Miami Spa event's prices will rub you the right way
Posted on Wed, Jul. 02, 2008
BY KATHRYN WEXLER
Dying to get your toes scrubbed with a sugar-peppermint concoction but can't stomach the triple-digit charge at a swanky day spa?
The first Miami Spa event is here to help -- and just in time for the don't-call-it-a-recession recession.
Cooked up by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the monthlong July event features 20 local spas offering $99 treatments, valued at twice that or more.
Almost all the spas are set in the biggest hotels, including the Setai, Ritz-Carltons, Mandarin Oriental and Fairmont Turnberry Isle.
''This is more about quality, not quantity,'' said Rolando Aedo, senior vice president of marketing and tourism for the visitors bureau.
The bureau modeled Miami Spa after its successful Miami Spice program, now in its seventh year. Its goal for that promotion is to lure out-of-towners to Miami-Dade with discounted meals at top restaurants during the slow months of August and September.
Miami Spa took longer to hatch, Aedo said, because until recently, the area didn't have enough world-class spas to promote: ``Our destination had to have a critical mass.''
Scheduling the program in July is meant to lead to a ''synergy'' with Miami Spice, he said.
The bureau targeted the priciest, grandest spas in town. All were already bureau members or joined the bureau to partake in the promotion. A membership for spas costs about $650, Aedo said.
''We're definitely not going after all the spas, and we've had to say no to a lot of great hair and nail salons that are reinventing themselves as day spas,'' Aedo said.
But locals will find plenty to entice them to trade a day of sitting at a desk for one spent reclining, slathered in oil.
The customized deals often combine more than one service. Aquanox, at Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, for instance, is featuring an aromatherapy massage followed by an express facial for $99. One of the packages at the Spa at The Shore Club, in South Beach, is a multigrain scrub and full body massage.
As soon as word of Miami Spa began to spread, customers began making appointments.
''We are really booking like crazy for the month of July -- it works like magic,'' Nika Rabova, manager for Jurlique spa at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coconut Grove, said last week. At Jurlique, the special includes a foot bath, 30-minute aromatherapy massage, mojito sugar body scrub and Vichy shower.
In the competitive spa industry, some Miami Spa participants are hoping the program lands them on the radar of locals as much as tourists.
''Actually, we're doing it to get exposure for our spa for people who aren't sure if they want to spend money on spa,'' said Victoria Korytova, manager of Spa V at Hotel Victor in South Beach. ``They have an opportunity to try the spa and come back later.''
To that end, ''we're offering our signature treatment: a Hamam and 30-minute massage,'' Korytova said. ``The total price is $245 and we're offering it only for $99. It's a great deal.''
But at that price, are the spas making much profit?
''Not necessarily,'' Rabova said. ``But really, it isn't about that at this time. It's about building awareness.''
Aedo expects the number of participating spas to grow, although not by as much as Miami Spice restaurants, which has doubled to about 80 over the years. He has set his sights on spas at the city's newest, grandest spas.
''Canyon Ranch . . . The Fontainebleau, The Eden Roc are all great properties,'' he said. ``I would definitely say there's going to be some more spas.''
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