Designing Wellness – An Interview With The Owners of Blu Spas

*This is the second part of an interview with Cary Collier and Doug Chambers for the GoodLifeReport.com. Originally published March 11, 2018.

Designing Wellness {part 2}

Is there a certain city or area that you’d love to work in that you haven’t yet?

CARY: Would love to return to Costa Rica. We had a project there that was canceled but would love to go back. When we lived in Bali, we had friends who had lived in Bali for years but considered Costa Rica the place to retire. The “Pura Vida” spirit of the people and the abundant nature to live and play in all make Costa Rica a rare place on the planet.

With wellness as a new “frontier,” it makes me think of places like Hawaii, parts of Central & South America, Mexico, and Greece as other dream places to work. Returning to Asia, where our lives were changed forever, will always be on our list. From the heart and soul is the hope to have more work in Montana, where we have lived for almost 20 years, raised our children and will always call home. Even the soul of the Earth needs quiet beautiful places and I believe Montana has many of them.

DOUG: It’s tough to narrow my list down of places I’d love to work in that I haven’t. Despite the breadth of our portfolio, there are still many places to explore. Australia and France are two places that are high on my list of places I’d like to work. 

Having designed spas that span so many countries and cultures, what is the most unconventional treatment you have tried that proved to be effective?

CARY: 1994—Banyan Tree Spa [in] Phuket, Thailand—my first Thai massage in an outdoor garden on a “sala” platform pavilion. Everything about the setting and experience was a first for me, from the Thai PJs, Thai music, style and flow of the massage to the therapist’s grace and smile.

Other stand-outs: Russian Banya (followed by vodka shots) in New York City—at the crescendo of rustling, steamy birch branches drumming up and down my body, I was at my earthly limit of hot. I was about to scream as I thought my body was going to burst into flames, then a cold bucket of water saved me. It was perfect. On a nearby beach where we lived in Bali, an older Balinese man gave me the Bali version of an Ashiatsu massage (barefoot massage). He had stretched a rope between two coconut trees so he could balance as he walked and toe-jabbed me to submission. My memory recalls him smiling the entire time as he cracked more bones than I thought I had. It was fantastic. Having a ‘skin scrub’ in Hong Kong and something similar in a Turkish bath or hammam in Istanbul, where you are shown a ball of skin at the end. The ball of skin is your skin from being scrubbed and shined like an old shoe. It was cleansing. Temazcal in Mexico and Sioux Indian Sweat Lodge near Sedona—both left me in happy tears and were unforgettable. Soaking at a hot spring and walking in a river in Montana (or anywhere) revive my spirit. Nature is the most effective healer.

DOUG: Two drastically different experiences come to mind; the first was more unexpected than unconventional and the second was decidedly unconventional. The first experience was one of a spectacular one-hour foot treatment I had in Hong Kong on the morning of my departing flight at an easily-overlooked hole-in-the-wall spa that was recommended to me by the concierge at my nearby hotel. Everything about the experience, from the seating to the foot soaking basin, was strictly utilitarian and nothing that could even remotely be considered luxury standards … and still, the sequence, from the foot soak to the reflexology to the lower leg massage, was nearly hypnotically relaxing and was completely memorable. I walked away feeling rejuvenated with my only regret is I hadn’t indulged in this each day of my trip.

The second experience was more recent in a salt flotation pool. I’ve been researching and trying out various salt flotation experiences over the past couple of years, including those that offer sensory deprivation. This experience stood out because it was in a grotto-like setting and, after drifting off in an other-worldly state of weightlessness floating, I awoke a couple of hours later feeling spectacular.

We love the idea of a portable, residential wellness spaces. Can you share more about this upcoming venture and when it will launch?

DOUG: We are very excited about this initiative, particularly because it offers the chance to expand the spa / wellness experience beyond the four walls of a traditional spa and because it will be so adaptable to such a wide variety of uses and venues. We are actively pursuing strategic relationships with visionary companies, particularly IT groups, interested in working with us in enhancing our concept and bringing it to market.

What is something that is missing or lacking in the wellness industry that your team would like to embark on remedying?

CARY: Bring back FUN. Remember these words: “Go out and PLAY!” Remember this Montana saying: “There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.” Get outside and get dirty.

DOUG: One of the things that keep me intrigued with the wellness industry is the seemingly endless opportunities to improve the offerings, and the guest experience and to engage people in wellness. I believe that our notion of wellness and how to achieve wellness will continue to evolve, ideally in directions that make it more accessible. As Cary said, “Bring back FUN,” which includes social, communal experiences and those experiences in which when we get lost in the moment.

The wellness industry is booming, and travelers have more options to choose from right now than ever. What tips do you have for travelers who are overwhelmed with the possibilities and unsure of how to plan a wellness experience that is best suited for their personal rejuvenation?

CARY: You have to do your homework; make an effort to find the right place. Of course, the location is part of the draw and the variety of nature is critical to me. In my opinion, it’s paramount to get to know as best you can the people who will be guiding you. Reviews are great but talk to people that have had the experience you’re seeking. To me, the thrill of a great wellness quest is the adventure of trying new things. Embrace being a beginner at something and that you might not excel at that something. It’s safe and easy to stick to things you are already good at, and also easy to get very, very bored. We become what we think about—it’s that simple.

DOUG: It boils down to whether they’re planning a wellness experience with a specific location in mind or if they’re planning a wellness experience in which the destination will be determined by the specific wellness experience. If the former, then it becomes an issue of determining what they hope to achieve from their wellness experience and surveying the offerings in the area that best match their goals. If it’s the latter, then, again, it starts with identifying their wellness goals and, with the world as their oyster, surveying options that best align with their goals.

So, how to determine what they’re hoping to achieve from their wellness experience? They should pause to reflect on whether their goal is stress relief/rejuvenation, to kick start, or advance a self-improvement goal, some combination of these, or some new adventure. I believe that one of the driving elements to most wellness experiences is to take us out of our daily routines, to free us, even if briefly, from the patterns and thoughts that stifle us and restrict our growth. One of the exciting things happening over the last few years is that the range of options for wellness experiences has been growing year over year and becoming more accessible.