Spa Executive_MARCH-2021-V3

Spa Executive 

The magazine for leaders in the business of wellness 

March 2021 Issue #24 

KARLA 

HERRASTI 

RCD Hotels' Karla Herrasti on 

wellness philosophy and 

guest experience 

JW MARRIOTT 

TAMPA WATER 

STREET 

5 CHANGES 

YOU CAN MAKE 

TO BE A GREAT 

LEADER

Spa Executive 

The magazine for leaders in the business of wellness 

ISSUE #24 – MARCH 2021 

IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE 

ABOUT SPA 

EXECUTIVE 

Spa Executive is Book4Time's 

magazine for leaders in the 

business of wellness. News, 

views, and interviews for the 

those who want to attract top 

talent, increase customer retention, 

and offer the best possible 

guest experience. 

TECHNOLOGY 

TRENDS 

4 

6 

Why ease of use is a top 

consideration when choosing 

a spa software 

Nature heals: scientific 

evidence supporting the use 

of 3 touchless therapies 

14 

18 

Forbes Travel Guide’s 2021 

Star Award winners 

The best hotels for 2021 

according to U.S. News & 

World Report 

04 

THE SPA EXECUTIVE 

MAGAZINE TEAM 

PUBLISHER 

Roger Sholanki 

MANAGEMENT 

8 

5 changes you can make to be 

a great leader 

SPOTLIGHT 

20 

RCD Hotels' Karla Herrasti on 

wellness philosophy and 

guest experience 

08 

CREATIVE DIRECTOR 

Nima Chadha 

EDITOR 

Elizabeth Bromstein 

10 

How managers can reduce 

employee stress in spa & 

hospitality 

BUSINESS 

DESIGNER 

Tiffany Delve 

GROWTH 

24 

How integrations can improve 

your hospitality business 

12 

Featured property: JW 

Marriott Tampa Water Street 

23 

20 

www. spaexecutive.com 

Spa Executive MARCH 2021 ISSUE - 2 - - 3 - Spa Executive MARCH 2021 ISSUE

TECHNOLOGY 

When choosing a spa or 

hospitality software, one of the 

first considerations should be 

ease of use. Here’s why. 

more than once in our interviews with 

industry leaders that spa and wellness 

might be a little behind some other 

industries when it comes to technology 

adoption. If your employees are less 

technologically inclined, it’s going to 

be very important that your software is 

fast and simple to learn and use. The 

more time it takes to learn, the more it 

costs you in labor hours and in time that 

would be better spent focusing on your 

employee and guest experiences. 

WHY EASE OF USE IS A TOP 

CONSIDERATION WHEN 

CHOOSING A SPA SOFTWARE 

When choosing a software for your hospitality 

spa business, one of the most important 

things to consider is how easy it is to use, also 

known as “ease of use.” 

You want both you and your team to feel 

comfortable using your software. So, you 

need a system that’s easy to navigate, easy 

to use, and to learn and manage with little 

training. And your guests should be able to get 

through the online or mobile booking process 

seamlessly and easily. 

Here is a more in-depth look at why ease of 

use matters in a software. 

TIME IS MONEY 

A good, easy to use software saves time. 

You want it to be intuitive and for your team 

members to feel comfortable. It’s been noted 

At Book4Time, a dedicated trainer and 

customer success manager will walk 

you through the simple steps to get you 

on the road to taking full control of your 

booking experience. Book4Time also has 

a library of available resources to make 

onboarding and adoption a lot easier. 

EMPOWERING TEAM MEMBERS MEANS 

LESS WORK FOR MANAGERS 

There are spa software systems out 

there that employees are downright 

afraid to use, lest they make a mistake 

and throw the whole system out of 

whack (this is what we’ve been told 

at Book4Time and Spa Executive by 

managers who are frustrated with their 

existing software system and looking 

for a new one). This can create tension 

and cause problems. Your team should 

feel confident and be able to access 

all the information they need in a few 

seconds – from their own schedules to 

their treatment bookings to the customer 

information and beyond. This sense of 

autonomy empowers employees to make 

decisions on how to create the best 

experience possible, which allows for 

seamless business operations and guest 

experience. 

Vivian Villamizar, Spa Director at The 

Palms AVEDA Spa, Miami Beach, told 

Spa Executive that ease of use was a top 

consideration and that Book4Time is 

“very user-friendly.” She said, “I have 

therapists who didn’t even dare to use 

our system before, they now feel very 

confident about using the software 

system.” 

When a team is empowered and able 

to find what they need and do what 

they need to do, they don’t need to 

constantly go to management with 

questions. And they’re less likely 

to mess something up or make a 

mistake. This means managers spend 

less time holding hands and putting 

out fires . 

Daisy Tepper, Spa Director of the 

Forbes Five Star Spa at the Post Oak 

Hotel, said in an interview, “When you 

hire someone, the easier the system 

is for them to learn, the better for 

us.” She added that Book4Time is 

“very user-friendly. That’s what I was 

looking for, and that’s what I got.” 

YOUR GUESTS DESERVE THE BEST 

Your guests want an easy and intuitive 

booking and checkout experience. 

A complicated checkout process, 

website errors, and a site that looks 

untrustworthy are among the top 

reasons shoppers abandon their carts 

– or reasons why someone might 

abandon the booking process. 

A good online and mobile booking 

functionality should be polished and 

visually appealing, offering all the 

information a customer needs to 

make a decision about booking an 

appointment. This should include the 

map location and contact information 

for your spa, an easy to navigate 

menu, booking options for individuals 

and groups, and the ability to make 

changes to your booking. This user 

experience should be consistent on a 

desktop, tablet, and smartphone. 

Book4Time’s Online and Mobile 

Booking Experience offers all of this 

in an intuitive and attractive package 

that includes the ability to customize 

your look and feel with your own 

images. 

