Luxury brands
The high life
From Armani to Versace, luxury brands are showing a growing interest in the spa sector. We showcase some of their top-class facilities
For luxury goods companies looking to extend their brands, creating a spa concept is an appealing move. Opening a branded wellness-focused facility is a tangible way for them to showcase what they have to offer to new audiences, and to provide existing customers with a lifestyle choice beyond their products.
Leisure Management, the sister magazine to Spa Business, recently highlighted how luxury brands are taking the hospitality arena by storm (see http://lei.sr?a=j0j5j). Here, we take a look at some of the most exclusive spa offers to date.
Guerlain
Maison Guerlain, the 100-year-old flagship store of the perfume, make-up and skincare brand, re-opened its doors in November 2013 following an extensive, nine-month renovation. Located on Champs-Élysées, Paris, the iconic Art Deco building has been home to L’Institut Guerlain spa since 1939 and it was here that the Guerlain massage method was born.
The refurbished spa is on the first floor and its interiors have been restyled by contemporary US architect Peter Marino using warm, light shades. The nine treatment rooms, featuring marble and onyx, all have beds by Gharieni and fabrics by RKF Luxury Linen. The spa is situated above a large skincare, make-up and perfume retail shop, a consultation area and a restaurant.
Guerlain has 18 spas worldwide in gateway cities such as New York and Tokyo. In 2012, it entered into a partnership with the Oetker Collection hotel group to develop its future spas. Guerlain-branded spas have also opened in four Waldorf Astoria hotels in Edinburgh, Berlin, Amsterdam and New York in the last two years.
The Guerlain company was founded in 1828 and ran as a family business up until 1994 when it was acquired by the luxury goods conglomerate Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH).
Givenchy and Cheval Blanc, two other LVMH subsidiaries, also have luxury branded spa facilities around the world. See p54 to read more about the latest Cheval Blanc Spa opening in the Maldives.
Armani
Fashion house Armani has lent its name to three spas and Neil Howard, of UK-based Howard Consulting, helped to develop the concept, treatment menu and functional design of all of them.
The original Armani Spa opened in late 2007 at the 12-storey Armani megastore in Tokyo’s Ginza Tower. This spa, Howard explains was the smallest. It had three unique domed treatments rooms which were built to accommodate Armani’s signature ‘east meets west’ ceremony – comprising elements of shiatsu, Thai and acupressure therapies – and its facial and massage rituals.
In 2010, Armani’s first spa, hotel and residences opened at the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building in Dubai’s shopping district. The 160-bed hotel occupies 10 levels of the building and was created in a joint agreement between fashion designer Giorgio Armani and developer Emaar Properties. The 12,000sq ft (1,115sq m) Armani/Spa has a sleek, modern design and a monochromatic colour palette, perfectly emulating the haute couture clothing line.
It includes a reception and retail area, manicure room, two thermal suites and relaxation lounges for men and women, eight treatment rooms, an outdoor pool and a gym.
The long, ship-like space of the spa presented some challenges. “It was tricky, but Emaar looked at all the possible layouts to get the best – and most sensible – outcome,” says Howard. The consultant worked with suppliers to create bespoke items including a shower walk with warm and cool mists by Thermarium; and a large treatment couch by Oakworks. Armani teamed up with L’Oréal to make its own-branded products.
For those who want to live the Armani lifestyle full time, 144 luxury residential apartments sit alongside the hotel.
The second Armani hotel opened in the fashion designer’s home town of Milan in 2011. The Armani Hotel Milano has 95 bedrooms, two restaurants and a Armani/Spa with six treatment rooms, a double suite, a fitness room and a pool.
Howard concludes: “Meeting and presenting to a legend such as Giorgio Armani has been a highlight of my career. It was a privilege and I found him to be a gentleman and very agreeable.”
To read our undercover report on the Armani/Spa in Dubai, see Spa Business, issue 3, 2011, p70.
Baccarat
Luxury crystal glassware manufacturer Baccarat is one of the latest high-end brands to enter the spa market.
Baccarat dates back to 1764, when King Louis XV of France authorised a glassworks business in the village of the same name. The company is a favourite of international royals and has collaborated with contemporary designers such as Philippe Starck. It was bought by investment firm Starwood Capital in 2005.
With Starwood as the driving force, Baccarat is to open six hotels/residences with branded spa facilities which have been created by spa consultancy Raison d’Etre. Baccarat has become famous for is innovative, beautiful crystal designs and attention to detail – and its commitment to perfection in both design and service will underpin the Baccarat Spa concept.
