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“The more fun we make it, the more they’ll want to take part,” says Ingo Schweder of GOCO
Many of today’s family travellers are looking for something more than a kids club where they can park their children for a few hours of babysitting – they want healthy activities that they can engage with together as a family. It’s an ideal moment for spas to get involved, creating healthy multi-generational programming and helping to educate the next generation of consumers to make wellness a part of their lives. “Our early years have a major impact on our total lifetime wellness, so it’s important to involve children in living healthy lifestyles, as the earlier healthy habits are formed, the better,” explains Ingo Schweder, CEO of GOCO Hospitality.
Many aspects of a spa’s thermal areas can be made safe for children. In Finland, babies and children are taken regularly into the sauna, as the health benefits – including a boost to the immune system – are the same for children and adults. It stands to reason that if children are exposed to wellness activities early in life, they’ll not only enjoy the benefits, but they’ll also likely make spas a part of their lives as they transition into adulthood. “There are so many benefits to the spa for younger guests, including educating teens on the benefits of the spa journey and how using the thermal rooms can have a positive effect on your whole wellbeing,” says Lizzie Bath, spa director at UK’s Ye Olde Bell, who has welcomed younger guests.
Wellness programming for kids need not be limited to the spa however; healthy cooking classes, nature exploration hikes, physical activities such as dance or sports, and meditation for children are all excellent opportunities to engage younger guests – and win points from their parents. “The more fun we make it, the more they will want to take part,” says Schweder.
For existing spas that want to address this growing need, a little investment in targeted programming can pay off. In the following pages, we look at some of the creative ways spas around the world are making themselves more family-friendly.
Six Senses
Locations worldwide
Anna Bjurstam
In 2018, Six Senses launched Grow With Six Senses, a framework for children’s programming and family wellness, which is designed to encourage younger guests to understand more about what’s going on inside them and in the world around them. “Grow With Six Senses incorporates the six dimensions of wellness (social, environmental, physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual) and brings kids ‘back to basics’ in order to reconnect with nature and others around them,” says Anna Bjurstam, Six Senses’ VP of wellness.
Programmes vary from resort to resort, but introduce specifically designed physical activities, yoga and mindfulness, local culture, sustainability and social experiences, as well as spa treatments. At Six Senses Samui, for instance, programmes include Tibetan singing bowls, healthy smoothie classes, how to massage your parents, sustainability walks, kids yoga and recycled jewellery classes (all complimentary), along with Muay Thai for Young Boxers priced at THB600 (£15, €17, US$19) per child and umbrella painting which costs THB500 (£13, €14, US$16) per child.
Grow With Six Senses teaches children about what’s going on inside them and around them
Ye Olde Bell
Barnby Moor, UK
Lizzie Bath
Once a month, children are able to enjoy the 17,000sq ft spa at Ye Olde Bell, UK. After customer requests – and inspiration from her own son – spa director Lizzie Bath launched a Tween Spa evening in 2018 for spa goers aged 11-16. "As a mother, I’m always looking for ways to stay engaged with my child – especially as he gets older," says Bath. "Their lives are now so digitally obsessed, and a spa session leads to quality one-on-one time together."
On a slow weekday from 4:30-7:30pm, the spa is opened especially for children, who have access to a range of thermal experiences – set at a lower temperature for safety. For the first Tween Spa, Bath placed an ad on Facebook and was astounded when the event filled up in 48 hours. "From the response, we knew it had hit the right note with our spa guests," she says.
Soon after, fellow spa director Sadie Ardron-Levack pushed for extending the age reach with a Tiny Spa night for children aged 5-10. Health and safety concerns were heightened with this younger group, with the hottest sauna and steamroom turned off, and all other rooms placed on the lowest setting – no higher than 35-40˚C. The event – which is limited to 20 children and 20 carers – includes full spa access plus refreshments, for £69 (US$87, €77), and sold out an hour after the Facebook ad was posted.
