At Chelsea Piers, the Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa is not just another addition to the club. Brian Cantor, the spa manager at Chelsea Piers for the past 20 years, said the spa is operated like and upholds to the same standards as a five-diamond resort. And what it comes down to is the experience every customer has. “I think the consistent level of service and creativity throughout all of our areas is what keeps us to be distinct and to step ahead of everybody,” said Cantor.
While the environment is essential, Cantor said the level of service is the most important. “Obviously the services provided is the overriding memory people have,” he said. “If you have crappy technicians, it doesn’t matter how gorgeous your facility is — the experience is not going to be a good one. So to me, the main thing that anyone has to do who’s starting a spa is make sure they only hire people who are top of the trade in whatever they do.”
Cantor said to do this, a spa must both test and train those they look to employ. If a massage therapist says he or she can perform six different modalities, he or she is asked to demonstrate all six. On top of this, it is key to make sure the spa is staffed appropriately. For example, just because a masseuse has no scheduled clients for that day, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t come in. A spa needs to assess peak and down times for how many treatment rooms should be open, but there should always be one ready. “You cannot book clients if you don’t have someone available,” said Cantor.
But the first step is to make sure the person who is hiring the experts is also an expert in that area. “Very often that decision making on whom to hire should be done by somebody who is experienced in the field that they’re talking about,” he said. “And I think very often the spa director … is too often placed with the responsibility of making decisions without being a practitioner in that modality themselves.”
The Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa at Chelsea Piers also faces trying to keep members of the club from going elsewhere for their spa needs. “The challenge is getting the members to appreciate the quality we provide and make them feel they’re getting value for money,” said Cantor. “One thing we do, [is] we offer preferred pricing to all Chelsea Piers members on every service.” Members also have access to prepaid packages with beneficial pricing. Cantor also cited the importance of having unique, exclusive products in treatments, creating a demand by customers for products they can’t get somewhere else.
Finally, Cantor noted the ability to add a spa to one’s club is not always taken advantage of. “The potential is definitely not maximized in many places and should be,” he said. “Having a spa in a health club is something that is such a win-win situation that I would say depending, of course, on the program that is offered that it is not just massage, which is kind of a given in a sports club. But I think that conceptually that spas and sports clubs go hand-in-hand.”
By Heather Hartmann