Two of the most significant spas will open in Morocco, Africa. The first, the 135-bed Baccarat Hotel Rabat, is due to open in 2016 and expected to boast one of the largest spas in the area. It will target local clients, via an exclusive membership, as well as hotel guests. Key facilities will include six Moroccan hammams (three for women, three for men) using semi precious stones – two cooler 35?C jade rooms, two warm 45?C amethyst rooms and two hot 55?C crystal chromotherapy rooms. There will also be eight treatment rooms, two VIP suites, an alchemy area, two pools, a beauty and hair salon, a spa retail area, and fitness and yoga studios.
The Baccarat Spa Resort in Marrakech will offer a destination spa on a 5-acre (2-hectare) estate with 60 villas. It’s due to launch in 2016 and the spa “will stand out because of its all-encompassing wellness offering and results-orientated programmes”. It will offer glamour, socialising, fun and relaxation.
Also in the pipeline are Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York (2014), Baccarat Resort & Residences Marrakech (2016) Baccarat Hotel & Residences Dubai Pearl (2018) and Baccarat Residences Shanghai (TBC).
Dior
“I’m often disappointed with the quality of anti-ageing services and products [in spas],” said Caroline Bauchet-Bouhlal, director of spas and marketing at the Es Saadi Gardens & Resort in Marrakech, Morocco in a interview with Spa Business (see SB11/2 p64). “When I created our new spa, I chose a leading anti-ageing brand. Having a [beauty] institute in a spa is quite new and it was an idea that seduced me.”
The Dior Institut opened as part of the Es Saadi Palace Spa in 2010. An extension of the Christian Dior fashion brand, the beauty institute has three core elements: 3D massage, a massage said to be based on an in-depth knowledge of muscle fibres and energy circuits; micro-dermabrasion with sapphire particles; and Dior anti-ageing skincare products. It has its own reception, two treatment rooms, a make up studio and an outdoor relaxation terrace.
One of the first Dior Instituts was unveiled in the historic Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris in 2008 following a long association between the hotel and Christian Dior. The Maison Dior opened on the same street as the hotel in 1947 and the French designer was a big fan – he took his clients there for lunch and used the location for his photo shoots.
Dior Institut at Hotel Plaza Athénée has five treatment rooms, a fitness centre and a sauna and steamroom. Its pale, calming and luxurious interior echoes the design of Dior stores, with lots of white accented with hints of pale pink and grey.
Versace
The widely anticipated opening of Dubai Palazzo Versace resort has been scheduled for the end of 2014.
The Italian design house revealed its first Palazzo Versace on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2000, which it claimed was the world’s first fashion-branded hotel.
The second Versace-branded resort in Dubai was due to follow in 2009, but has faced a number of set backs – despite being 80 per cent complete since 2010. In recent reports, however, developer Enshaa Services Group confirmed the AED2.3bn (US$626m, €475m, £405m) Dubai Palazzo Versace will be ready by 2015.
Located in Dubai Creek, the resort will have 214 suites, 168 condominiums and a spa for women and men, as well as a fitness studio, steamroom, sauna and pool.
The spa design will be influenced by the style of the fashion house and Italian furnishings will be used to create a “an ambience of pure glamour”. The company’s corporate logo – the Greek mythological figure Medusa – is expected to feature throughout, while a hotel boutique will offer Versace clothes, accessories and cosmetics.
There will also be an outdoor lagoon pool, beach and a marina-edge promenade.
Enshaa took control of the project in 2011 in a swap deal that saw Emirates Sunland Group take full ownership of the Gold Coast Versace hotel (it was previously only part-owner of the Australian facility).
Bulgari
In 2001, Italian jeweller Bulgari teamed up with Marriott International’s Luxury Group to launch Bulgari Hotels & Resorts.
The first hotel opened in Milan in 2004 in a renovated 18th century palazzo. Guests in the 58 rooms and suites can visit the spa which offers ESPA treatments and has five treatment rooms, a gold-tiled pool and an emerald glass hammam.
This was followed in 2006 with a 59-villa resort in Bali, which also has a spa with ESPA treatments.
French luxury conglomerate LVMH acquired Bulgari in 2011 and became the owner of its hospitality arm. In 2012, Bulgari Hotel London was third five-star hotel to join the ranks. It features 85 rooms and suites, plus a two-story Bulgari Spa with 11 treatment rooms and one suite, plus a 25m mosaic tiled pool. ESPA was selected as the product house once more.
Two more Bulgari hotels are in the pipeline. A 120-bed property – featuring a 2,000sq m spa – by Foster + Partners is due to open in Shanghai in 2015, while another is planned for Dubai in 2018.
No stranger to working with luxury brands, ESPA also teamed up with Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré in 2003 to create a boutique spa – with three treatment rooms – for his flagship store in Milan.
To read our mystery shop features on both the Bulgari and Gianfranco Ferré spas in Milan, see Spa Business, issue 1, 2005, p46.
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