Saturday 22 August 2009

Is a Spa Holiday a Luxury or an Investment?

As always in times of recession, people start to question their own spending and look for ways to plan and stick to budgets. As our company was bracing itself for a tough year we have instead seen a growth in people taking a wellbeing holiday – definitely something we didn’t predict.

What has brought about this development?...well it has become apparent to us that our clients are looking for some serious stress relief not just with a flop in the sun with a couple of massages type of way, but a serious wellness programme that will rejuvenate and give them energy and good health. This is particularly important in times like these, where we all have to work extra hard and keep ourselves in the best condition to keep at the top of our game! People seem to want to take care of themselves more in this environment – maybe they need to work harder or deal with additional stress so they want to be armed with tools that will help them through these difficult times. That’s where a wellness holiday is seen as a genuine investment rather than an indulgence.

We have seen a general increase of demand to destination spas as they provide a one stop shop to address people’s concerns in the current environment. Stress relief, healthy eating, exercise, and education so people can bring back what they have learned and apply it to their lifestyles. From an economic point of view they are also desirable, not because they are cheap but because all is paid for up front and there are no huge check out bills as treatments, meals and activities are part of the package. Our clients like this certainty to their budgets and now is a good time to get a good deal!

The BBC News channel also found this subject interesting and put together a small programme where we were interviewed for our opinion. Take a look >bbc news interview

Stella

How Reliable are Trip Advisor Reviews?

There has been a lot of fuss made in the travel industry lately about the authenticity of hotel reviews posted on Trip Advisor. It has come to light that many fake reviews have been written either by the hotel’s own marketing people, giving themselves top marks, or by competitors with scathing reports. This is a nasty practice but it happens! Hotels become obsessed with their ratings and reviews and rightly so given the size and popularity of Trip Advisor.

We frequently hear from our clients about the reviews they have read on Trip Advisor after we have recommended a particular resort. This is entirely normal – I also check consumer reviews on a big purchases I am about to make. But a small word of warning, Trip Advisor has no way of substantiating whether the person posting the review has actually stayed at the hotel and has started putting disclaimers on many of its pages stating this fact. Also it is human nature to want to voice your complaints to the world if you have had a bad time but you are less likely to do so if you were entirely satisfied.

When we launched our new website earlier this year we did introduce a review section that only the clients that booked through us could post their own comments on. We frequently have dodgy reviews posted by people who we have no knowledge of that are immediately deleted. We are constantly encouraging our clients to post their comments when we phone them to find out how they enjoyed their Wellbeing Escape, but frequently it gets pushed down to the bottom of their priority list in their busy lives. If you have travelled with us, please do post your comments. It will help people have more access to truthful reviews rather than just the questionable content on Trip Advisor.

Stella

Saturday 1 August 2009

Should you tip at the spa?

I have just returned from my holiday at Le Sport in St.Lucia and the issue of tipping spa therapists once again reared its head. You would think that being in "the industry" I would be very clear about when and where it is appropriate, but I still struggle with this issue, primarily because the treatments are quite pricey to begin with.

Le Sport state clearly in their in room directory that it is a NON tipping resort so you would think that cleared it up for me. Well not so! On my daily visit to the spa, I frequently saw the American visitors leaving tips for therapists, (yes I know tipping is in their DNA), but I still felt slightly guilty that I was being a stingy Brit and not showing my appreciation for a hard working therapist.

On questioning the General Manager at the resort about their policy, he told me that they believe that their service should be first class without tips and don't want to encourage different service levels that are dependent on tips. He said that guests could leave a discretionary amount at the end of their stay that would go into the staff welfare fund (which is managed by the staff).

Well that made sense and my guilt went away, but what happens if the resort doesn't take such a common sense attitude? On thinking about this further, I have finally come to the conclusion that I will only tip a therapist who is outstanding and has clearly taken extra care to give me a fantastic treatment rather than feel pressurised to do so because everyone else is doing it. You can generally decide who deserves this at the end of your stay so I will be doing this then rather than after each treatment. This is so personal and I am definitely not saying this is the "best spa etiquette" but I'm pleased I have finally cleared this up for myself.

Let me know what you think?

Stella