Are consumers aware of the differences between spa brands and do they care if something is organic?

FA: We use Sodashi and we just launched a new Six Senses line this month. It is developed with a company in Thailand and very much with Six Senses people. Six Senses is very strict about what kinds of products we use, so they had to go through a lot of tests — they have to be free of chemicals, they have to be organic, the list is very extensive.

We have a lot of regular guests who know about organic products as they have been using Sodashi for three years. Guests little by little are getting into our philosophy.

MT: It’s all about letting the guest know what your brand stands for and once they know what your brand stands for, they’ll buy into that idea.

AA: There is not brand awareness. It’s ‘I want a facial’ and they don’t ask about products, especially the local market. Guests from Russia and Europe are more spa oriented.

FA: I still don’t think that anywhere in the world, apart from maybe Australia or some places in the US, people are that much aware of the types of products they buy. People are starting to ask questions. I don’t find that people worry so much about the content, they worry about the brand.

MM: It’s about how much they trust your spa. To be organic or natural is a plus but there are not that many enlightened people who are that conscious of it. If they come to your place and they trust your brand — as long as they enjoy it, feel relaxed and their skin feels refreshed and they feel and look younger — they’ll trust what brand you use. It’s up to the establishment to make sure we don’t disappoint them and it’s our responsibility to make sure we don’t provide them with low-standard products.

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How is your spa positioned?

MT: We don’t want to be too expensive, we want to be at the bottom of the pack because of the facilities that we have and the amount of competition we have. This area [Dubai Marina] is the most populated spa area in Dubai. We are in a very tight spot so we need to price ourselves competitively — lower than the beach hotel but higher than the salon or the standalone spa in this area.

FA: Our signature treatments are AED 500 (US $136) but our members have 15% discount.

AA: For us it is AED 300 ($82) to AED185 ($50) for treatments; members get 15% discount. If you buy three massages, you get a fourth massage complimentary.

Why is it so important to offer spa memberships now?

AA: It’s a spa and health club. It can’t be a spa separately. Membership gives them access to pool, health club, gym, steam and sauna and 15% discount on treatments and 20% discount on F&B in the hotel. I’m trying to use other hotel facilities to promote the membership; if you have one-year membership, you get a complimentary night in the hotel or with a six-month membership, you get dinner for two or a complimentary treatment. And it is selling.

MM: At The Palace we have limited memberships with access to pool, gym, spa facilities, 20% discount on spa treatments and15% discount on food and beverage. At The Address there is no outside membership but there is a spa loyalty programme.

MT: Yes, we have limited memberships, with access to the health club, swimming pool, spa wet area, discount in the spa on treatments and discounts on F&B as well.

FA: Memberships have access to the hotel pool and the beach, to our spa facilities, to the gym. They have discount on treatments, retail, and F&B, plus they have between three and four free signature treatments a year. At the moment we have 750 members. We have 50 more places; from January onwards we will only be accepting people to fill the places of those that don’t renew. We have between 160 and 120 people a day coming into the fitness.

Moving on to staffing, is recruitment still an issue?

AA: Recruitment is very difficult. To get a therapist it took me around three months.

MM: It’s depends on where you’re looking, what you’re looking for, what you’re offering and how your organisation processes recruitment.

FA: Fitness is tougher than therapists. Our instructors are fully booked out with PT sessions. It took us a while to find what we wanted as it cannot just be a fitness instructor, it needs to be a licensed practitioner of yoga or pilates who can give some classes.

MM: I’ve been trying to fill a PT position for The Palace for the year. You get close to filling the position and then it falls through.

FA: And fitness, because it’s growing everywhere in the world, the package that is offered in the GCC countries is not that fantastic anymore to what they get in Europe, Asia etc.

AA: And a lot of people prefer to freelance these days.