Health is wealth
By Joko E.H. Anwar and K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): More and more people have been going to spas and fitness centers today for several but crystal-clear goals: healing the mind and shaping the body.
Sex, ages and fee is not a problem.
Those especially who work behind the table for hours have become aware the importance of healing urban stress, releasing mind and body, and having physical exercise.
Contacted separately by The Jakarta Post recently, several spa and gym operators disclosed that they witnessed a significant growth of the business in the country in the past five years.
Spas, for instance, was once difficult to find. Now, the facilities are mushrooming in cities, particularly those popular areas for tourists and expatriates, like Bali, Lombok, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta.
Most of them occupy spaces at star-rated hotels.
"It's growing business here," commented Tracey Metcalf, regional operations manager of Mandara Spa, which already operates 12 spas in Bali and two in Lombok and plans to open a new one at the newly-built Alila Jakarta hotel on Jl. Pecenongan in Jakarta in April.
According to her, she witnessed "an incredible" phenomenon of this growth since many businesmen have been "jumping on it" and it has been proven that the revenue in this sector is quite promising.
Tracey is not alone.
"Business is good, especially this year," added Marhan Maulana, manager of Bimasena health club at Dharmawangsa Hotel in South Jakarta.
Today, going to a spa to feel the touch of gifted hands, the striking aromas of spices and blooms, and the pampering sound of music in a peaceful atmosphere, or working out at a gym, has become the lifestyles of many urban dwellers.
Unless you are a farmer working out muscle while doing your job, your body is likely cry for a work out.
Once hard to find, a fitness center with adequate facilities could be spotted almost every corner in town today.
Some people go to such places to socialize and be part of the trend, but most people are likely use it purely to heal their body, relax and exercise.
At the gyms, a beginner must be a little bit confused by the heavy-look equipment. So does at the spas, which usually offer a wide range of services with so many "ingredients" of choice.
Many women even mistakenly assumed that fitness centers are all about barbels, which would turn their soften body into muscled ones like Grace Jones, the James Bond "woman" in Octopussy.
But newcomers need not to worry since most of these places have trained staff ready to assist you. In most cases, they always ask your prime mission to visit their places so they could arrange everything to meet your satisfaction.
Like the small gyms which has shown a rapid growth in the past few years, the number of first-class spas and health clubs are also on the rise.
While the secondary ones provide customers with conventional tools, the high-class places offer exclusive facilities and services.
But it's still you-pay-what-you-get business.
With a monthly membership of US$400 for couple and $300 for a single, the Bimasena Fitness Center could be dubbed as one of the country's exclusive health clubs.
"Our fitness center is well-known for its personal touch," claimed Marhan, adding that the place has to limit its memberships to make sure that every customer got proper attention.
Olympus Grand Hyatt Hotel health club on Jl. Thamrin in the heart of Jakarta is another example of a very luxurious environment with first class facilities.
With a membership worth $2,500 plus an annual fee of another $2,500 per person, it's no doubt that members of Olympus are mostly those of the capital's elite.
Beside offering latest gears to work out with, many of these health clubs equip themselves with related facilities and services, such as swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts, taebo classes, body language classes, massage, jacuzzi, spas, whirl pools, and saunas.
Some health clubs, such as Club Athena fitness center at Aryadutta Hyatt hotel on Jl. Prapatan in Jakarta, have their facilities and services exclusively only for their members.
Decors are also important to create cozy ambiance.
Bimasena fitness center has a great minimalist setting, while Klub Borobudur at Borobudur Hotel on Jl. Lapangan Banteng Selatan in Central Jakarta, offers a luxurious setting.
The Regent Health Club is decorated with good artworks dominated by earth tones color.
Like in many other businesses, fitness center and spa operators are struggling hard to offer different but excellent services to compete with their rivals in alluring customers.
Many spa operators drum up their services, saying that they have the best of the best blend of blooms, oil, herbals, touch, music and environment. Some others, like the gyms as well, boast their easy-to-reach location.
Martha Tilaar Spa Center on Jl.Prapanca Raya claimed that the special body treatment for bride-to-bes offered by the spa is still the best in town.
"There have been more and more bride-to-bes who come here for body treatment before they get married. We call the product Ken Dedes body treatment," manager Tinyawati said, referring to a legendary princess known for its beauty in the old Javanese epic.
Menara Peninsula Health Club on Jl. S. Parman in West Jakarta puts its gorgeous massage rooms, the gentle sound of traditional music, and natural herbal treatments, as its pluses.
Few others use different way to woo customers.
The Regent Health Club, for example, opens its business 24- hours a day compared to other health clubs across the country which usually open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
"There are few hotel health clubs which take account for the fact that people often arrive with jet lag and our decision to open 24-hours has already proved popular and we often have people using the gym late in the evening, " Olivier Masson, the Regent's general manager, said.
Fran from Awanti Spa, located on Jl. Barito in South Jakarta, said that the spa used traditional material, like coffee, for body treatment.
"For an example, we use coffee for body scrub which is able to effectively lift dead skin flakes," manager Fran Suryadi said.
In the spa business, most of the regular clients are still foreigners and travelers.
"Our customers often come in straight from flying to get rid of their jet lag," Fran of Awanti Spa said.
"For just being in our spa for one to two hours, they'll be fresh again," he added.
In the popular tourist resorts of Bali and Lombok, the regular visitors are of course expatriates and tourists.
"But we firmly believe that more and more Indonesians would likely to try (this kind of) something new and exciting thing. That's why we're going to open our new spa in Jakarta," Tracey of Mandara Spa said.
Bimasena spa manager Utami Chandra echoed the opinion, saying that the spa business has been booming in Jakarta about five or six years ago.
"It has become more and more popular especially among well- educated people," she added.
Fran of Awanti Spa shared the view but explained that still expatriates are his spa's biggest customers.
But some said that the mushrooming spas in the country does not match with the number of qualified staff available.
"There is not even one school, which can train people to work at spa," Utami of Bimasena said.
The fee? It's still you-pay-what-you-get business.
The Ken Dedes body treatment offered by Martha Tilaar Spa Center would cost customers Rp 225,000 ($23) per service.
Bimasena offers several choices of treatment, ranging from Rp 65,000 to Rp 1 million.
Kemang Day Spa offers a good value of Rp 250,000 for a 4-hour treatment.
However, despite the sizzling promotions made by these places, sometimes there are no other way to find out the reality unless you experience it yourself.