Bath says the events have been a huge success. "We now have a busy spa on a night that was previously either quiet or closed, and we see a noticeable difference in our sales figures on the weeks we hold the tween events. It’s given us loyalty from the spa-loving parents too and a way to connect with the next generation."
Tween and Tiny Spa nights have been a sell-out success
GOCO Spa Daios Cove
Cyprus
GOCO Spa Daios Cove is creating healthy programming through kids with a series of visiting practitioners. Sarah Safarian, CEO and founder of Humbly Healthy, runs plant-based cooking workshops for both adults and children – Little Chefs workshops are priced at €35 (US$40, £31) per child. The resort’s kids clubs also focus on providing young guests with experiences that keep them physically active, socially engaged and culturally aware. There are regular swimming activities, trips to local olive farms, archaeological tours of ancient sites, Greek Zorba dancing, treasure hunts, yoga classes and a baby spa. “Wellness activities provide excellent opportunities for family members to come together and bond,” says Ingo Schweder, CEO of GOCO Hospitality.
Daios Cove offers a range of healthy activities plus visiting practitioners
Santiburi Koh Samui
Thailand
Santiburi Koh Samui offers treatments designed especially for younger guests, from Mini Me massages starting at £39 (US$49, €44) for 45 minutes for 5-10 year olds, or £45 (US$57, €50) for 60 minutes for 11-13 year olds and 30-minute Mini Me facials for £36 (US$45, €40). Others packages include Mummy and Me and beachfront massage where the ocean serves as the backdrop. A new Family Time Spa package lets guests purchase 10 hours of spa time for £436 (US$486, €550), allowing families to mix and match treatments and share time together.
"Following a few requests from family groups, we decided to introduce this new family wellness experience, as we feel that it’s important to educate our younger guests on the importance of living a healthy life," says Santiburi’s wellbeing manager, Jennifer Linder. "We think it’s important to introduce and help bring families together to ensure they leave feeling their very best with the motivation to continue living a healthy life in their everyday lives."
Mini Me massages for 5-10 year olds cost US$49 for 45 minutes UfaBizPhoto/SHUTTERSTOCK
Rosewood
Locations worldwide
Many Rosewood resorts include family programming under the wellness umbrella, including Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico, which combines yoga-based deep breathing, gentle stretching and simulated laughter exercises for guided ‘laughter yoga’ sessions either before or after a family spa retreat. At the Rosewood Sanya in China, speciality Gold Massages and Li Bathing Bal treatments have been created for mothers and daughters, while the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris offers a family bootcamp set in the Jardin des Tuileries, and the Rosewood Baha Mar in the Bahamas offers Mommy & Me spa treatments and Daddy & Me golf lessons.
Chia Laguna
Sardinia, Italy
Italian Hospitality Collection’s five-star family resort has launched a series of Mini Mindfulness children’s activities, free through the resort’s Kids Club (which is also free for guests). Activities include smiling yoga (a technique that combines laughter with yoga and breathing exercises) and al fresco painting. Tours of the resort’s herbal garden provide a sensory experience, where aspiring botanists are taught to recognise and use various herbs for food and health purposes, before being shown how to combine the herbs they have foraged with fresh fruit and honey to create their own relaxing face masks.
All Mini Mindfulness activities at Chia Laguna are free
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“The more fun we make it, the more they’ll want to take part,” says Ingo Schweder of GOCO
Many of today’s family travellers are looking for something more than a kids club where they can park their children for a few hours of babysitting – they want healthy activities that they can engage with together as a family. It’s an ideal moment for spas to get involved, creating healthy multi-generational programming and helping to educate the next generation of consumers to make wellness a part of their lives. “Our early years have a major impact on our total lifetime wellness, so it’s important to involve children in living healthy lifestyles, as the earlier healthy habits are formed, the better,” explains Ingo Schweder, CEO of GOCO Hospitality.