YOU’LL STAND OUT FROM THE 

COMPETITION 

What it comes down to is that, if your 

website and booking experience are 

slow, confusing, or not intuitive, people 

are going to leave and look elsewhere 

— and there is a lot of competition 

in the spa and hospitality world. Pay 

attention to ease of use and don’t lose 

customers because of a bad booking 

experience. 


TECHNOLOGY 

NATURE HEALS 

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE 

SUPPORTING THE USE OF 

3 TOUCHLESS THERAPIES 

More spas are offering touchless therapies to accommodate needs for physical 

distancing. Here’s scientific evidence to support their use. 

As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 

pandemic, the spa, wellness and hospitality world 

has been adopting touchless guest experiences. 

Many people want to travel, enjoy self-care, and 

take part in wellness without the traditional hightouch 

element. Companies are rising to meet this 

demand with contactless options for guests. 

Among these are spa treatments and therapies, 

and other wellness experiences that allow people 

to keep their distance from others while enhancing 

health and wellbeing. 

These include reiki, vibrational sound healing, 

and forest bathing, aka shinrin yoku. Guests 

may be less familiar with these modalities than 

more traditional touch therapies, like massage 

and hands-on body work, but that doesn’t mean 

they don’t work. Here is a roundup of scientific 

evidence demonstrating the potential benefits of 

three touchless therapies: reiki, sound healing, and 

shinrin yoku. 

1. REIKI 

A form of energy healing that originated in Japan, 

reiki is one of the best known touchless therapies. 

It does not involve touch and is said to work 

through the transfer of universal energy when the 

practitioner holds their palms over the recipient. 

The word comes from the Japanese 

words “rei” (universal) and “ki” (life 

energy) and stems from a phrase 

meaning “mysterious atmosphere, 

miraculous sign.” The belief is that 

stagnant energy is associated with 

physical illness and emotional pain 

and reiki improves the energy flow, 

improving relaxation, reducing pain, 

speeding healing, and more. 

Reiki has many advocates and 

is increasing in popularity. Reiki 

techniques include centering, 

clearing, and extracting harmful 

energies. 

Scientific evidence 

A review of available clinical studies 

found “reasonably strong” evidence 

that Reiki is more effective than 

placebo.” The authors wrote, “Reiki 

is a safe and gentle ‘complementary’ 

therapy that activates the 

parasympathetic nervous system to 

heal body and mind. It has potential 

for broader use in management 

of chronic health conditions, and 

possibly in postoperative recovery.” 

In a 2011 study, subjects who 

received Reiki demonstrated greater 

health and mood benefits than those 

who did not. Separate research found 

that participants with high anxiety 

and/or depression who received six, 

blind 30-minute sessions over a two 

to eight weeks showed progressive 

improvement in overall mood, while 

no change was seen in the controls. 

Another study found that reiki acutely 

improved physical and psychological 

symptoms associated with many 

health conditions, including pain, 

depression, anxiety, tiredness, 

drowsiness, nausea, shortness of 

breath, appetite, and overall wellbeing. 

The authors wrote: “Reiki can 

provide immediate relief for many 

health conditions and is used for 

this purpose inside and outside of the 

hospital setting.” 

2. SOUND HEALING 

Sound healing is a practice that uses 

voice or sacred instruments like gongs, 

Tibetan singing bowls, and tuning forks 

to create vibrational sounds believed 

to alter brain waves, release energetic 

blockages, and induce states of ease 

and harmony. Advocates believe it 

can relieve ailments like anxiety and 

insomnia, synchronize brain waves, 

and restore vibratory frequencies of 

cells. 

Gong Master Martha Collard of Red 

Doors Studio told Destination Deluxe 

that sound can shift frequencies “from 

low energy of guilt and fear to higher 

vibrations of love and joy.” Malbert Lee, 

a Hong Kong-based Crystal Bowl and 

Gong Master, explained, “The adult 

body is 75% water, and water is a great 

conductor for sound vibration.” 


A 2017 study found that subjects who 

participated in Tibetan singing bowl 

meditation reported significantly lower 

tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed 

mood. Interestingly, “participants who 

were previously naïve to this type of 

meditation experienced a significantly 

greater reduction in tension compared 

with participants experienced in this 

meditation.” Feelings of spiritual wellbeing 

also significantly increased. 

Another 2017 study found that the use 

of low-frequency sound stimulation 

resulted in a statistically and clinically 

relevant improvement in Fibromyalgia 

symptoms and that subjects showed 

no adverse effects. Study author Lee 

Bartel told the Globe and Mail that 

the most appealing aspects of sound 

therapy are that it’s low cost, can be 

administered almost anywhere, and 

doesn’t have the failure rates or side 

effects of medications. 

“It is something that people can 

do easily,” he said. “In the future, if 

we continue to see positive results, 

the medical community may start 

prescribing it.” 

3. FOREST BATHING 

(SHINRIN YOKU) 

Like reiki, forest bathing originated 

in Japan. It is the simple practice of 

mindfully immersing oneself in nature. 

“shinrin” means forest and “yoku” 

means bath. It’s described as simply 

being in nature and connecting with 

nature through sight, hearing, taste, 

smell and touch. 


A review of 28 papers found that 

forest bathing activities might 

improve cardiovascular function and 

blood pressure and have a positive 

impact on metabolism, immunity and 

inflammation. The research noted 

significant enhancement of emotional 

state and alleviation of anxiety and 

depression, and concluded that forest 

bathing may significantly improve 

physical and psychological health. 

Separate research found that middleaged 

Tokyo office workers who walked 

in a forest setting were significantly 

less anxious, slept better, and slept 

longer than when they walked in a nonforest 

setting. Interestingly, afternoon 

walks were more beneficial than 

morning walks. 

Finally, a study of 20,000 people found 

that those who spent two hours a week 

in green spaces were substantially 

more likely to report good health and 

psychological well-being than those 

who did not. Two hours was the key. 

The study found there were no benefits 

for people who didn’t meet that 

threshold. 


