Articles by Susie Ellis

The day after Christmas, I received an unwelcome surprise — a toothache resulting in my first root canal. It was a three-hour ordeal (not fun, although thankfully not too painful), and all the while I was thinking about my favorite dental spa experience, which occurred a while ago at Dell’Acqua Dental Studio in Palm Desert. […]

Wow, was the La Guardia airport busy the day before the Christmas weekend! I have never seen such long lines for checking in bags. Oddly, the check-in line was long and the security line was short. Two flights (and no food) later, we arrived in Palm Springs. My husband had a surprise arranged: A massage […]

Just arrived in Palm Desert, California, where my husband and I will spend Christmas and New Year’s. On the long flight I had a chance to get into the book my sister recommended recently, John Naisbitt‘s Mind Set!: Reset Your Thinking and See the Future. What a great way to start a vacation for someone […]

The Arizona Daily Star ran a story on Thursday, December 7 announcing that Dr. Andrew Weil was in conversation with developers and Tucson, AZ city politicians about opening a new integrative-medicine wellness center to promote “health tourism.” Later that day, I received a call from a writer asking for my comments. At first I was […]

Sunday’s New York Times (December 12) ran a short, somewhat humorous piece, entitled “Spa Trends: Goodbye Pampering, Hello Rehab.” Jennifer Colin poked some fun at Spa Finder’s top spa trends for 2007, in which we predicted a new emphasis on healthy sleep at spas, detox programs, retreats, medical tourism, spa lifestyle communities with kids, bottom-line […]

I have gotten hooked on a few reality shows over the past years, but the only one on my TiVo list this season was The Biggest Loser. Even if you haven’t been following it, you will probably come across something about last night’s finale today. It was quite extraordinary. The winner was Erik from New […]

Other highlights of my trip to the Caribbean Spa and Wellness Conference: Spending time with Nime La Fauci, our account rep for the Caribbean, and finding out that she can really make friends on the phone. Everywhere we went, people just couldn’t wait to meet her – and embraced her like a long-lost friend – […]

The Dominican Republic is probably known more for its all-inclusive affordable vacation packages than for its luxury resorts. Based on my recent visit, I’d say that is about to change.One of the properties leading the change is the repositioned PUNTACANA Resort & Club, no longer an all-inclusive but a more traditional resort offering – and […]

Just received an email from Lee Ann Correa who is the Executive Spa Director of the chain of 19 Metamorphosis Spas in the Dominican Republic (pictured at right: the Metamorphosis Spa at the Sunscape Casa del Mar resort) . On the last day of my visit, she very graciously gave me a tour of one […]

Qua Baths & Spa Brings the Social Experience to Caesars Palace in VegasEncino’s Baby Spa Offers Wellness and Relaxation Services for Pregnant Women, New Mothers, and InfantsNew Four Seasons Hotel Spa in Westlake Village, California, Offers Health and Wellness Services alongside LuxuryHome Spa Treatments for Winter January’s Monaco Spa Event Will Facilitate Dialogue within the […]

For the past few days I have been touring spas in the Dominican Republic. The first time I heard a spa representative refer to massage and facial rooms as “cabins,” it didn’t make an impression. But by the time I toured my fifth spa with “cabins,” I found it quite unusual. Nowhere in the world […]

“The Caribbean, the Largest Spa in the World.” I’m in the Dominican Republic, attending the second-ever Caribbean Spa and Wellness Association conference. Above is the new slogan the Association selected, which I think is terrific! Given the bright blue water that surrounds every island and the natural relaxation that results from just being in the […]

On Friday night, the segment on spas for babies ran on Nightline. You can watch the piece here. I thought that the cutest parts were the mention of Baby Chakra Chi and the babies playing in the noodles. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the piece, which you can share by clicking the “Comments” […]

ABC’s Nightline is doing a segment on Baby Spas. It will air either tonight or Friday night. I went to ABC Studios yesterday afternoon to be interviewed for the segment. I was asked about why we think this has become a trend, the range of services typically offered to babies and/or babies and mommies, how […]

It’s been kind of a baby-focus week for me. Our Executive VP Technology, Daniel Lizio-Katzen, and his wife Noa had a baby boy they named Enzo. The day before I left for Thanksgiving in California, I had lunch with my friend Heidi who has just teamed up with Julie of Maternal Fitness to add the […]

Yesterday I flew from New York to Palm Springs for a few days of Thanksgiving vacation. I had some time en route to catch up on reading. Mostly I read spa press releases, industry magazines, and articles people brought to my attention. My favorite from yesterday’s batch was this article from the LA Times titled, […]

Impressive. Clinique La Prairie Spa will be opening a 50-story residential tower in Miami next year called Ten Museum Park, which they term “a revolutionary evolution of spa living.” I may have to agree with them. If they execute their plan according to current available information, I think it will be very appealing for a […]

The California WellBeing Institute cost over $300 million and is the vision of health enthusiast David Murdock, former chairman of the Dole Food Company.

You may have noticed that this is becoming a regular Friday feature on my blog. I’ve decided that sharing with you spa news of interest might offer additional information that you find helpful. What you may not know is that I select the news to share with you out of a barrage of incoming items […]

I am in Las Vegas at the ISPA (International Spa Association) conference. I always enjoycatching up with colleagues and checking out the trade show floor. This year, there are 3,000 attendees. I remember when the conference had just a few hundred. The industry has really grown. The conferences keep getting better – and this one […]