Spa Business issue 2 2012 - Leisure Opportunities

RESORT SPA
coming on day spa packages costing chf250
(us$273, €208, £169) Monday through Friday
and chf380 (us$416, €316, £257) Saturday
to Sunday. Only day guests on packages,
rather than those booking a one-off treatment,
have access to the spa facilities to
avoid over-crowding.
At 30-35 per cent, the capture rate is high:
although that number includes guest just
using the facilities as well as having treatments.
Hess says: “The key to attracting
guests is having a large variety of treatments
and rituals. Also the hotel’s main reservation
department is good at upselling.”
A graduate from the Lucerne Hotel School,
Hess joined the Dolder Grand two months
aft er its reopening in 2008 and says one
of the biggest learning curves for him was
understanding how his team of 25 therapists
approach the guests. “My background
is in food and beverage and that’s a lot faster
paced – the waiters and kitchen staff spend
only a minimal time with customers. It’s different
in a spa, the approach has to be soft er.
But what makes it the most challenging is
knowing if the therapists execute the treatments
to our [high] standards or just do
them their own way. We’re constantly asking
for guest feedback to check.”
Th ere’s also a strong in-house therapist
training programme – with quarterly evaluations
carried out by the treatment manager
and assistant treatment manager.
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Th e spa is viewed as an independent profi t
centre at Dolder Grand and the goal is for it
to contribute 20 per cent of total revenues.
For Hess, one of the most important
benchmarks is the average revenue per treatment
which sits at chf190 (us$208, €158,
£128) as well as the retail/treatment revenue
split which at 25-30 per cent for retail
is at the top end of industry performance.
“We treat retail as
another part of the service we
off er guests, therapists handwrite
recommendations aft er
the treatment and provide
extra consultation if necessary.
Th ey get between 5-15 per cent
commission, but we also have
standard training in sales,
plus tuition from the
product houses four
times a year.”
■ Spa director Jann
Hess oversees 60
staff including
25 therapists
62
AMALA SKINCARE
he Amala skincare line was
introduced to the Dolder
Grand Spa in November 2011.
Its products are certifi ed 100
per cent natural and 70-95 per cent organic
by Natrue – which requires at least 75 per
cent of products in a range to be organic and
natural before granting its seal of approval.
Th e spa off ers three Amala treatments,
including a signature Nature’s Organic Seasonal
Facial which is adapted every three
months to incorporate ingredients from
Dolder Grand’s garden.
Used by top spas such as Rancho La
Puerta, Mandarin Oriental and Six Senses
spas, Amala is the premium product line
of Germany’s Primavera – a masstige skincare
company. Founder Ute Leube has been
working with natural ingredients for over 25
years, during which time she’s established
Aft er four years, Schmid is happy with the
with how the spa’s performing. “At the beginning
we thought 18 treatment rooms might
have been too much, but now there are some
weekends when we’re fully booked. Also, it’s
taken us this time to train enough therapists
in our high quality treatments to
reach this capacity – and over four years
we’ve also built up a pool of therapists
who we can call on an ad-hoc basis to
cope with those big days.”
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With the resort and spa still
relatively new, Schmid says
there are no developments
in the pipeline. The biggest
challenge he sees,
however, is maintaining
quality of service. He says:
“It’s easy to change design
and keep the physical
■ Amala is certifi ed natural and organic
(top); founder Ute Leube and advisory
board member Mark Wuttke (above)
relationships with 19 fair trade, sustainable,
organic farms worldwide. Her philosophy is
that the very best natural ingredients can be
just as eff ective as high-grade synthetics.
Outside of German speaking countries,
the range is overseen by advisory board
member Mark Wuttke – a champion of sustainable
luxury who’s worked with natural
medicines for more than 15 years for companies
such as Jurlique.
off er fresh, so the focus has to be on quality
and it’s my role to guide people to make
sure they notice the simple things that matter.”
An independent hotel, Dolder Grand
has a team of four people solely focused on
standards and training – “this is quite amazing
as we’re not a large chain,” Schmid adds.
“And it really is about noticing every detail
– being specifi c about the attitude of staff ,
teaching them how they could do something
better or in a diff erent way.”
It’s perhaps not surprising then that
Schmid is driven by people – both guests
and staff – and understanding their diff erent
needs. For Hess, the motivation is “seeing
the spa grow – it’s fantastic to see what’s
happened over the last four years and I’m
excited about the future.” ●
SWISS operates 35 daily fl ights from the
UK to Switzerland and worldwide. Fares
start at £89 return, including taxes. Details:
+44 (0)845 601 0956, www.swiss.com/uk.
SPA BUSINESS 2 2012 © Cybertrek 2012