Many aspects of a spa’s thermal areas can be made safe for children. In Finland, babies and children are taken regularly into the sauna, as the health benefits – including a boost to the immune system – are the same for children and adults. It stands to reason that if children are exposed to wellness activities early in life, they’ll not only enjoy the benefits, but they’ll also likely make spas a part of their lives as they transition into adulthood. “There are so many benefits to the spa for younger guests, including educating teens on the benefits of the spa journey and how using the thermal rooms can have a positive effect on your whole wellbeing,” says Lizzie Bath, spa director at UK’s Ye Olde Bell, who has welcomed younger guests.
Wellness programming for kids need not be limited to the spa however; healthy cooking classes, nature exploration hikes, physical activities such as dance or sports, and meditation for children are all excellent opportunities to engage younger guests – and win points from their parents. “The more fun we make it, the more they will want to take part,” says Schweder.
For existing spas that want to address this growing need, a little investment in targeted programming can pay off. In the following pages, we look at some of the creative ways spas around the world are making themselves more family-friendly.
Six Senses
Locations worldwide
Anna Bjurstam
In 2018, Six Senses launched Grow With Six Senses, a framework for children’s programming and family wellness, which is designed to encourage younger guests to understand more about what’s going on inside them and in the world around them. “Grow With Six Senses incorporates the six dimensions of wellness (social, environmental, physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual) and brings kids ‘back to basics’ in order to reconnect with nature and others around them,” says Anna Bjurstam, Six Senses’ VP of wellness.
Programmes vary from resort to resort, but introduce specifically designed physical activities, yoga and mindfulness, local culture, sustainability and social experiences, as well as spa treatments. At Six Senses Samui, for instance, programmes include Tibetan singing bowls, healthy smoothie classes, how to massage your parents, sustainability walks, kids yoga and recycled jewellery classes (all complimentary), along with Muay Thai for Young Boxers priced at THB600 (£15, €17, US$19) per child and umbrella painting which costs THB500 (£13, €14, US$16) per child.
Grow With Six Senses teaches children about what’s going on inside them and around them
Ye Olde Bell
Barnby Moor, UK
Lizzie Bath
Once a month, children are able to enjoy the 17,000sq ft spa at Ye Olde Bell, UK. After customer requests – and inspiration from her own son – spa director Lizzie Bath launched a Tween Spa evening in 2018 for spa goers aged 11-16. "As a mother, I’m always looking for ways to stay engaged with my child – especially as he gets older," says Bath. "Their lives are now so digitally obsessed, and a spa session leads to quality one-on-one time together."
On a slow weekday from 4:30-7:30pm, the spa is opened especially for children, who have access to a range of thermal experiences – set at a lower temperature for safety. For the first Tween Spa, Bath placed an ad on Facebook and was astounded when the event filled up in 48 hours. "From the response, we knew it had hit the right note with our spa guests," she says.
Soon after, fellow spa director Sadie Ardron-Levack pushed for extending the age reach with a Tiny Spa night for children aged 5-10. Health and safety concerns were heightened with this younger group, with the hottest sauna and steamroom turned off, and all other rooms placed on the lowest setting – no higher than 35-40˚C. The event – which is limited to 20 children and 20 carers – includes full spa access plus refreshments, for £69 (US$87, €77), and sold out an hour after the Facebook ad was posted.
Bath says the events have been a huge success. "We now have a busy spa on a night that was previously either quiet or closed, and we see a noticeable difference in our sales figures on the weeks we hold the tween events. It’s given us loyalty from the spa-loving parents too and a way to connect with the next generation."
Tween and Tiny Spa nights have been a sell-out success
GOCO Spa Daios Cove
Cyprus
GOCO Spa Daios Cove is creating healthy programming through kids with a series of visiting practitioners. Sarah Safarian, CEO and founder of Humbly Healthy, runs plant-based cooking workshops for both adults and children – Little Chefs workshops are priced at €35 (US$40, £31) per child. The resort’s kids clubs also focus on providing young guests with experiences that keep them physically active, socially engaged and culturally aware. There are regular swimming activities, trips to local olive farms, archaeological tours of ancient sites, Greek Zorba dancing, treasure hunts, yoga classes and a baby spa. “Wellness activities provide excellent opportunities for family members to come together and bond,” says Ingo Schweder, CEO of GOCO Hospitality.
