A Day of Good News for Spas

A Day of Good News for Spas
by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

Peter (my husband and CEO of our company for those who are new to the blog) was in Florida this weekend and stopped by to say hi and congratulations to Paul Lehr, President of Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa. We had recently heard the exciting news that next month Pritikin is moving from their current location at the Turnberry Isle Yacht Club in Aventura, Florida, to the lovely Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami. (More details here.)

I think it will be a great move for Pritikin and the Doral. Pritikin has one of the highest success rates of any health and weight-loss program in the world, however their facilities weren’t the greatest. Now they will have the whole package. (I also noticed that they have a fresh new website and a hip new logo.)

Although it was fun to hear details about their upcoming move, the most exciting news to me was Peter reporting Pritikin was 100 percent full this week! Wow – that is great news.

But there was more good news to come. Yesterday morning, here in New York, I was having breakfast with Deborah Szekely (founder of Rancho La Puerta). I asked her how everything was going at the Ranch. Her answer? “Things are going very well, we’ve been 100 percent full.” Wow – more music to my ears!

I mention this because while it’s one thing to read news like Deloitte’s recent survey reporting that Consumers are More Optimistic, it’s another thing to hear the real numbers out there. While the spa industry has been more resilient during the recession than hospitality in general, it certainly was affected and it’s nice to see that people are once again investing in their health.

The only negative – I was just beginning to enjoy being able to call a spa last-minute and get in right away for a massage. Oh well.
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