DAYSPA is the business resource for spa & wellness professionals! Each issue covers the latest in skin care, spa treatments, wellness services and management strategies.
Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/812502
spa hopping [ 58 ] • DAYSPA • may 2017 Waterleaf Spa at Skamania Lodge Stevenson, Washington W ith clear views of the rushing Columbia River, Skamania Lodge welcomes guests to its secluded, forested escape. For more than 20 years, the 175-acre property has been a destination for business events, conferences, weddings and honeymoons. In 2016, two separate tree house accommodations were added for visitors seeking a truly natural ambience amid lush forest scenery. Waterleaf Spa itself has four treatment spaces (including a nail room, facial room and massage room) plus an indoor pool, wet sauna, Jacuzzi tub, adults-only outdoor hot tub, sun deck and a sanctuary room with vistas of the area's rolling hills. When Katrina Eichner took the helm as spa, wellness and retail manager in September 2016, she explored unique ways to serve more clients. She and her staff dreamed up a special service for the lodge's tree house accommodations. "Treatments Among the Trees" enable guests staying in the refi ned, rustic tree houses—just a short walk from the lodge and spa—to receive private spa sessions on their decks, right within nature. The menu, set to launch in the next few months, will include the Columbia River Rock Massage (50-80 min./$140-$200), which incorporates BodyRocks, massage tools handcrafted from local river rocks. Bliss at the Balch at the Historic Balch Hotel Dufur, Oregon I n June 2015, Claire Sierra and her husband Josiah Dean purchased the Historic Balch Hotel located in the golden, rural, farmland community of Dufur, Oregon. Along with the 18-room property came a petite, 120-square-foot massage room. "I felt that by off ering a variety of spa services, it would give guests an opportunity to relax and take care of themselves," says Sierra, who is a licensed esthetician, massage therapist and serves as the spa and wellness director. "Sometimes what people really need is downtime to do a whole lot of nothing." In a town with a population of just 600 people, 90 percent of Sierra's clientele are tourists. Sierra tries to encompass truly unique options—even as a solo practitioner with a one-room day spa. Sometimes, she says, that means thinking outside the box. Case in point: the upcoming "Entering the Healing Temple" event. Sierra will bring together fi ve alternative healing practitioners for a full day, during which quiet time and facilitated group discussions will be interwoven with one-on-one massage therapy, reiki and palm reading sessions. "It gives us a feeling that we're in the space together, helping one another," Sierra says of these community events. "I think networking meetings are really important, especially for women." The spa is also known for its unique facial treatments—such as the Gem Reiki Facial (90 min./$120)—as well as refl ective and creative activities designed to settle the mind, body and soul. For some, that means taking in views of Mount Hood while strolling hotel grounds; for others it's participating in art therapy. "Women in particular are often remiss in their own self-care," says Sierra. "What I'm doing is reminding them that they are important, and that they deserve to take care of themselves." COURTESY SKAMANIA LODGE; HISTORIC BALCH HOTEL