Spas flowing with the tide of trendy lifestyles

Spas flowing with the tide of trendy lifestyles

By Benito Lopulalan

DENPASAR (JP): Culture used to be Bali's strongest selling
point, aside from its heavenly scenery. Today, they no longer
suffice, thanks to the changing lifestyle of its visitors.

"Bali will be a mega-resort," says Ralf Luthe, General Manager
of Grand Mirage Hotel. "Initially, it started by catering to
cultural tourists. In the future Bali has to cater to tourists
with different needs, including those with a concern for their
own fitness."

Hotels will now have to provide services from cultural to
health.

"Good health is the recent lifestyle," says Gary Collier, the
consultant of Nusa Dua Spa, "Modern life has caused lethargy and
alienation of its individuals and the growing of modern
sicknesses."

This current lifestyle trend has changed the style of many
hotels. They translate the need for health facilities into a spa.
In Nusa Dua, the most expensive resort area, at least two hotels
have developed this concept: Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, with its Nusa
Dua Spa, and the Grand Mirage, with its Thalasso Bali. The Nusa
Dua Beach Hotel spent Rp 2.6 billion to revamp its property into
a spa, which was completed last December. Within three years
about 60 percent of hotels in Bali will have spa facilities, says
Collier.

Holistic therapies

Today's modern spa began with the Romans, Etruscans and
Pharaohs. Bathing in mineral springs or swirling herbal pools,
being scrubbed or rubbed with salt or mud, having a massage with
aromatic oils, the long custom of spas are alive and growing. The
initial use of a spa for business was started by the Romans when
they opened the Baths of Caracalla. Many spas were either nestled
on mountain tops, stretched along an ocean beach, or perched high
on a bluff, overlooking a lazy winding river. In these beautiful
surroundings, weary patrons could find a quiet, tranquil place to
take care of themselves.

"Because of its history, the concept of taking care of patrons
is still applied very strongly by modern spas," says Collier. He
then mentioned Cleopatra, the ancient Egyptian queen, as a
perfect model of such care.

Drawing upon cultures around the world, spas offer a dazzling
array of holistic therapies and treatments such as aromatheraphy,
multicultural massages techniques, herbal wraps and thermal mud
treatments. These therapies create renewed vitality and a deep
sense of well being, especially when combined with a proper diet,
relaxation and exercise.

"Every culture has its own tradition of a good health
lifestyle," says Collier. "In Bali, for instance, people are so
close to each other that in the village massaging friends is very
common."

Bathing in a spring, for instance, is an occasion for the
Balinese to chat and gossip. "With this habit, people become
closer to each other, and they can be very relaxed." Nusa Dua Spa
has adopted this idea into its Spa Villa, a private villa with
facilities for massage or body treatments, and saunas for couples
or honeymooners.

Nusa Dua Spa has adopted many traditional therapies from
Indonesia. "We don't need to look for the methods of holistic
therapy anywhere, because Asia, including Indonesia, is a place
where this kind of therapy is a living tradition," said Collier.

Essentials from Bali and Java are offered at Nusa Dua Spa. To
simultaneously meet its customer's preferences, enjoyment and
health, the spa's Indonesian co-partner is the Mustika Ratu jamu
(herbal medicine) and traditional cosmetics company.

"They provide the jamu," says Gary Collier, who revealed
another advantage of spas is the ability of Indonesia to market
its traditions.

Spas are either comprehensive, from health and fitness to skin
and body treatments, or focus on a specific area of life
enhancement. A growing number of spas are involved in research
projects ranging from longevity and lifestyle patterns to
children fitness and eco-living. Others, like Thallaso Bali at
the Grand Mirage Hotel, implement a more clinical approach in
their services. Thallaso utilizes seaweed in all its popular
French therapies.

"The spa technology needs to incorporate particular natural
advantages in a particular place and, further, to be used in
different places," says Collier cryptically.

Aquamedic

The "aquamedic pool" at Thallaso Bali imitates water currents
and waves. "The water current and pressure that are touching the
body is good for blood circulation and stimulating nerves," says
Debra Rumpesak, a therapy analyst at Thallaso Bali. The spa uses
a mixture of seaweed and fresh sea water. It is the only spa of
its kind in Southeast Asia. The only other Asian country that has
a Thalasso therapy center is Japan. Bali's Thalasso started
operation in October 1994.

Thallaso therapy uses warm sea water and seaweed in all
therapies. Thallaso, a Greek word, means sea water. According to
Andre Passebeck, a naturopath, sea water has essential sodium,
potassium, calcium and magnesium.

"Taking a bath in the sea can make people healthy," insists
Sandra Rumpesak, a pharmacologist.

Massage and exercise are to spas what kisses and explosions
are to Hollywood movies -- absolutely fundamental.

"Massage is not only a technique of physiotherapy, it has a
psychological touch," says Collier, adding that any kind of
massage is beneficial. "We have a cultural advantage in this
case, because Asians, especially Balinese, are experts in
personal hospitality."

He says that massage makes any alienated modern person
"relieved by hospitality". The personal touch itself, however,
can create personal harassment problems. "We have the right to
reject any such a harassment," says Wayan, a masseur at Nusa Dua
Spa. "This is a health spa, not a brothel," he states.

Many spas also provide free health consultations to help
customers select a treatment. "Everybody needs different
treatments," says Gary Collier, who is also a physiotherapist.

"The consultation is given to allow people the benefit of
choosing from alternatives of exercises and treatments," he adds.