demystify the Spa

There is no Businesses like the Spa Business – Let’s try to demystify the Spa.

Being children of a Government officer we seldom experienced the luxury of any 5 star hotels during our growing years. That was somewhat compensated with the occasional service of orderlies and the accompanied jing bang while stayed at governmental guest houses and dak-bungalows. When I was left to fend on my own, I used to drag my feet every time there was a reason to enter one of those places. My purse did not allow for such extravaganzas that is another story. But things slowly changed when I started to get involved in the design of hotels. Spaces that used to overwhelm me once upon a time slowly started to get tamed.
Another place that is has plenty of mystery is a spa. A spa could be a very dangerous place and have the capability to extract all the money for replacing you with a new refreshed and rejuvenated you. When the world has been hit by economic Tsunami and all other business is witnessing a sharp drop in their profit revenues, it’s not for nothing that the spa owners and operators are still smiling all the way to the bank.
We say what is in the name but I think it is good to know how the name evolved.
Spa: sanus per aquam an Old Roman Cure
Spa culture is an adopted tradition taken from the Romans. During the time of Roman Empire bathing was used by soldiers returning from battle as a form of hydrotherapy. Mineral sources were particularly soothing remedies then as now. The word spa itself is a Latin acronym meaning 'health by water' or sanus per aquam.
Today one can find a spa in many places. It could be part of a hotel, a standalone spa, a specialized medical or a healthcare spa. Some hotel even provides Spa Suites or a Kid’s spas.
A spa will generally have the following services: Treatment & Beauty; Thermal Experience; Refreshing Experience; Relaxing and meditation; Fitness Gym; Pools
Treatment and Beauty services are provided by most of the parlors. Cosmetic manicure and pedicure; Waxing; Hairdresser; Massages; Wrapping;
Thermal Experience can be either from Sauna or from radiation heat provided by Tepidarium or Laconium or from radiation or maybe a steam bath with a particular focus. There is a wide variety of sauna available today like the Finnish Sauna, Kelo Sauna, Loft Sauna, Panoramic Sauna, Hay Sauna etc
Refreshing experience is something very close to our home and mostly comes from water and ice. Some of the different types of Refreshing experience are from Showers (Experience shower, Vitalization, shower path, Bucket shower, and Mill wheel shower) or from Ice Application like (Ice fountain, Ice Grotto).
Other refreshing experiences are also available for the foot like Foot Vitalization and Detoxification, Kneipp walk & pediluvium (walk on alternative hot and cold surface) and Foot Reflexology.
No continent can beat Asia for the Relaxing and Meditation experience in the variations that are available there. It could be Communicative Relaxation like Lounge; Vitamin Bar; Library. It could be Soft Relaxation like Recliner/Waterbed, Sound Oasis or it could be a Meditative Experience like Aqua, Mental, 4 Senses, Energy, and Chromo.
Fitness Gym & Sport is the day to day affairs. It might be one of these forms like Cardio vascular training, Weight training, High Altitude Training (with a condition of less oxygen), Studio Exercises (which includes aerobics), Indoor/ Outdoor sport
There are usually a wide variety of Pools available and in practice like the Relaxing Pool (including massage), under water music Pool, Aqua medic Pool, Whirl Pool, Under water fitness (including aqua bicycles & aqua jogging), Watsu Pools.
So next time you want to be in a Spa, you know what to look for. I am trying to put together a "Brief reference to Spa Design".This is an extract from there.