Hospitality Talks
Hospitality Talks, Sam-Erik Ruttmann and Abid Butt, bring together wellness experts from around the world to talk about how Covid, along with limited amount of interaction, is creating a whole new element of wellness.
Here is part one of a discussion with Cary Collier, Principal of Blu Spas, Inc.
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HT:
You have obviously designed wellness facilities all over the world almost designing wellness communities, tell us what is the the latest trend?
CC:
Never before has the curtain been wider for wellness and how it is really a part of the hospitality wellness community. With all the chaos that has happened in our alternate universe, I feel like there’s a point were we have to look for silver linings.
A lot of things, in my opinion, should have been done anyway so now the planet has slapped us in the face and it’s time to take another look on how we go about it.
I believe that even in other aspects of wellness, the branding, the positioning and the storytelling is in a bit of a shift which is actually good. There’s more of an emotional IQ to branding and positioning and trust has never been more important.
Kindness and caring have always been a part of the spa industry and now wellness. There’s a blending and a new way of thinking of what else can we bring to a new business model.
Community is the north star of any great wellness development and it has to be there.
If the culture is healthier – than you’re healthier. There’s new thinking again and that is inspiring for design and planning.
HT:
I remember when hotels would find a small corner storage area put a couple of treadmills in it and that was the “wellness” facility. We’ve come a long ways from there because now a lot of the wellness facilities, whether they’re spas or fitness centers or restaurants that are dedicated to wellness, they get the prime real estate because consumers are asking for these things.
What has changed in the design components that you are incorporating as you work with these facilities?
CC:
Great question Sam. A blessing for my wife Kim and I were that we lived and worked in Bali for about eight years back in the 1990’s including Thailand and Java and other places. The Banyan Tree and Four Seasons etc, at that time, ironically, Asian owners were looking for western spas.
Western spas were terrible! Luckily, not just us but there were others involved who said let’s go and do a Balinese spa and create that culture around it.
Long story short – the lesson learned is the value of blending indoor and outdoor spaces. Taking the village concept and implementing that in design from beginning until end.
It’s a journey inside a spa.
It’s interesting to watch how people react once you take them through an indoor and outdoor facility.
One small example is – we had just opened the Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay when a lady came up to me smiling, and said,
“I was naked outside today – I had an outdoor shower and it was just the most amazing experience seeing the garden from the shower!”
It’s pretty liberating sometimes the things that can happen when spas incorporate outdoor spaces in their design.
HT:
What changes do you anticipate now that we’re dealing with this pandemic? Do you see your designs evolving differently?
CC:
They are changing and it will be different which is good news for everyone. As I mentioned, nature rules right now. Nature, green spaces and atriums that may have a hammam inside the middle, lagoons associated with botanical gardens, incorporating purposeful spaces such as farms and gardens instead of just having a bunch of lawn space that does nothing.
In urban spaces those type of properties have more challenges but new designs are adding more elevators and we’re using more glazing glass giving transparency between spaces.
Also, we’re paying closer attention to air quality and water quality which, in the past, have never had this much attention, thank goodness we are now!
On your mobile device, you’ll be able to go into a new hotel or a resort or a new wellness community and find out what the air quality is.
Imagine spending 300 million on a development that’s taken five years and social media just hung you by the neck because your air quality is poor, (especially now) then you’re doomed!
Thankfully, this current situation is giving more more attention in creating a clean eco-environment and that’s what wellness is all about. Now it’s market driven.
HT:
Let’s talk a little bit about nature and natural components in wellness and healing facilities. How do we incorporate these in our daily life today?
CC:
By the year 2030, 20% of the US population will be age 65 or over. Remarkably in Japan 43% by 2030 will be over the age of 65. I equate that with, as far as quality of life, being outdoors as an essential part of your daily regimen.
Whether it’s active or passive or both.
My wife and I and our two daughters are very fortunate and blessed to live in Montana so during quarantine we had a lot of outdoor space to explore. We would go to someplace new that we’ve never seen before in the 20 years that we’ve lived here.
There’s something enriching about nature.
Forest bathing is a term that’s come up in wellness. Living in Montana that’s just going for a great hike but if you want to sit by a tree or cluster of trees and understand the birds and the fauna it is completely eye-opening even when you think you’re aware of the outdoor spaces, you may not be.
There are wonderful surprises outside and it transforms people. It is a great time to get your feet in the grass.
HT:
Talk a little bit about some of the key attributes that make a successful spa or successful wellness community.
CC:
We’re often tasked with the objective to “do something that no one has done before” so design has to blend spa, fitness and wellness into the business model.
Just relying on therapists, which is always important and that’s not going away, has a labor cost that is inherent so with new thinking and new experiences you go to more of an access fee model.
For example, a bath house in Japan is a great example or soaking retreats or a hot springs type environment with maybe not hot springs water but enhanced water for water immersion.
The technology is there to do that and intermix that with garden spaces and fireplaces and a mud house and cowboy bathtubs and saunas and steams and even saunas that may hold up to a hundred people.
A hammam that’s intersected with cold spots and hot spots and garden areas and virtual reality – these type of things are all on on the table now.
In order to create a village it takes a village of people to get this done so it’s not just us, it takes a great team.
There is this wondrous variety of things that are coming in this preponderance of texture with more of a eco-clean business model.
There are wellness communities and some hotels that are doing that and that’s all we need are a couple of great models to build on.
HT:
A viewer who is based in Bali, said that the greatest contribution that spas and wellness centers around the world can do now is educate people to adapt sustainable lifestyles and to enhance their own health and well-being as well as protect world of nature contributing to climate mitigation reducing pandemic risk and much more.
CC:
I appreciate that. That’s well said!
