More and more people are looking for unforgettable experiences when they travel. People are no longer simply looking for a place to sleep, but a place that offers a dream experience and leaves beautiful memories. Because of this, and because of the style and sophistication that distinguishes them and their respect for the environment, they are very popular with young customers, couples and the international jet-set.

What does the customer look for in this location? What are the characteristics? Which investment?
Let’s delve into that in this article.

What a Boutique SPA is

A Boutique Spa is an ‘exceptional’ place in terms of its location, concept, design, and the treatment protocol it offers. It is a place devoted to offering a totally customised and ‘tailor-made’ experience, just like a haute couture boutique that takes all the clients’ expectations and makes them a reality.
Clearly this is a special place that focuses on offering targeted, exclusive, and limited spa services and treatments to guarantee high quality standards and be consistent with the chosen spa concept.

What are the characteristics of a Boutique SPA

LeBoutique Spas are luxury environments, characterised by distinctive design, unique furnishings, refined atmospheres and, sometimes, located in very attractive locations.

LThe aim is to propose an experience that combines luxury, wellness, landscape, art, culture, and tradition. The term ’boutique’ indicates something small, intimate, exclusive, so Boutique Spas are not large, usually ranging from 250 to 750 square metres.

The concept behind it must be characterised by a strong personality, a clear brand identity. This must be communicated through targeted communication strategies capable of speaking to its target audience.

Unique design, enriched by exceptional pieces of furniture, refined atmospheres, and high-quality finishes. The presence of high craftsmanship certainly increases its prestige.

The atmosphere must be intimate and comfortable and able to pamper all the senses: the lights and colours must be well studied, the music as well, the entire spa circuit should be characterised by precise olfactory notes that help characterise the place and remain impressed in the memory.

Services must be highly customised, to meet the needs and habits of customers, even anticipating them before they manifest themselves. Signature treatments and high-end cosmetics are a must!

The entire team must be constantly trained to maintain a high quality of service, to be aligned with the concept: everyone must speak the language of the brand.

Stunning locations and ‘wow’ environments

Boutique Spas are often found within Boutique Hotels. Structures that have sprung up in truly enchanting locations, far from the destinations of mass tourism and precisely for this reason most appreciated by their clients.
Environments designed and created to allow customers to make the most of their stay both in discovering interesting places and in regenerating and taking care of themselves. Here the wellness programme is of a very high standard, as is the attention to design, art, restoration, and enhancement of historic or charming hotel environments.

High-end wellness and unusual proposal

The professionals who look after guests’ wellbeing in the Boutique Spas are of the highest rank, just as carefully selected and innovative are the activities and treatments: they range from metabolic medicine sessions to treatments with local spices, from open-air gyms for ‘wild fitness’ to yoga sessions surrounded by palm trees, from Irish meditation to treatments with mud and local herbs. Care in the design of the Spa menu is very important.

How to design a Boutique SPA

The ‘wow’ effect that the customer finds in a Boutique SPA is not the result of chance.

Every aspect is thought out, designed, verified and realised with the utmost attention to detail and care for the environment, the needs of investors and the trends appreciated by customers.
We asked Régis Boudon-Doris, Founder and CEO of bbspa_Group.

He explains: “Today more than ever working on a Boutique SPA project is an exciting and demanding challenge. It is exciting because you have to be daring, innovative, but at the same time you have to combine the concept with respect for the surrounding environment, art and culture. It is demanding because the balance between invested capital, end result and productivity must always be guaranteed. All this with the needs of today’s increasingly informed, demanding customers in mind. The energy to be spent on the retention of customers is ever greater”.

What are the investment costs to implement it

To build a Boutique SPA we have to assume a cost per square metre starting from 4,000€, then according to the spa concept and its Business Plan we define the specific budget for each structure

Some examples of Boutique Spas

“Among the latest projects that have already been completed that best sum up all these distinctive traits, we cannot fail to mention LA SPA Helvetia & Bristol in Florence and the Ambassade Biologique Recherche in Rome”,says Régis Boudon-Doris.

L'articolo Boutique SPA: top-class wellness for a “WOW” effect proviene da bbspa_Group.

Urban SPAs have always been one of the most important places to survey and assess the new needs of SPA customers. This is because those who frequent them usually do so on a regular basis, live in the area, and consider them to be places of reference for everything related to beauty treatments, new technologies applied to wellness, face/body cosmetic products, etc.

There is no need to go ‘elsewhere’ to find a place for pampering and relaxation because there are magnificent wellness oases even in the city.

Characteristics of the environments

They must enhance sensoriality, propose innovative, stimulating ideas, envelop the person, to contribute to the relaxing effect of a day or even just a few hours to dedicate to a holiday for mind, body and spirit, enhancing the uniqueness of each individual person and their desires. Comfort and design must characterise the ambience. An elegant and exclusive setting in which to forget the stress of the city.

Urban SPA to unplug

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, the Urban SPA is a wellness refuge where you can switch off and regain your lost energy. From anti-ageing treatments to decontracting body massages, from holistic treatments to laser hair removal and sessions with innovative machines to soothe the signs of time, there are many reasons to ‘disconnect’ and take a SPA break. Even a few hours in saunas, whirlpools, steam baths and hot pools help to restore harmony.