Daios Cove offers a range of healthy activities plus visiting practitioners
Santiburi Koh Samui
Thailand
Santiburi Koh Samui offers treatments designed especially for younger guests, from Mini Me massages starting at £39 (US$49, €44) for 45 minutes for 5-10 year olds, or £45 (US$57, €50) for 60 minutes for 11-13 year olds and 30-minute Mini Me facials for £36 (US$45, €40). Others packages include Mummy and Me and beachfront massage where the ocean serves as the backdrop. A new Family Time Spa package lets guests purchase 10 hours of spa time for £436 (US$486, €550), allowing families to mix and match treatments and share time together.
"Following a few requests from family groups, we decided to introduce this new family wellness experience, as we feel that it’s important to educate our younger guests on the importance of living a healthy life," says Santiburi’s wellbeing manager, Jennifer Linder. "We think it’s important to introduce and help bring families together to ensure they leave feeling their very best with the motivation to continue living a healthy life in their everyday lives."
Mini Me massages for 5-10 year olds cost US$49 for 45 minutes UfaBizPhoto/SHUTTERSTOCK
Rosewood
Locations worldwide
Many Rosewood resorts include family programming under the wellness umbrella, including Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico, which combines yoga-based deep breathing, gentle stretching and simulated laughter exercises for guided ‘laughter yoga’ sessions either before or after a family spa retreat. At the Rosewood Sanya in China, speciality Gold Massages and Li Bathing Bal treatments have been created for mothers and daughters, while the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris offers a family bootcamp set in the Jardin des Tuileries, and the Rosewood Baha Mar in the Bahamas offers Mommy & Me spa treatments and Daddy & Me golf lessons.
Chia Laguna
Sardinia, Italy
Italian Hospitality Collection’s five-star family resort has launched a series of Mini Mindfulness children’s activities, free through the resort’s Kids Club (which is also free for guests). Activities include smiling yoga (a technique that combines laughter with yoga and breathing exercises) and al fresco painting. Tours of the resort’s herbal garden provide a sensory experience, where aspiring botanists are taught to recognise and use various herbs for food and health purposes, before being shown how to combine the herbs they have foraged with fresh fruit and honey to create their own relaxing face masks.
All Mini Mindfulness activities at Chia Laguna are free
Remedy Place, a US-based social wellness club brand, is poised for steady expansion in the
coming years, with plans to open two new clubs annually moving forward.
Swiss longevity brand Clinique La Prairie (CLP) has inked a deal with Montara Hospitality
Group
to operate a resort at Tri Vananda – a purpose-built wellness community in Phuket,
Thailand.
Basic-Fit has signed up to trial the Wellhub network across its recently expanded Spanish
network, giving access to subscribers and enabling them to use all 152 of its Spanish clubs.
Having redefined the model of public-private collaboration in Spain, Go Fit is now expanding
into Italy and has ambitious plans to grow its estate, memberships and profits.
Recovery, social wellness and longevity were talking points at the
recent PerformX Live, tipped by many
speakers as upcoming trends, while the exhibition halls featured infrared
saunas, compression
therapy and ice baths.
A new study by UCLA Health found Kundalini yoga provided several benefits to cognition and
memory for older women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Luxury lakeside retreat The Ritz-Carlton-Reynolds, Lake Oconee in Georgia, US, is gearing up to
unveil its new-look destination spa this May following a comprehensive makeover.
Europe’s first Evian Spa has opened at the five-star Hôtel Royal in Evian-les-Bains, France – the birthplace
of the Danone-owned mineral water brand Evian.
Beltrami Linen’s approach to the world of spa is underpinned by a strong emphasis on bespoke
design, where close collaboration with customers and their designers is always of the utmost
importance. [more...]
Discover how to prepare your spa or wellness facility for the influx of international guests
and meet global standards as tourism in Saudi Arabia surges. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Balanced Body® Balanced Body is the global leader in Pilates equipment and education. Founded over 47 years ago, we [more...]
