Resort Slump Doesn’t Take Steam Out of Spas

Amid the travel slowdown, one segment of tourism still seems to have some steam: spas. For consumers, that’s good and bad. Good because there are more hotels with spas than ever and a cornucopia of new treatments. Bad because there’s almost too much to choose from, and there aren’t as many deals as you might hope.

“We’ve seen a spa explosion in the last couple of years,” says Lynne Walker McNees, executive director of the International Spa Assn., or ISPA. The organization, based in Lexington, Ky., claimed 1,783 spa facilities and providers in 55 nations as members in late November. That’s 27% more than a year ago and nearly triple the number that existed three years ago.

There are about 5,700 spas in the U.S., of which about 750 are in California, according to a study done last year for ISPA by Price- waterhouseCoopers. About three-fourths of the nation’s spas are free-standing day-use facilities, but those attached to resorts and hotels are a growing category, composing the next largest group, about 8% of the total.

A far smaller number, about 75, are what are called “destination spas” by experts or “fat farms” by detractors, according to the study. These are the grandes dames and generally the forerunners of the spa craze, such as Canyon Ranch in Tucson and the Golden Door in Escondido, Calif., where clients typically check in for a week or more of low-fat cuisine, exercise and treatments.

Destination spas have loyal customers, but it’s not a growing category. Too much time commitment, experts say. The growth is occurring in day spas and hotel-resort spas. “You almost can’t open a hotel without a spa anymore,” says Pete Ellis, chief executive and chairman of New York-based Spa Finder Co., a spa reservation service and marketing company.

The factors behind the growth are many, experts say: aging baby boomers, the fitness movement, high-stress jobs and more male customers. Although the typical spa visitor is a woman 31 to 54, more men are joining in--about 25% more each year for the last two years, McNees of ISPA says.

Resorts make money off spas, but not that much--about 3% of their total revenue, according to a recent study by Phoenix-based Warnick & Co., a consultant and investment banking company that specializes in hotels and recreation. Golf (9%) and food and beverage service (30%) contribute more.

So here’s the real appeal for resorts and hotels: A spa is “the equivalent of what a swimming pool was 20 or 30 years ago ... a competitive necessity,” says company president Richard A. Warnick. In short, guests demand it.

Are they still demanding it after the Sept. 11 attacks? That depends on whom you talk to. McNees says her members have reported no decline in spa bookings since Sept. 11. And some spas, especially those whose clients arrive by car rather than plane, say business is “the best they’ve ever had,” says Spa Finder’s Ellis, as nerve-jangled citizens seek “something that’s healing” without having to travel far.

Still, although spas have bounced back from a “huge amount of cancellations” by travelers immediately after the attacks, Ellis says, business overall is off--perhaps by 10% to 30% at destination spas and 40% to 50% at resort spas. The spas have responded with some mild price-cutting. The week of Nov. 26, Ellis’ company’s Web site, www.spafinder.com, posted packages for nearly 20 spas discounted 10% to 35%. “They weren’t doing [discounts] at all last year,” Ellis says.

Why aren’t the discounts deeper? McNees and Warnick say the profit margin for spas isn’t large, so there isn’t much fat to cut.

“While spas can be profitable, they are tremendously expensive to build,” Warnick says. They are also labor-intensive , and it’s not easy to cut the staff’s pay, he says.

So if you’re not going to get great deals, it’s especially worthwhile to find out what service you are getting. When booking a hotel or resort, call the spa directly to find out exactly what facilities and treatments it offers, experts suggest.

The word “spa” was “once reserved for European destination resorts where guests went to ‘take the waters’ to restore a healthy, balanced life,” Peter Anderson, former vice president of PKF Consulting in Los Angeles, writes in a December 2000 article in Lodging magazine. But now, he writes, the word may be stretched to cover “the ubiquitous three-star commercial hotel that has added ‘ ... and spa’ to the end of their name as a result of subcontracting a massage therapist and converting the guest room closest to the swimming pool into an exercise room.”

Adding to the confusion is a dizzying array of treatments and terms spawned by the trend to “regionalize” offerings and pursue the new in an effort to stand out from the crowd.

The new Ceiba del Mar Hotel & Spa near Cancun, Mexico, offers the “exclusive Temascal,” described as “a native Aztec treatment that features a sauna bath on the beach with hot volcanic rocks.”

On a recent visit to another Mexican hotel, Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta, McNees more or less wore a margarita instead of drinking it. She had a treatment that involved a salt scrub and tequila-based oil with lime. “It was wonderful,” she says.

Some tips for finding your way through the fog (or steam):

* Look for spas that are always good deals. Several people I interviewed mentioned the Oaks at Ojai. Its midweek rates start about $155 per person per night, double occupancy, with a two-night minimum, including lodging, meals and fitness classes; on five-, seven- and 12-night packages, it adds one to three treatments, depending on the length of stay. “It’s not plush, but it’s wonderful,” says Kim Marshall, a spa consultant in Los Angeles.

* At a resort, book the treatments when you book the room to make sure you can get an appointment. Make sure the spa is open the hours you want to use it.

* “Don’t be dazzled by the bells and whistles,” Marshall says. “Look for the basics.” The most common treatment request is still massage, and the main reason people go to spas is to relax.

* Specify your needs and medical limitations, especially heart or circulatory problems, to ensure the treatments are appropriate.

* Look for spas that are members of the International Spa Assn. Licensing requirements for massage therapists and other spa professionals vary from state to state. But ISPA requires members to adhere to a code of ethics, carry liability insurance and take various safety measures.

*

Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane.engle@latimes.com.