Who chooses the Urban SPA and for which treatments

Undoubtedly the so-called Millennials, or Generation Y, are those who are most influencing not only fashion but also the beauty and wellness sector. Their relationship with beauty and wellness is so special that many beauty business brands are reviewing their production and marketing strategies.

They are the generation of the new millennium. In Europe they represent 24% of the entire population. Hyperconnected, highly engaged in professional projects, attentive to the latest trends, they live late into the night and feel the need to recharge their batteries with meditation, yoga and detox diets.

“We are talking about clients who live very busy lives,” explains Gabriella Francia, SPA Manager and trainer for bbspa_Group. They are often exposed to a new kind of stress. A large number of young women state they are tired, not only from lack of sleep but also from the many activities in which they are engaged. This obviously requires special attention when choosing the SPA menu”.

About treatments, “Personalisation is essential because, more and more, people who take a wellness break want a unique and personalised experience” – Gabriella explains. Younger people focus a lot on immediate results. The many tutorials and social media make them aware of new products and treatments. Our task is to intercept their needs as well, because they will certainly represent our largest clientele in the very near future
Some examples? Today’s trendy products and treatments are those that offer very specialised solutions, i.e. those that best meet the personal needs and new lifestyles of this generation. Facial treatments with instant effects, masks that give the skin a radiant and immediate effect, so that you are ready for an important evening. People are less interested in creams that prevent wrinkles after the age of 50, because they live in the here and now. The same applies to make-up: the skin must look radiant, smooth. The selfie phenomenon has influenced this”.

Yoga, meditation, and customised rituals in Urban Spa

Mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly popular, not only among those who practise sport but also among those who seek to recharge their batteries from stress. This is why URBAN SPAs offer meditation, yoga, or pilates sessions, aimed at all those who think of their well-being as a path to rediscovering themselves and their physical and mental balance.

Targeted investments for a profitable business model

All this makes it clear that even for a successful URBAN SPA you need to organise yourself on several levels. A well-structured spa menu, diversified environments, trained staff, investment in modern, high-performance equipment, an innovative spa concept and welcoming spaces. We talked about this with Régis Boudon-Doris, founder, and CEO of bbspa_Group. “There is absolutely no need to trivialise the idea of the URBAN SPA,” Regis emphasises. On the contrary, it is necessary, especially in this case, to focus on solutions that are very exciting for customers and well-performing for staff. Those who carve out an ‘urban’ wellness break must be able to make the most of it. This is why the environments must be very well designed and the spa menu must absolutely meet the needs of the costumers”.

SPACUBES: modular solutions and technology for successful URBAN SPAs

An absolutely innovative and particularly high-performance solution for creating an URBAN SPA is SPACUBES®. “It is the first prefabricated and modular spa concept. Created by bbspa_Group in collaboration with a team of architects and technicians explains Régis Boudon Doris, it allows to compose and create a spa according to the needs of the location and the investor, creating welcoming, innovative spa environments that can adapt to any environment, especially urban“.

L'articolo Urban SPA: wellness oasis in the city proviene da bbspa_Group.

Today, tourist hospitality is also aligning itself with this need and evolving into “open-air” stays and activities, using nature as a wellness tool as well as a place of experience.

At last, an important concept has spread widely: tradition, innovation and the enhancement of environmental and cultural resources become the way forward in formulating an offer capable of capturing the interest of customers. This applies irrespective of whether we are talking about accommodation facilities or SPA environments, spa treatments, cosmetics, etc.

What SPA clients look for

In avant-garde spas and wellness centres, the architectural layouts, treatments, activities, style choices, and culinary proposals all dialogue with nature and the surrounding environment in new ways. It is a symbiotic and reversible relationship, capable of welcoming and satisfying increasingly demanding customers. The Zen Generation, i.e. the customers of today and especially of tomorrow, demand a strong interconnection between the surrounding space and the digital sphere.

A growing trend: retreats or wellness retreats surrounded by nature

Recent surveys show that many of those travelling or planning a period of rest and relaxation are tend to prefer retreats in secluded, quiet places, far from the hustle and bustle. In short, there is a greater desire for nature (+31%) and tranquillity (+29%). One example: in the first four months of 2022, sites dedicated to outdoor tourism recorded a 150% increase in the flow of searches compared to 2021 and an 8% increase compared to 2019.

The new hospitality and wellness venues must enter into symbiosis with nature through intelligent architectural solutions. Attentive customers prefer facilities that are perfectly integrated into the natural environment and connected to digital ecosystems powered by renewable sources. In this case, the difference is no longer the price of the offer but rather the zero impact on the territory.

How to design a SPA in the in nature

Specialised architects and designers who are attentive to the new tourism/wellness trends are oriented towards redesigning gardens and open-air spaces that can be used for sports and wellness activities. Design and new style proposals therefore conquer green spaces and often create an absolutely harmonious and relaxing connection between indoors and outdoors.

Certainly, the secret to a successful spa project in nature is to have a unique and innovative concept in mind that is characterising for that spa and becomes the common thread of the entire customer experience.

by Elisabetta Farneti

L'articolo SPA and Nature: a winning combination proviene da bbspa_Group.