MANAGEMENT 

5 CHANGES YOU CAN 

MAKE TO BE A GREAT 

LEADER 

Most people have not mastered these five 

changes you can make to be a great leader. 

They take work and some changes of 

mindset, but are worth the effort. 

We often hear leaders in hospitality, 

spa, and wellness say their team 

members are their greatest 

assets. This may be true in any 

business, but it’s particularly true 

here. Hospitality workers are what 

makes “hospitality,” the definition of 

which is “the friendly and generous 

reception and entertainment of 

guests, visitors, or strangers,” 

hospitable. Without them you don’t 

have a hospitality business. You 

have a building with beds in it. 

It takes a special type of person to 

be a great leader in this industry. 

Being a good leader takes 

dedication and hard work; being 

a great leader takes a lot more 

than that. Great hospitality leaders 

motivate and inspire the teams that 

make guests feel welcome and 

valued, and make the difference 

between a bad experience, a good 

experience, and a life-changing 

experience. 

We’ve written about how to be a 

better spa director in the past. 

Among the common things good 

leaders do are listening, leading by 

example, and aligning goals. Now 

let’s look at some keys to being a 

great leader. Most people have not 

mastered these, and they take work 

and some changes of mindset, but 

they are worth the effort. 

1LEARN TO MANAGE 

YOUR EGO 

We all have egos. The worst 

leaders let their egos lead and the 

best ones don’t. As Rasmus Hougaard 

writes, “a big ego makes us have a 

strong confirmation bias. Because 

of this, we lose perspective and end 

up in a leadership bubble where we 

only see and hear what we want to. 

As a result, we lose touch with the 

people we lead, the culture we are a 

part of, and ultimately our clients and 

stakeholders.” Breaking free of that 

ego can be hard, but it’s something 

all the best leaders have to do. 

Managing your ego also allows you 

to be receptive to criticism. The best 

leaders take criticism well. The worst 

ones get defensive and angry with the 

messenger, because their egos get 

in the way. If you can’t take criticism 

well, you can’t improve, and if you 

can’t improve, you will never be great. 

2FIND YOUR COURAGE 

We’ve talked a lot about 

leading by example in the 

past, and sometimes that means 

being courageous in order to inspire 

courage in others. In most cases, this 

isn’t going to mean running through a 

burning building or taking a bullet for 

a team member. What it might mean 

is being brave enough to try new 

things, like unfamiliar technologies 

or expansion into new territories. 

Graciously handling criticism requires 

courage and admitting one’s mistakes 

requires courage. It takes courage 

to support your team and have 

their backs when customers are 

demanding and difficult and it takes 

courage to be vulnerable and humble. 

Bad leaders lack the courage to face 

this reality. Good ones are scared and 

do it anyway. It’s not courage if you’re 

not scared. 

3START ENCOURAGING 

PEOPLE TO SPEAK UP 

Even if it’s something you 

don’t want to hear. In a two-year 

study on team performance, 

Google found that the highestperforming 

teams have one thing 

in common: psychological safety, 

which, according to Harvard 

Business School’s Amy Edmondson 

is, “a belief that one will not 

be punished or humiliated for 

speaking up with ideas, questions, 

concerns or mistakes.” In a TED 

Talk, Edmondson explained that 

psychological safety encourages 

“a shared belief that the team is 

safe for interpersonal risk taking.” 

Too many people would never go 

to their boss with a workplace 

concern, particularly if that concern 

involved questioning the strategy or 

decisions made by the actual boss. 

And that is to the teams’ detriment. 

It’s easier to work together in an 

environment that encourages 

courage rather than fear. 

MAKE IT OK TO FAIL 

4 

As mentioned above, 

a psychologically safe 

environment is one in which 

people are not afraid of being 

punished for their mistakes. An HBR 

article states, “psychological safety 

allows for moderate risk-taking, 

speaking your mind, creativity, and 

sticking your neck out without fear 

of having it cut off,” and notes that 

these are the behaviors that lead to 

market breakthroughs. Edmondson 

also found in her research that 

better teams reported higher 

error rates than other teams. This 

is not necessarily because they 

make more mistakes, but rather 

because they’re more willing and 

able to talk about them. Back to 

the previous point, Edmondson 

found that the highest performing 

teams were those that were part of 

a psychologically safe environment 

and “in which everyone, from the 

lowest ranking employee to the 

highest, felt empowered to speak up.” 

5START TRUSTING PEOPLE 

If you want people to trust 

you, you have to show that 

you trust them. Delegate decision 

making. Sometimes people have 

better ideas and more clarity than 

you do. You are incapable of being 

right all the time. In order for a team 

to succeed, that responsibility must 

be shared. When people are given 

ownership of a decision, they’re 

driven to take responsibility for 

the success resulting from that 

decision. When this success has 

been clearly defined in a shared 

company goal, you then have a 

team of people empowered to work 

towards that goal. When you just 

tell people what to do based on 

what you alone have decided, it’s a 

little less motivating. Trust might 

also mean allowing employees 

to problem solve without having 

to come to you for permission. 

For example, when a customer or 

scheduling issue needs resolution. 

These are the things that next level 

managers do. Not everyone tries 

to master them, but everyone can 

master them. 

There is a lot of competition in spa 

and hospitality. It’s your people that 

set you apart. Help them succeed by 

being a great leader. 


MANAGEMENT 

Employee stress is a factor in 

hospitality and your team’s 

wellbeing is as important as that 

of your guests. Here’s how to 

make a difference. 

We spoke to Ryan Wolf, Gallup’s Physical Wellbeing Lead, about 

how hospitality leaders can apply those five principles to alleviate 

employee stress, improve wellbeing, and create healthy, happy 

workplaces. Here’s how he answered our questions. 

HOW MANAGERS CAN 

REDUCE EMPLOYEE STRESS 

IN SPA & HOSPITALITY 

Working in spa and hospitality is stressful. Work is 

demanding and the pressure to offer the ultimate 

guest experience while keeping up with safety 

protocols can be a lot to handle. Burnout, as we all 

know, is not uncommon. 

