Spa verses Spa

Destination Spas, such as the Greenhouse Spa in Dallas, Texas are facing the impact of the economic downturn, and are continually losing customers to smaller, more centralized spas know as day spas. In the past, it was a popular pastime for women (and occasionally men) to take weeklong trips to the spa, where they would sometimes pay upwards of $5000 per week to relax away from home. However, the recent trend for spa-goers is no longer to travel far from home to spend several days relaxing, but rather to take shorter, more concentrated trips at day spas located close to home. Jerry Katzoff, owner of the Greenhouse Spa attributes the lack of business to the fact that "Women are busy. They're working. We used to get the wives of CEOs. Now we get the women as CEOs."

As a result of this upcoming trend, day spas are becoming an increasingly popular luxury. One way for the hotel industry to take advantage of this trend is to jump on the "In-hotel" spa trend. Many new hotels are incorporating either very basic spa setups, or five star setups into their facilities, and therefore attracting not only customers looking to find somewhere to stay, but also customers looking to relax at a cheaper price. This new trend could help struggling hotels find their way back into the competitive market, through offering amenities before other hotels get around to it. By offering spas, hotels can increase their chances of attracting corporate customers looking to relax for a few days while still maintaining a business professional mindset.

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