Articles by Susie Ellis

Not Your Ordinary Manicure, Pedicure and Massage, Rather this Spa is a Jewel Box. Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Last Friday I had a chance to visit my first Sense Spa. Rosewood introduced this brand quite recently – I believe within the past year or two. Three months ago the Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel opened Sense, […]

Spa Trends 2008 – Report Card Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Before we take a closer look at spa trends we are predicting for 2009, I thought it might be fun to go back and look at the ones we predicted for 2008 and see how well we did. I think we were “right on” with […]

Spa Aside – It is Christmas Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Email holiday greetings – like you, I receive more and more of them each year. I don’t know yet how I feel about them. On the one hand, it is nice to hear from people. On the other hand, knowing that I am part of […]

2009 Spa Trends Continued… Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider My last post was the list of SpaFinder’s Top Ten Spa Trends for 2009. Most people (except Peter who has to put up with my endless musings and Betsy and Beth at RBI who help me edit the report) don’t realize how long it takes me to […]

Top Spa Trends for 2009 by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Each year SpaFinder announces the top spa trends that will likely make headlines and have people talking in the upcoming year. The information that follows is a result of a great deal of study and research. Simply click on each trend introduced below to learn […]

Spas = Stress ReductionSusie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider How I wish that more people would see the connection between spas and stress reduction. Hopefully, as an industry, we can help more people make this connection. Clearly, this is “our moment.” Stress is at an all-time high. Spas reduce stress. Most people who have been to a […]

Spa Industry Resiliency…let’s continue the conversation Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Since my previous post, How Resilient is the Spa Industry?, I have heard from various people in the spa arena. Some agree, and some disagree, with my somewhat optimistic analysis. Since our economic climate continues to be volatile – with some areas being affected more […]

It’s been a few weeks since I attended the ISPA (International Spa Association) conference in Las Vegas. I have had some time to reflect on the days I spent there, visiting the expo exhibits, attending sessions, and catching up with many industry colleagues (which is the best part). I always learn things at ISPA and […]

SpaFinder Lifestyle Online Magazine Debuts By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider A few weeks ago, on November 6th, our new SpaFinder Lifestyle online magazine launched. Several days later I attended the ISPA conference in Las Vegas. I can’t tell you how many people remarked to me that they had seen it, read it, and liked it! […]

Spa Talk: Please Don’t Call Me a Masseuse or Masseur Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider The term “masseuse” and “masseur” are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Every time I hear someone use them, I cringe. That’s because I know that practitioners of massage much prefer the terms “massage therapist” or “licensed massage therapist.” I […]

Transformational Spas and Transformational Momentsby Susie Ellis, SpaFinder InsiderHere is a question I am asked now and then. “What is the difference between a good spa experience and a great spa experience?” I always answer the same way saying that, to me, a great spa experience is one that is transformational. Transformational spa experiences are […]

Anni Hood, group spa director and creator of Talise, the Jumeirah spa brand, flew in from Dubai to run this race – her first marathon. A friend of hers, Maria Keeley from London, joined her. Both had begun training about nine months ago for the 26.2 mile race, which begins on Staten Island and winds […]

How Timely – Example of Spa and Hospital Integration in Today’s Paper! by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider This morning I came across this very interesting article while reading my New York Times on the treadmill. (After 20 hours in an airplane seat, it felt good to get moving). The title? In One Section of Beth […]

Today I joined a group of about eight people from the Philippine Medical Tourism Summit on a tour of the top four hospitals in the Philippines: The Medical City Asian Hospital and Medical Center St. Luke’s Medical Center Makati Medical Center I put them in this order because I was told that this is the […]

A Peek into the Future of Spa, Wellness, Aesthetics, and Hospitals by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder InsiderI was seeing the future…that’s how I I felt after listening to the speakers at the medical tourism conference here in Manila. There was one doctor in particular who spoke for almost two hours and I never once checked my […]

I was sitting at a formal round table with about 40 others here in Manila at the Philippine Health and Wellness Tourism Summit yesterday. Unlike medical conferences where you see mostly doctors, or spa conferences where you see mostly spa professionals, there seems to be a nice mixture of both at this venue. My guess […]

From Spa to Medical Spa to Medical Tourism by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Tomorrow I fly to Manila to speak at the Philippine Health and Wellness Tourism Conference. My topic is “From Spa to Medical Spa to Medical Tourism.” Since I have been doing quite a bit of research in preparation for my trip, I […]

Top Spa Awardsby Susie Ellis, SpaFinder InsiderLast night was a big night for us….we hosted our 2008 SpaFinder Readers’ Choice Award event at the new Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf=Astoria. It was thrilling to be able to present our awards to top spas from all over the world in this beautiful setting. It was truly […]

New Spa Products I liked at the NY Spa & Resort Expo By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider It’s been a few weeks, but I thought I would jot down a few impressions from the expo I visited here in New York in September. It was the New York Spa & Resort Expo and Conference, which […]

Spa Services in the Headlines – But in an Unexpected Way.by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder, Insider Washington Post, “AIG Spa Trip Fuels Fury on Hill”MSNBC, “White House calls AIG Spa Trip “Despicable” Normally I would be applauding anyone going to a spa. But in this case, I am as outraged as everyone else! By now most […]