Moreover, a recent report found that travel and 

hospitality employees are the least likely out of 

all industries surveyed to feel valued at work. And 

separate research found that feeling undervalued 

at work was correlated with the highest levels of 

workplace stress. In other words: hospitality is 

already a stressful sector, and the common feeling 

of being undervalued adds stress to that stress. 

The five elements we need to thrive 

This costs hospitality companies. Stress has been 

called the “health epidemic of the 21st century” by 

the World Health Organization and the “business 

world’s silent killer” by Forbes. It’s estimated to cost 

American businesses alone up to $300 billion a year. 

The hospitality world is very focused on creating a 

stress-free guest experience and on guest wellbeing. 

Managers should also be sure to spend time and 

energy on the wellness and wellbeing of their 

employees. 

Employee wellbeing matters for your 

wellness business 

Advisory company Gallup studied wellbeing in more 

than 98% of the world’s population and identified 

five common elements that people need to thrive in 

their professional and personal lives. Gallup found 

that how employees rate these five elements affects 

business outcomes: 

Career: You like what you do every day. 

Social: You have meaningful friendships in your life. 

Financial: You manage your money well. 

Community: You like where you live. 

Physical: You have energy to get things done. 

What’s the manager’s role in 

employee wellbeing? 

Workplace wellness started as a way 

for employers to shed some of their 

increasing healthcare costs. So, a lot of 

the initiatives were to help employees 

lose weight or get more exercise. 

But workplace wellness has evolved 

tremendously over the past 30-40 years, 

and now integrates all determinants 

of health and happiness. It’s not just 

going to the gym and eating broccoli, it’s 

thinking about how your relationships 

and your career support your health. 

Leadership needs to have a strategy for 

wellbeing and managers can make or 

break that strategy. It can be challenging 

because they don’t necessarily want to 

be a wellbeing expert or a life coach for 

their employees. But they don’t need 

to be the experts. They just need to 

be conduits and good dot connectors 

to help identify available resources 

based upon specific needs. Sometimes 

these resources are available through 

programs already available in the 

organization, and sometimes they are 

outside the organizations. Everyone 

has a special wellbeing need. Our 

needs are as individualized as we are 

individual human beings. Recognizing an 

individual’s needs and supporting them 

in finding the resources they need is the 

manager’s role. 

How do the five elements Gallup 

identified factor in? 

Physical wellbeing is often the first 

pathway people focus on, but now we 

think of physical wellbeing as efficiently 

managing your energy so you can 

take care of the important things in 

your life: having creative and mental 

energy for work and emotional energy 

for relationships. The work we do, 

the passion that we pour into it, the 

purpose and meaning that we get out 

of our work, our relationships and 

friendships, are all very important 

for longevity, physical wellbeing, and 

happiness. 

Can you talk about ways to 

avoid burning out employees? 

Gallup also identified five 

major reasons that people burn 

out: being treated unfairly, an 

unmanageable workload, a lack of 

expectations within their role, lack of 

communication, and unreasonable 

time pressure. It’s the responsibility of 

leaders to address these issues. 

We’ve also found four elements 

that employees need from leaders. 

These are hope, stability, trust, and 

compassion. Leaders should be 

intentional about these things. Caring 

about people is very simple. It comes 

down to caring about people more 

than just their productive units and 

knowing that engagement at work 

is highly linked and correlated to 

wellbeing. 

How can managers lift some of 

the employee stress their teams 

are experiencing right now? 

Being communicative, helping 

people understand what’s expected 

of them, and being clear about the 

organization’s financial situation and 

what the plans are going forward are 

very important at this time. 

Another thing is playing to the 

strengths of each individual employee 

and understanding what makes them 

tick and the kind of work in which they 

thrive. Identify that setting and help 

them develop by doing more of that. 

CliftonStrengths is a tool that we 

use to help individuals identify their 

strengths. There are four domains 

of strengths: relationship building, 

strategic thinking, influencing, and 

executing. Someone who is a really 

high executer likes to get things 

done. They might like checklists 

and just doing hard work. It wouldn’t 

necessarily be wise to have that 

person at the front desk of the hotel 

or spa, checking people in and making 

small talk. We’d want to put someone 

who thrives in relationship building 

and influencing in front of people. So, 

they can be more of who they are and 

help the clientele feel comfortable. 

What makes a great employee 

wellness experience? 

We need to think about who these 

individuals are and help them carve a 

path to explore and experiment with 

ways to live their best life. Rather 

than providing programs that try to fit 

everyone in a box, we should be giving 

people the autonomy to experiment 

with what might work best for them. 


GROWTH 

FEATURED PROPERTY 

JW MARRIOTT TAMPA 

WATER STREET 

A haven for body and mind, this month’s 

featured property, JW Marriott Tampa Water 

Street is a place to indulge and renew. 

JW Marriott Tampa Water Street 

brings a new level of luxury to the 

Tampa Bay area. The brand’s 100th 

property sits in the heart of Tampa 

Bay’s wellness-focused Water Street 

neighborhood and is the perfect 

luxury destination for discerning 

guests looking to take time for 

themselves, relax, and rejuvenate 

body and mind. Spacious guest 

rooms feature custom furnishings 

and water-inspired design and an 

expansive 2,230-sq.-ft. Presidential 

Suite boasts its own terrace with a 

wet bar where guests can take in 

sweeping city views. A resort-style 

pool with cabanas overlooks area 

waterways. 100,000-sq.ft. of event 

space provide a place to meaningful 

meetings with the largest hotel 

ballroom in Tampa Bay. Authentic 

dining experiences offer fresh takes 

on beloved and local favorites with 

intuitive service and reimagined 

flavors. 

An escape for mind and body 

Several locations around the The 

JW Marriot Tampa Water Street are 

havens for body and mind. Stay Well 

Premier Rooms on the 16th floor 

offer a restorative experience with a 

Vitamin C-infused shower, circadian 

lighting, and air-purification system. 

