Hotel spas are expensive to build, expensive to operate and require a high level of specialized skill to attract return business. Still, at the upscale and luxury levels especially, hotels can make a solid contribution to their bottom lines with a well-conceived, well-run spa. But with high costs, many moving parts and an ongoing labor struggle, there is a thin line between spa success and spa disaster.

On the whole, hotels in the United States have done well navigating the current spa boom, as a 9.7% jump in spa RevPAR (from US$2,886 to US$3,166) resulted in an 11.3% gain in spa profits in 2006, according to a new analysis of spa department operating data by PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR).

Driving the increase in revenue was a 9.6% rise in the sale of popular spa services like massages and facials. Also contributing were gains in revenue generated from local membership fees, personal training and retail product sales.

“A growing number of people are leading healthier lifestyles and demanding spa services when they travel,” says Mark Woodworth, president of PKF-HR, explaining the sales growth. But with the good news comes a cautionary note: “As spas become even more prevalent, the need for effective management of these facilities is imperative.”

Indeed, finding qualified spa labor, especially spa management, is a major challenge.

“There are just a lot of spas opening, and attracting talented management continues to be an issue,” says Richard Dusseau, president of Denver-based Spa Strategy Inc. “Hotels must invest in the development of people, create ascension programs, or use third-party services if they don’t have the infrastructure.”

But good management is not the only thing that is hard to find—getting specialized therapists can be a challenge, too. “You can find estheticians, but it’s harder to find nail technicians,” notes Yolanda Harris, spa director at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville, Tennessee. “We build strong relationships with the schools.”

John Catchen Dunn, spa director at the Gaylord Texan Resort, Grapevine, Texas, also feels that schools are good sources for talent. But perhaps as important, he says, is treating team members well and garnering positive word of mouth from existing employees. “[Employees] bring me therapists that want to be here—[they] are steering quality people to me.”

Costs are another aspect of the labor challenge, with 74% of overall spa expenses in the United States coming from salaries, wages and benefits, and spa labor costs rising 9.6% in 2006, according to PKF-HR. But offering employees benefits like on-site meals, time off of their feet and health insurance is vitally important in the spa setting.

“People that work in spas are literally the only ones with hands-on experience with every client,” Catchen Dunn says. “Our customers feel the energy our therapists are generating.”

Adds Harris: “You can work a massage therapist very hard, but even with high volumes, we make sure we are not putting our team at risk. They’re not doing eight to 10 massages a day. [Taking] care of our team is important.”

The final aspect of the labor challenge lies in efficient scheduling, which at some spas can be a bit of a roll of the dice. “For us it’s about being able to work with groups on a very short time frame,” Harris says. “It could be totally dead the day before, and by noon, totally booked for the next day. So we’ve got to staff on short notice. [Fortunately] our 'stars’ understand we have a short booking window, so the flexibility is there.”

One way for hotel spas to achieve greater efficiency and better RevPAR is through the use of multifunctional treatment rooms and multiskilled therapists. “That is spot on [to be] more efficient,” says Cary Collier, principal, Whitefish, Montana-based Blu Spas Inc. “You must have rooms that can do more things.”

Deja Goldstein, spa director for The Spa at Trump at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, agrees. “You need to be flexible. Each of our treatment rooms is multifunctional to a degree—our skin-care rooms can become massage rooms, a couples room could become a singles room and our vichy room also could double as a massage room. It’s important to allow guests to feel comfortable in the room they’re in.” Plus, “at the end of the day, it’s increasing our maximum revenue potential,” she says.

Also, “when you can layer services, it appeals to a broader range of guest,” adds Dusseau.

Another way to enhance revenue is to take the spa experience out of the spa space, though this requires careful planning.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is to make ample space in a short period of time to accommodate a large group that only has one free afternoon, and all attendees want massages or facials,” the Texan’s Catchen Dunn says. “In the past, we’ve put portable massage tables [on the floor above the spa] to accommodate 20 to 25 people per hour. They still get first-class massage therapists, and we convert a hallway into a lounge space where they can sit, relax, have a glass of wine.”

Harris, similarly, has built mini-cabanas at the Opryland’s indoor pool, which is connected to the spa, to make space for an additional 15 to 20 people who then receive treatments poolside.

Less risky is simply adding spa pleasures to guestrooms, including spa bath amenities, relaxation music, adjustable lighting and even aromatherapy products. By doing this, and by offering spa products in a hotel’s retail outlet or shopping section of a hotel’s Web site, properties can both further market their spa experience and generate additional revenue. “It’s a way to relate the story back to the spa and get [guests] to sample products and come in,” Collier says.

Under pressure from hotel owners to maximize so-called “revenue-generating space”—usually thought of as treatment rooms and salon stations—some spa designers are rethinking locker room spaces or making relaxation lounge sacrifices. This is a mistake, says Chris White, senior vice president of planning and design services for Rockville, Maryland-based WTS International, a spa and leisure facility consulting firm.

“The problem is the whole space generates revenue, not just the services,” White says. He says water features, heat experiences and relaxation lounges all are part of the spa experience, and that separating those elements from treatments is not ideal.

Others have a different perspective, as evidenced by membership or use-fee spa models (where time spent often is a self-guided, self-serve relaxation and bathing type experience versus time with a therapist), and sometimes even roaming spa service agents. “For waiting or relaxation lounges, we are promoting ideas to have that lounge make money,” Blu Spas’ Collier says. “It may be as simple as having an attendant or lower-level therapist available to do foot treatments inside the lounge.”

Harris, the spa director at the Gaylord Opryland, says charging a facility use fee is acceptable if guests are not receiving specific treatments, but both she and Dusseau agree with White that “nickel-and-diming guests is not the way to go.”

Meanwhile, nearly everyone agrees that when it comes to spa retail, it is acceptable to actively sell, and many even encourage specialized sales talent and stronger merchandising with more space devoted to retail. This is likely due to retail products being the fastest-growing revenue source within spas.

That also explains the rise of high-end spa boutiques, especially at luxury hotels, like the new Guerlain boutique at The Waldorf=Astoria. Just off the lobby, 18 floors below the new Guerlain Spa, the boutique’s easy access for guests and visitors helps it serve as a spa booking lounge as well as a retail shop.

As for figuring out exactly how much space to devote to spa retail, “We’re working our way through that,” White says. “We are attempting to tie the number of treatment rooms to the amount of square footage for retail in the spa environment, but we don’t know what that is yet.”

The labyrinth, long a symbol of wholeness, is being rediscovered as a form of walking meditation and a path to tranquility. LXR Luxury Resorts have incorporated labyrinths into their spas, like this one at El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico.

Water experiences, from vichy showers to plunge pools like this one at Schloss Velden, a Capella Hotel, are gaining ground with spa-goers.