Articles by Susie Ellis

Expert’s Favorite Spa in SpaFinder’s List of “Top 10 Sexiest Spas for 2009” by Susie Ellis SpaFinder Insider In my last post I shared with you our list of the Top 10 Sexiest Spas for 2009 (voted on by spa editors and experts around the world). Although I gave you the list of ten in […]

Well, there are lists of sexiest bathrooms, beaches and hotels, so why not sexiest spas? I decided to ask my editor friends and a few spa experts around the world which spas they thought were the sexiest. Then we selected the spas with the most votes to give you the top ten. By the way […]

It was bound to happen…a reality show with a spa focus. While Bravo TV has had Tabitha’s Salon Takeover on for a couple of seasons, it was more salon oriented than spa oriented. I actually quite liked Tabitha’s Salon Takeover – although Tabitha herself was a bit hard to like at times. You’ve got to […]

Spa Solutions to End Overeating Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider In my last post I raved about Dr. Kessler’s New York Times Best Seller’s book, The End of Overeating. A variety of people posted comments including Jeff Butterworth, Wellness Director for the Jumeriah brand and Deborah Szekely, founder of Rancho La Puerta and the Golden Door […]

If you could see the book shelf in my office (and a list of all the books I have read in the past three decades) you might be surprised to see how many of those books have been about weight loss. Not only has this topic been part of my studies and lifelong career, (I […]

QUESTION: How long should I expect to wait on the massage table until my therapist steps back into the room to begin my massage? ANSWER: Okay, I confess: I made up this question because it fits perfectly as an introduction to a blog I wrote about this very issue. The blog got so much buzz […]

A cosmetic surgery company, Lifestyle Lift, that told its employees to post fake positive consumer reviews on the Web, has been fined $300,000 for fraud. Wow…that’s attention getting. This disturbing news item provides a great springboard to talk about the explosive new world of online consumer spa reviews – and assure that the spa and […]

Walter Cronkite, Spa, Wellness and a Good LifeBy Susie EllisSpaFinder Insider Being “of the moment,” I can’t help but weigh-in on today’s headlines which are all about Walter Cronkite’s life and death. Although I never actually met the man who became the most trusted voice of TV news, I feel somewhat connected to him through […]

Saving the Legendary Greenbrier Resort & Spa in Record Time Susie Ellis SpaFinder Insider Earlier this year there was the sad news that the famous Greenbrier in West Virginia (a historic piece of U.S. spa history initially called White Sulphur Springs where people have came to “take the waters” since 1778) was heading into bankruptcy. […]

Massage at a Spa Pet Peeve Susie Ellis SpaFinder Insider Is it just me or do other people have issues with this? I am at a spa in my robe and slippers heading to the massage room with my therapist. After reaching the treatment room, the massage therapist says “now I will step out of […]

Spas and Greed DiscussionSusie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider My friend and colleague Anitra from AboutSpas.com posed an interesting question on her June 21st blog, which I felt compelled to weigh in on. Her blog was titled, “Spas & the Greed Factor.” Here are her comments and mine. Others also commented so check out her blog if […]

Joan Lunden’s Spa Camp is a Dream Come True for Her and for Us! By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider A few months ago Joan Lunden, of Good Morning America fame, visited us here at our SpaFinder offices with some of her staff. We were to learn about her summer “spa camp” for women and she […]

A woman soaking in a wine barrel looking out at what you imagine to be a view of a beautiful vineyard – that’s a photo I remember seeing when I first read about the Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa opening in France. It was 1999, and the first time I heard the term Vinotherapie. It sounded intriguing […]

Spa and Medical Tourism – Learning From What Happened in Detroit by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Many of you know that one of the top spa trends SpaFinder predicted for 2009 was the Medical and Spa Tourism Shuffle, so it didn’t surprise us when the New York Times recently ran an article titled, “Heads Up […]

Mandarin Oriental Spa’s New Spa Treatment and Product – Nuances that Countby Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Andrew Gibson, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s group director of spa asked me to try their new Signature Massage and product line as soon as it became available (this June). So I scheduled an appointment for the first Saturday in […]

“The Swiss – We are reliable.” Words from Adolf Ogi, Keynote at Global Spa Summit 2009 By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Mr. Adolf Ogi, former President of Switzerland and United Nation’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace was a keynote speaker for our third Global Spa Summit (GSS). There is more to the […]

Global Spa Summit, Switzerland 2009: HighlightsBy Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Global Spa Summit 2009 in Interlaken, Switzerland, just wrapped. I don’t know where to begin, as it was an extraordinary event if I do say so myself. (Actually I believe that every one of the delegates who attended said so which gives me courage to […]

Is Luxury “In” or “Out” for Spas? Susie Ellis SpaFinder Insider Buying luxury for yourself may be “out” right now. But gifting luxury is definitely “in!” That was my “ah ha” moment at the SpaExec event here in New York a week ago. Nancy Griffin, from SpaTrade/Questex, helped put together a solid program at the […]

May is Melanoma month. That makes sense since it’s right before summer, the sun gets stronger and people begin spending more time outdoors. It’s a good time to remind people to put on sunscreen, wear hats, and have regular mole checks with their medical doctor. It’s this last recommendation – about having moles checked – […]

How odd. On the front page of Thursday’s NY Times this week, I noticed this headline: “F.D.A. Orders Warning Label for Botox.” Yet when reading the article I found a far more interesting and important issue than what the headline touts. Let me know if you agree. Here is how the article began: “Botox and […]