The signature Spa by JW features 

a spa lounge, 10 treatment suites, 

plunge pool and retail boutique. The 

Spa takes a holistic approach to 

wellbeing with treatments designed 

to calm, invigorate, indulge, and 

renew. 

These treatments include: 

B-DOS AMORES COUPLES 

RECONNECTION RITUAL (100 

minutes): “Play is one of the 

languages of love. Allow our 

talented therapists to customize the 

reconnection ritual suited for the 

two hearts. It includes a massage, 

scalp treatment and a choice for 

playtime of Lime scrub or Hungarian 

mud.” 

ORGANIC STONE CROP BODY 

RITUAL 80 MINUTE (80 minutes): 

“Elevate your body ritual with headto-toe 

organic healing. Featuring 

stone crop – one of Éminence’s 

signature ingredients – this 

treatment extends firming and 

moisturizing to the entire body. 

Your experience begins with an 

invigorating sugar/salt exfoliation 

that gently resurfaces the skin, 

followed by a cooling aloe-infused 

restorative wrap. Then unwind with a 

stress-relieving massage, featuring 

an anti-inflammatory, relaxing blend 

of stone crop and arnica. Every 

inch of you is left soothed and 

smoothed.” 

CALMING WAVES- A SIGNATURE 

FACIAL 50 MINUTE (50 minutes): 

“Synergistically formulated with 

advanced cosmeceutical ingredients 

from Dr.BABOR, including highly 

active concentrates applied with 

a relaxing facial massage. This 

advanced treatment is designed to 

prevent visible signs of aging as well 

as to lift, calm, refine and brighten 

your face. The skin is left refreshed, 

radiant and younger-looking.” 


TRENDS 

FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE’S 2021 

STAR AWARD 

WINNERS 

Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) has announced the 

winners of its 63rd annual Star Awards. 

The 2021 list of honorees features 283 Five-Star, 576 Four-Star 

and 438 Recommended hotels; 73 Five-Star, 136 Four-Star and 

77 Recommended restaurants; and 90 Five-Star and 200 Four- 

Star spas worldwide. This year’s awards also include a number 

of special accolades for individual workers and brands in the 

hospitality industry. 

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARDS 

The second annual Employee of the 

Year awards, sponsored by Frette, 

honor the stand-out team members 

who have gone the extra mile in 

service of guests and co-workers. 

The 2021 Hotel Employee of the 

Year is Hisashi Sugimoto, master 

bartender at The Tokyo Station 

Hotel. Eighty-year-old Sugimoto has 

been with the Tokyo Station Hotel 

since 1958 and invented many of 

the original cocktails at the hotel’s 

Bar Oak. Colleagues say Sugimoto’s 

passion for making guests happy 

has kept them coming back for six 

decades. 

The 2021 Spa Employee of the Year 

is Najla Ceman, therapist, The Spa 

at Four Seasons Hotel New York 

Downtown. Forbes reports that, 

when the spa closed for nine months 

due to COVID, the 20-year industry 

veteran became certified in several 

health-and-safety-related courses 

to ensure she was prepared to meet 

new demands upon reopening. 

HOSPITALITY STARS OF THE YEAR 

AWARDS 

Forbes Travel Guide also introduced 

the Hospitality Stars of the Year 

awards, sponsored by Frette, in 2021. 

These winners include: 

Wellness Star of the Year 

Hotel Esencia, Riviera Maya, 

Mexico. Hotel 

Esencia introduced a unique new 

room category, Rooftop Wellness 

suites, that come with a Mirror virtual 

fitness trainer, a Peloton bicycle, a 

Technogym weight set, yoga mats 

and an aromatherapy steam shower. 

The innovative accommodations 

also embrace the jungle setting with 

rooftop terraces, outdoor showers, 

solariums and private pools. 

Philanthropic Star of the Year award 

The Berkeley, London 

The Berkely took the opportunity to 

provide drive-through meal service to 

emergency services and vulnerable 

members of the population during 

the first COVID shutdown. Team 

members volunteered their time to 

participate. Five hundred meals were 

served daily to emergency services, 

and 250 meals a day were given to 

the elderly and vulnerable people in 

the community, in partnership with 

Westminster Council. In total, more 

than 50,000 meals were provided. 

SOME 

HIGHLIGHTS 

Four new Five-Star hotels 

were named in Tokyo for a 

total of nine in the city: The 

Capitol Hotel Tokyu; The Prince 

Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, A Luxury 

Collection Hotel; The Ritz- 

Carlton, Tokyo; and Takanawa 

Hanakohro. 

Five cities got their first 

Five-Star hotels: Hilton Head 

(Montage Palmetto Bluff), 

Houston (The Post Oak Hotel 

at Uptown Houston), Montreal 

(Four Seasons Hotel Montreal), 

Philadelphia (Four Seasons 

Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast 

Center) and Seattle (Four 

Seasons Hotel Seattle). 

Three new Five-Star winners 

were named in Los Cabos: 

Esperanza, Auberge Resorts 

Collection; Chileno Bay Resort 

& Residences, Auberge Resorts 

Collection; and Auberge Spa 

Chileno Bay. 

Scotland’s Balmoral, a Rocco 

Forte Hotel is the country’s first 

Five-Star hotel. 

The cities around the world 

with the largest number of 

Five-Star hotels include London 

(19), Macau (13), Paris (13), 

New York (10) and Tokyo (9). 


People First Star of the Year 

Raffles Seychelles 

When Raffles Seychelles was forced 

to close for several months, it 

saved jobs by reducing salaries while 

continuing to provide housing and 

meals to team members. Only 10 

employees of 300 were not retained. 

When conditions improved, the hotel 

paid a bonus to all employees. 

