areas can be utilised prior to treatment, in between multiple treatments or after a treatment, however, spa wet areas are not just an add-on to the treatment experience.

Sales director at Dalesauna, Gerard McCarthy, explains that spas can increase revenue through a wet facility, despite initial high capital outlay.

"The heat experience is as much a benefit as a treatment delivered by a professional and so should be sold and promoted in the same way," he says.

"A chargeable facility would need a minimum of three heat experiences, plus showers and relaxation space, so it should be in the region of 65m²," estimates McCarthy.

Spa Developments managing director Brian Hunter agrees, adding that not only are there revenue opportunities to sell wet areas as a "hands-off" zone, which would require very little staffing, but the length of time a customer spends in the spa is one to two hours longer.
 

Location, location

The location of the wet area in a spa should be determined by easy access to the changing area and an established demarcation from the dry treatment area, says McCarthy.

Lumley adds that wet areas need to be accessible by the locker area to enable guests to have a shower after using a sauna or steamroom, or alternatively if the wet lounge is separate from the locker area it requires its own shower facilities.

In this case, there should also be a "private circulation path just for guests wishing to use it without walking through the more private spa treatment area," says Lumley.

Rietveld believes that wet areas shouldn't actually be in changing/locker areas, but located so that they observe the flow of the spa: "The guests should be easily able to find the wet spa on their own, since in general it is a Do It Yourself (DIY) area," he says, adding that in five-star hotels the guests should be escorted to the wet area.

"In general I would say that one third of the spa should be a wet area," says Rietveld.
 

"But this doesn't mean that if you only have three treatment rooms and 50m² that the wet area should only be 15m².

"Comfort is also an issue and therefore five-star hotels require more space than three- or four-star hotels," he adds.

In the early design stages, Rietveld says it's also crucial to think about how the wet areas will be cleaned.

"This means that cleaning issues, downgrades to drains in the screed, drain positions and waterproofing are dealt with from the beginning as it makes it easier to maintain hygiene and safety," he says.

Rietveld also advises reclining benches in saunas to enable cleaning underneath, and tiled floors instead of wooden decking.

Maximising use

Spa wet areas in the Middle East are under used, says Lumley, mainly due to their design and location, thus reflecting the importance of these aspects.

"In Europe, for instance they're designed as dedicated areas, developed for the guest to spend hours in," she says.
 

"They offer combinations of different styles of thermal and refreshing rooms, with different health benefits. They have many variations, such as aquamedic pools, serial baths, salt inhalation, meditative rooms and herbal infusion baths to mention a few.

There are many innovative techniques, which are combined to give an overall wonderful journey and guest experience," explains Lumley.

To ensure clients are getting the most out of wet areas, thus helping bring about a return on the initial high investment, Lumley says the most important thing is to know your clientele and design to meet their expectations from the beginning.

"In existing operations, educate your guest, incorporate this area into the treatments and keep them clean and looking inviting," she adds.

Rietveld adds that the flow of a wet and thermal area is crucial: "If the sequences of a wet area are not right, guests use it wrong and don't feel well," he says.
 

"I would say that most of the time, the proportions of the wet area are not worked out properly. The sauna is too big and relaxation areas are too small," says Rietveld.

"Another reason why wet areas are not used depends on how educated the staff is on the wet area procedures," he adds.

"The spa staff should educate the guests, explain how and why to use the wet areas and heat rooms, create a balanced atmosphere in the spa - including the wet area - and have the guest enjoy the social aspect.

"Don't forget the relaxation areas which should be part of the spa and the wet area - even sleeping can be a spa treatment!" concludes Rietveld.