ISPA chair and former CEO of Miraval Resort and Spa Michael Tompkins, has told Spa Opportunities about the specifics of the spa planned at Hilton Head – a leading weight loss destination retreat of which he is now CEO.

The spa, named the Indigo Spa, will measure 3,000sq ft (279sq m) when erected and will comprise six treatment rooms – two of which will open up to become a couples’ suite – and two of which have showers for body treatments. There will also be a 500sq ft (46sq m) salon, featuring two manicure and two pedicure stations in addition to an express mini-peel room.

While the spa will not feature any wet zone facilities, there are male and female sauna and steamrooms in the locker rooms of the main building already. The main product lines for the spa are Naturopathica and Red Flower – both of which are organic. Skin Authority will be used in deeper peel treatments.

Tompkins noted that, as a weight loss resort, the main building already has many fitness-based wellbeing amenities, such as a fitness centre, two fitness studios and a yoga studio, in addition to board rooms and a recently remodelled fine dining restaurant. The facilities that will be added to this main building include a Pilates studio and a Thai massage room.

“We are adding a 30-bedroom inn because currently the villas on the property are privately-owned condos around the golf course,” said Tompkins. “The foundations are up for both the inn and spa. The spa is set to open just after the new year [in 2015] and the inn will open in the third week of April.”

Tompkins estimates this multi-million dollar investment into Hilton Head Health’s extra wellbeing facilities will attract 2,100 visitors or more per year.

“Our current length of stay is much longer than that of a standard destination resort,” said Tompkins. “The average current length of stay here is 12 days. The people who come here, often looking to lose more than 50lbs (23kg), need to stay that long to really profit from the health, fitness and nutrition programmes on offer.”

“While weight loss is our core business, this is a really great place for the ultra-fit and younger generations too,” Tompkins added. “There are 90 miles (145km) of bike trails, opportunities go to paddle-boarding and kayaking as we’re right off the beach. Kayakers can see sea turtles and witness what’s called a “silver moment” on the coastline as dolphins beach themselves to feed on fish they’ve trapped on the shore by clogging up their exit.”

Additional staff will be recruited to join the current team via word of mouth. “The spa is already generating a lot of interest locally and states away.” In-depth training will be provided for therapists, including tutorials on customer services and product sales and will last several months. “We are using Jane Segerberg of Segerberg Spa Consulting – who helped with the relaunch at Miraval,” Tompkins commented.

“My hope is that once we launch this destination spa in a year or so, we would like to look at expanding. For example, the west coast is always a good place for wellness – in California people are really big on being healthy. We would also consider expanding into the midwest, where a huge number of our current clients at Hilton Head Health come from.”

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