Service Visionary Star of the Year 

Ocean House Management 

Collection 

The Ocean House team took an 

innovative approach to service during 

the pandemic by introducing the OH 

Well program. The program included 

a mobile cart for room-to-room delivery 

of cocktails and complimentary 

appetizers to recreate the bar experience, 

personalized picnics, culinary 

garden and winter igloo outdoor 

dining setups, and private culinary 

and wine classes and dinners. 

Health Security Star of the Year 

Hilton Luxury Brands, Conrad 

and Waldorf Astoria, Americas. 

In response to the pandemic, Waldorf 

Astoria and Conrad in the Americas 

quickly developed luxury service 

manuals with detailed videos and illustrations 

to thoroughly describe the 

modified guest experience with safety 

in mind. The brand also created 

a robust cleanliness and disinfection 

program for VERIFIED hotels. 

Nominations for these industry awards were submitted by properties in Forbes 

Travel Guide’s worldwide collection. FTG received hundreds of entries. 

“In this unprecedented time for the travel industry, every persisting staff 

member at a hotel, restaurant and spa is a winner,” said Filip Boyen, CEO of 

Forbes Travel Guide. “But we also wanted to honor those hospitality workers 

who went above and beyond during the pandemic to aid their guests 

and colleagues. Our Employees of the Year and Hospitality Stars exemplify 

the best of our industry.” 

Below are the new 5-Star spa and hotel award winners for 2021. To view the 

full list of 2021 Star Award winners, visit ForbesTravelGuide.com. 

NEW FORBES 5-STAR SPAS FOR 2021 

• Auberge Spa Chileno Bay, Los Cabos, Mexico 

• Remède Spa Aspen, Aspen CO, United States 

• The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, Las Vegas NV, United States 

• The Spa at Four Seasons Toronto, Toronto ON, Canada 

• The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, Beijing, China 

• Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center, Philadelphia, 

PA, United States 

• Sunstone Spa, Palm Springs CA, United States 

NEW FORBES 5-STAR HOTELS FOR 2021 

• The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 

• The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Tokyo, Japan 

• Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Auberge Resorts Collection, Los 

Cabos, Mexico 

• Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, Istanbul , Turkey 

• Esperanza, Auberge Resorts Collection, Los Cabos, Mexico 

• Four Seasons Hotel Montreal , Montreal QC, Canada 

• Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center, Philadelphia PA, 

United States 

• Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, Seattle WA, United States 

• Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, Beijing, China 

• Montage Deer Valley, Park City UT, United States 

• Montage Palmetto Bluff, Hilton Head SC, United States 

• The Mulia – Nusa Dua, Bali, Bali, Indonesia 

• The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston, Houston TX, United States 

• The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Tokyo, 

Japan 

• The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 

• The St. Regis Bali Resort, Bali, Indonesia 

• The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab 

Emirates 

• The St. Regis San Francisco, San Francisco CA, United States 

• Takanawa Hanakohro , Tokyo, Japan 

BOOK ONLINE, 

PAY ONLINE, 

SKIP THE LINE 

Enjoy the contactless experience 

with Book4Time. 


TRENDS 

THE BEST HOTELS FOR 2021 

ACCORDING TO U.S. NEWS 

& WORLD REPORT 

HERE ARE THE TOP 5 HOTELS 

in each region of the 2021 U.S. News Best Hotels Rankings 

U.S. News & World Report 

has ranked the best hotels 

for 2021. Check out the 

top hotels by region. 

U.S. News & World Report recently announced its Best 

Hotels rankings for 2021. 

The rankings evaluate more than 30,000 luxury hotels 

and resorts across the USA, Europe, Canada, Mexico, 

Bermuda and the Caribbean. The media release notes 

that despite the current limitations faced by the global 

travel industry, “these hotels continue to operate at the 

top of their class for luxury and hospitality,” making the 

recognition even more meaningful due to the challenging 

times. 

“The travel industry has faced numerous challenges 

over the past year, emphasizing the need to support 

and recognize hotels that continue to maintain exemplary 

standards,” Zach Watson, travel editor at U.S. 

News, is quoted as saying. “This year’s list offers a 

reliable guide for travelers to use when planning their 

next getaway, whether that’s in a few months or next 

year.” 

Four Seasons Resort Lanai tops the list as the Best Hotel 

in the USA, “impressing both experts and travelers 

with its numerous amenities, ranging from picturesque 

pools and a world-class golf course to daily activities 

like sailing, beachfront yoga and cultural tours.” 

Second place goes to Acqualina Resort & Residences 

on the Beach in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, followed by 

The Peninsula Chicago at No. 3. “These hotels stand 

out due to their exceptional customer service, wellmaintained 

grounds, luxuriously comfortable accommodations 

and wealth of on-site amenities,” says the 

release. 

The Ritz-Carlton Montreal earned the top spot in Canada, 

Rosewood Mayakoba came in No. 1 in Mexico; and 

Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France was named the 

best hotel in the Caribbean. 

U.S. News scores luxury hotels using a methodology 

that combines each hotel’s industry awards with its 

star rating and guest reviews. 

“The Best Hotels in the USA guide offers information 

on everything from room amenities to pool and spa 

features, allowing people itching to get out of their 

home offices and explore the country to begin planning 

for their next staycation or vacation when they feel 

comfortable,” said Watson. 

