Articles by Susie Ellis

By Susie Ellis It was a ‘honey-do’ thing. You know what I mean…when you sacrifice for the sake of your spouse doing something you would probably prefer not to do. In my case it was a weekend of everything motorcycles.  It means a lot to Peter that I share his hobby with him now and then – kind […]

Question: “I have had my upper lip and eyebrows waxed in the past, but I have never had my bikini area waxed before. I usually just shave that area when necessary but am thinking about giving waxing a try.”

By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. Those of you who read my blog regularly know I try not to do too much self promotion. I would rather share with you what I learned at a TED conference that might affect the spa industry than point out a SpaFinder deal or a Global Spa Summit promotion. Afterall, […]

By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Thought you might enjoy this article, “Istanbul’s Booming Spa Culture Is Revisiting Old Turkish Bathhouse Rituals” for your weekend reading! Jayda Uras who is quoted in this Wall Street Journal article just sent me the link and I am delighted to share it with you right away so you will […]

By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider Just received an interesting press release I thought was worth passing on.  It is about the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) launching a new chapter for spa consultants and the 15 spa consultants (competitors by the way) who got together to make this happen.  I think this might be very […]

By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. First things first. I just returned from attending the very creative TED Active conference in Palm Springs, CA. To say it was inspiring would be an understatement. Rather, for me (and I think many others who attended) TED was a game-changer. While I will explain what I mean by that […]

by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider During my recent trip to San Antonio as part of the Medical Tourism Research conference, we had the opportunity to tour the brand new Methodist Stone Oak Hospital that had opened Spring 2009. It has been dubbed by many (and by the hospital itself) as the “hospital of the future.” […]

by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. There were six people in white robes sipping champagne and nibbling healthy hors d’oeuvres chatting away and laughing together when I entered the room. It was a real ‘social spa-ing’ scene. All had just finished their spa treatments and I was the last one to join the group. We were […]

Spas do not have to be part of any SpaFinder program to be eligible to win a prestigious Readers’ Choice Award. Any “stay” spa can win – and this year voters can also cast their ballots for day spas in two categories, “Favorite Day Spa” and “Favorite Spa Treatment.” Visit SpaFinder’s Readers’ Choice Awards Awards 2010 site for more information and “Vote Now.”

by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. Just returned from the Medical Tourism Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Organized by the University of the Incarnate Word, it was well-run, insightful, and I learned a great deal. Dr. David Viquist and his dean are the visionaries behind positioning their university at the forefront of medical tourism research. Before […]

Continuing down the list of the top 10 spa trends for 2010 we published a few weeks ago, the second one is what we are calling “the year of the hammam.” This one turned out to be a surprise for many however the reaction has been enthusiastically positive! Here is the description and then some […]

By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. While our SpaFinder 2010 Top Ten Spa Trends List has been published and can be accessed in our newsroom, I haven’t yet had a chance to share some of the “behind-the-scenes” information and photos. So here we go. Trend #1 The New “P” Word Goodbye, pampering. Hello, prevention. Well, not […]

When my assistant, Dulcy, and I went to Istanbul several months ago to check out places we might want to include for delegates who will be attending the Global Spa Summit, we decided to try out one of their famous and authentic hamams (hammams in Arabic). Dulcy wrote a great blog about it that was […]

Francis X. Acunzo from Acara offered up his aesthetic medical predictions for 2010 . I think they are interesting – especially for aesthetic medical spas or medi spas. Here are the predictions with my comments following each.   1. Dysport will become a strong competitor to Botox. Susie: In time it might, however doctors doing […]

Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider.   2000 – 2010 While SpaFinder has been predicting spa trends yearly for most of the last decade, this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to sum up the top 10 spa trends that developed over the past 10 years. And what a decade it was! From organic to […]

Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider. Chad Smith who owns a fitness club in Maryland Home Team Fitness, writes a popular column called the Fitness Answer Man. Recently he shared his Top Four fitness trend predictions for 2010. Here they are along with my opinion which boils down to: Agree, agree, disagree, and agree. Fitness Trend #1: […]

by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider     My first article addressing spas and medical tourism has been published. A few months ago I was asked to write an article for Medical Tourism Magazine on this topic. I was more than happy to do so. Soon after beginning the article however, I realized that I wasn't […]

I just love it when a spa trend we predict (especially one that some people think is “out of the blue”) begins getting buzz. So how fitting that a week ago we predicted the 2010 spa trend “Year of the Hammam” and in today’s USA Today they talk about the new Silversea Cruise ship with […]

I recently had a massage at a luxury hotel spa and knew beforehand that a 20% gratuity would be added to the bill. When settling my bill, I was asked if I would like to adjust the gratuity percentage. I felt that the 20% was a good tip and left it, however, I got the impression that they were disappointed that I didn’t increase the amount. Do high-end, luxury spas expect more than 20% tip?

Is BoTAX a good idea? How will it affect the spa industry? By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider In case you haven’t heard, here in the U.S. the $848 billion health care ‘reform’ bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (Democrat from Nevada) includes a 5% tax on cosmetic procedures and surgery. It would go […]