Milk + Honey Spa reopened with a slightly slimmed down menu and elected not to add trendy low-touch treatments . to buy packages now rather than a single service because they want to make a day of it , truly relax and enjoy their ‘ me time .’” menu thinking , ‘ Oh , we can do something that ’ s touchless , but still relaxing ’— I think the people who that appeals to , who really wanted a touchless spa experience , they were probably
too fearful to go into the spa anyway ,” he says . “ So it ’ s really the people that were comfortable having a one-on-one personal service who came back first .”
Look to Others
Rebecca Dickerson , director of health and wellness at the Kentucky Castle Spa — which , yes , is located inside an actual castle — shares that only a handful of changes were made to her spa ’ s menu upon reopening last year , almost all of them driven by state regulations . If regulations didn ’ t specifically address an aspect of spa operations , she did what many in the industry did and relied upon other spa leaders . “ I found it helpful to turn to my peers for advice and to see what everyone else was doing . You don ’ t want to be the only person in the industry doing in-room massages — that sends the wrong message about your business . It was important to do research and use common sense ,” says Dickerson .
For now , her spa ’ s menu remains largely intact , but when it comes to future menu development , Dickerson expects to see some changes .“ I can see us adding more wellness services in the future to fix the damage caused by the pandemic . [ Right now ], our focus is primarily pampering , and that ’ s what everyone seems to need right now — a little slice of normal in an otherwise crazy world .” That “ slice of normal ” certainly includes a desire for connection , which has manifested itself in the booking habits of the Kentucky Castle Spa ’ s guests .“ I knew spa would bounce back quickly when we reopened because everyone would be craving human connection and touch ," says Dickerson . " Massage is by far the most popular service , but guests seem to be more apt
Tried and True
Both the level and type of demand that Dickerson notes is consistent with what Nikki Miller and Shon Bayer are seeing at their spas . What they have also noticed is that the most traditional treatments , especially massage , are the primary drivers of that demand . Says Miller , “ Our cupping facial and our tuning bowl and anything that was associated with COVID were the lowest performing treatments on our menu . Our number one treatments didn ’ t change pre- or post-COVID . We still did an incredible amount of our signature facials ; our massages are out of control . The demand is like I ’ ve never seen before .” Miller adds that , at present , it ’ s a 25 percent occupancy limit , not COVID- 19-related hesitancy , that is holding back a massive surge in bookings at her spa . Massage services , for example , are booked roughly six weeks out as of this writing .
Shon Bayer believes that this demand for the staples of the traditional spa experience is something spa leaders should weigh heavily as they consider how they will craft their treatment menus post-COVID-19 . “ I certainly believe that the initiatives to try to figure out how to do things , the level of creativity and experimenting — all of that has been amazing to watch . But as you start to move to normalcy , I think your mentality probably has to be a little bit less
“ The most important thing is to really know your numbers . Even if you ’ re new to a leadership role , you should have some institutional history and have really good data . When you look at what our menu looked like 15 years ago to what it is today , we probably have about a third fewer items . A lot of that just came down to customer demand .”
— SHON BAYER , owner , Milk + Honey Spa
MAY 2021 ■ PULSE 17