USA 

• Four Seasons Resort Lanai 

• Acqualina Resort & Residen 

ces on the Beach 

• The Peninsula Chicago 

• The Beverly Hills Hotel 

• The Langham, Chicago 

Caribbean 

• Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de 

France 

• Eden Rock – St Barths 

• Belmond Cap Juluca 

• Jade Mountain 

• Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton 

Reserve 

Canada 

• Ritz-Carlton Montreal 

• Rosewood Hotel Georgia 

• Fogo Island Inn 

• The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto 

• Fairmont Pacific Rim 

Bermuda 

• Rosewood Bermuda 

• Hamilton Princess Hotel & 

Beach Club 

• The Loren at Pink Beach 

• Fairmont Southampton 

• Cambridge Beaches Resort 

& Spa 

Mexico 

• Rosewood Mayakoba 

• One&Only Palmilla 

• Esperanza, Auberge Resorts 

Collection 

• Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal 

• Montage Los Cabos 

Europe 

• Le Bristol Paris 

• Hotel de la Ville, A Rocco Forte 

Hotel 

• Badrutt’s Palace Hotel 

• Ashford Castle 

• Four Seasons Hotel George V, 

Paris 


SPOTLIGHT 

RCD HOTELS' KARLA HERRASTI 

WELLNESS PHILOSOPHY AND 

GUEST EXPERIENCE 

RCD Hotels is the hospitality pioneer that introduced the concept of 

the all-inclusive to Mexico nearly 30 years ago. The company’s Hard 

Rock Hotels and Hard Rock golf courses are among the best-known 

brands on earth, with many awards to their name. To the world, Hard 

Rock Hotels mean fun and relaxation with a superior service standard. 

In October, 2020, Karla Herrasti became RCD’s 

Corporate Director of Spa in Latin America. 

She oversees dozens of staff in spas at seven 

hotels, which include Hard Rock Hotels in 

Riviera Maya, Cancun, Vallarta, Los Cabos and 

Punta Cana, Unico 20 87 in Riviera Maya, and 

Nobu Hotel at Cabo San Lucas Mexico. We 

spoke with Ms. Herrasti about her career, her 

wellness philosophy and what makes a great 

guest experience. 

Tell us about your career trajectory and 

how you came to be doing what you are 

today 

I’m from Mexico City. I studied communication 

and interior design, then worked in advertising 

and marketing. When I moved to Los Cabos, I 

found myself looking at different types of jobs 

because it’s a smaller town with a lot of hotels. 

I interviewed to be a wedding planner at a hotel 

and they offered me the job of Spa Concierge. 

I didn’t even know what that was, but they said 

I’d be perfect for it, so I took the job and I loved 

the work. When I saw the happy faces of these 

beautiful people thanking me for a treatment or 

service and saying, “Thank you. You gave me 

what I needed and transformed my experience," 

I got this amazing feeling. For a few years I left 

and worked for a provider of spa products and 

equipment. I learned more about spa in this 

work seeing another point of view, the back of 

the house. A few years later, I was approached 

to return to hotels and remembered that good 

feeling. I also had the opportunity to work 

with Diana Mestre, a very famous wellness 

consultant here in Mexico to open a spa in 

Cancun. I recently had the opportunity to join 

RCD hotels. I’m very excited to be here. 

Tell us about your spas and your 

approach to wellness 

I oversee some very big spas. For example, the 

Hard Rock Punta Cana spa has 56 treatment 

suites and the Riviera Maya has 77 treatment 

suites on three floors. It’s like a whole city in 

that one spa. 

When it comes to my wellness philosophy, I 


"The best experience that we can give to our 

clients is when we can cross that wall that we 

all put up around us and open a new window 

through which to see and enjoy and be grateful 

for the moment and experience." 

have some knowledge of psychology 

so I try to integrate the elements 

that help us to be in wellness. A 

wheel of wellness includes mental 

health, spiritual health, social 

health, and body health. We offer a 

complete experience that helps to 

relax, destress, reduce anxiety and 

recover the immune system and 

energy balance. This has always 

been important but at this time it is a 

priority in a humane life. 

Last year I had internal bleeding and 

I lost a lot of blood. I almost died and 

nobody knows what was wrong with 

me. I think it was my body’s way of 

resetting. That experience changed 

the way I feel and believe in the world. 

At that moment, I started to live again 

and to want to share this light with 

everyone. If I can touch one heart, 

and transfer to a few people this light 

and the elements we need to be well 

for the whole of humanity that will be 

great. It's time to heal. 

What do you think makes a 

great guest experience? 

Let me give you an example. 

Yesterday, I was reviewing the 

“ 

treatments we offer in the hotel and 

I was in the beauty parlor, ready to 

receive a hair treatment. I was running 

around because I need to answer a 

lot of emails and have a lot of phone 

calls, and I sat down and leaned back, 

ready to have my treatment. The 

service provider arrived and she told 

me to put my arms down and my cell 

phone aside, she started to cover my 

body with a hot towel, she used some 

aromatherapy. Three seconds later, I 

shut my mouth and I forgot everything. 

She had me completely in her hands. 

What I am telling you with this is that 

the best experience that we can give to 

our clients is when we can cross that 

wall that we all put up around us and 

open a new window through which to 

see and enjoy and be grateful for the 

moment and experience. 

Are you relying more on 

technology now? 

Technology helps us do a lot of things 

right now, to determine the kind of skin 

that we have, and the products we 

need, for example. But it can’t supply 

that experience that you get directly 

from the hands of experts. You can 

get a scan and they can tell you a skin 

type. But when you go directly with the 

expert, and they feel your skin and use 

their hands to apply this product and 

are there in the room with you, and you 

are present together, technology can’t 

supply this. Technology has helped us 

a lot in the industry, but the tech needs 

to work with the experts and the magic 

creators of these experiences. Without 

this it will be impossible to be in a spa. 

Are there any trends or 

developments in hospitality, spa, 

or wellness that you’re excited 

about? 

I’m excited about everything. This 

past year has been a rough time 

and it’s a challenge to survive but 

the community is going through 

a transformation. I’m sure that all 

the new ideas that come out of this 

transformation will be amazing. A lot 

of providers are creating new elements 

and finding ways to renovate, recreate, 

reset, and be in this new way of living. 

I'm excited because all the time I hear 

new and creative ideas for the future. 


BUSINESS 

HOW INTEGRATIONS CAN 

IMPROVE YOUR HOSPITALITY 

BUSINESS 

How integrations work and why your hotel or resort will function better with them. 

By Ali Mroueh, 

Director of Partnerships at Book4Time 

If you’ve worked in software or the 

tech sector, you’ve heard of integrations 

before. But, depending on your 

role, you may have little idea as to 

what it actually means. The purpose of 

this article is to introduce the concept 

of integration and why we need them 

in today’s world of technology. We will 

use practical examples to convey their 

importance and how they impact our 

everyday lives. 

What is an integration? 

Generally speaking, and within the 

context of software, an integration is 

where two solutions exchange data. 

Let’s use a simple example to help 

demonstrate this relationship; 

Company A is a retail POS solution 

Company B is an eCommerce solution 

Stephanie owns a retail store where 

she uses Company A’s solution for 

customer check-out and to sell her 

products in her store. She also has an 

online store powered by Company B’s 

solution. Stephanie needs to keep an 

accurate count of her inventory so that 

she can manage her stock levels, to 

ensure she is keeping up with demand 

and not selling what she doesn’t have. 

Until now, Stephanie has had to update 

her inventory levels manually every 

time she makes an online sale. As 

you can imagine, this is a tedious and 

time-consuming task. Luckily for her, 

Company A and B just released an 

integration: 

Company B shares transaction information 

with Company A ➥ Company A 

takes this information and updates the 

inventory levels in store 

Company A also shares transaction 

data with Company B ➥ Company B 

takes this information and adjusts 

inventory levels online 

What does this mean for Stephanie? 

She no longer has to manually update 

her inventory levels! The integration 

between her POS and online shop 

automates this process. Now, when 

she makes an online sale, her inventory 

levels are automatically updated. 

When something sells in her store, her 

stock count online is updated, so she 

does not sell what’s not in stock and 

can manage her supply levels! 

Why are integrations important? 

As we saw with Stephanie’s example, 

the integration between Company A 

and B had a real impact on Stephanie’s 

day to day. It also has wide implications 

for the future growth of her 

business, because she has freed up 

time to focus on other things, like her 

customer experience, and because 

she won’t have to deal with unhappy 

customers who have purchased a 

product they won’t receive. 

We see many examples of integrations 

today that save users significant 

amounts of time and effort by eliminating 

the need to conduct manual tasks 

that could otherwise be automated. 

There are many possible benefits of 

an integration; 

Saving time – by automating a manual 

task, or expediting a process 

Centralised data – multiple solutions 

feeding data into a central system 

(ERP, PMS, EMR, etc.) allows for a 

user to access what would normally 

be ‘siloed’ data, in one, central place 

Seamless customer experiences – 

maintain customer records, transactions, 

and interactions across all 

systems. 

Greater accuracy in numbers – 

integrated systems reduce the risk 

for error in numbers that may have 

been originally captured manually 

(ie. Human error) 

What types of integrations are 

there? 

Integrations can take different forms 

that depend on a number of factors 

that include the industry, use 

case, and desired outcome. For the 

purposes of this article, we’ll focus 

on two general integration types(not 

to be confused with methods of 

integration; ie..API, webhooks etc..). 

These are: 

One way; this type of integration is 

where one system shares data with 

another and does not receive any 

data back from the other system. In 

our previous example, this would be 

if Company A only shared transaction 

data with Company B. 

Two way or bidirectional; this is 

where both systems share data with 

one another. Referring back to our 

example, Company A and B both 

shared transaction data so that both 

systems could update inventory/ 

stock levels. 


1 

Book4time integrations 

Let’s take a look at real life examples of integrations and 

use-cases with those we have at Book4Time today. 

PMS 

The Property Management System (PMS) is the core system 

used by hotels and resorts. This is the system that manages 

the room bookings and guest profiles amongst other things. 

If a Hotel guest books a spa treatment during his or her stay, 

the spa needs to have the ability to look up the guest’s profile 

for the reservation and charge the guest’s spa treatment to his 

or her room. Simple right? Well to accomplish these tasks, the 

spa system needs to be integrated to the PMS system. 

Today, Book4Time integrates with many PMS systems including 

Opera (Oracle Hospitality), Infor, Guestline, Galaxy, 

Agilysys and many more, to ensure that hoteliers can centrally 

manage their guest accounts, and to provide an excellent 

customer experience. 

3 

ACCESS CONTROL 

You’re checking in at the spa for your massage appointment. 

The concierge makes a few clicks on the system and hands 

you an access card. This card grants you access to the 

change room, your assigned locker, the lounge, and all amenities. 

Assigning your access card or wristband may seem like 

a straightforward process, which it is – with the help of an 

integration. 

MARKETING & CRM 

A large part of managing a hotel and spa is the capacity to 

which you understand your guests and how you interact with 

them before and after a stay or treatment. How many times 

have they stayed at your hotel? What time of the year did they 

stay? What did they purchase when they stayed? What spa 

treatments did they book in the past? Are they a local guest? 

How do we answer these questions? You’ve probably guessed 

it by now; integration. 

Today, Book4Time integrates with systems like Demandforce 

and Revinate, who generate customer insights by capturing 

guest data. With these insights, the spa can answer the questions 

posed above. This information allows the spa to segment 

their guests and offer personalized experiences and/or promotions 

for more effective, meaningful engagement. 

Book4Time partners with Access Control systems like Gantner 

to allow spas to easily manage and assign access to amenities, 

lockers, lounges, and different member areas from one 

system. 

4 

GUEST EXPERIENCE 

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the option to check-in to your hotel 

room, order room service, make a dinner reservation, and book 

a massage, all from a single mobile app? Enter guest experience 

applications. These apps are designed to improve — you 

guessed it — the guest experience. But how exactly are they 

able to manage your dinner reservation or spa booking? One 

word: integration. 

Today, Book4Time partners with guest experience applications 

including Intelity, Hudini, and DigiValet to allow guests to 

make a spa or activity booking right on the hotel’s mobile app. 

2 

Integrations allow businesses to save time, improve customer 

experience, run smoothly and do things they would never be able 

to do otherwise. 

Interested in learning more about integrations? Talk to us. 

Visit Book4Time.com

Spa Executive_MARCH-2021-V3

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