The Wellness Area - An Added Value to your Hotel

The number of hotel owners who ask themselves if it would be worthwhile to broaden their services by creating or modifying an existing wellness area is continuously on the rise. It has become impossible to ignore the success that facilities of this type have had over the past few years. Is it better to do all the work yourself and save money or should you call in a company that specializes in this field and who will take care of everything – from the planning to the building – for you? We talked about that with Daniele Cantoni, one of the best known wellness center designers in Italy.

Improvements made on a hotel, especially those that are considered “added benefits” are often underestimated by a hotel owner. He needs to have that added sense of perception in order to evaluate, first of all, what that ideal investment is that will offer his clients something that they will come to consider “a must”. A concrete example? That’s simple. A private bath in the room in the 50s, a television in the 70s. Not only would it be unthinkable today to offer a hotel room without a television, but the client expects it to have satellite, a remote control, etc.

The same thing is happening in the wellness field, as it has become an added value in hotels in most parts of the world. Ten years ago, hotel owners in the Alto Adige region of Italy began investing in wellness tourism and it has since become a must in facilities all over this area. Today, in this area, a hotel without a small wellness area – not to be confused with a simple gym or pseudo beauty treatment room – is as unheard of as a room without a television. This is not only because the wellness client comes looking for it, but also because the traveling businessman and the salesman who has enjoyed the pleasure of a turkish bath at the end of a long work day, has begun to request it moreso than the tv in his room.

It’s important to hire a consultant who is an expert in the field, who knows how to draw up a customized plan that will perfectly fit with the already-existing facility and who can satisfy the client’s objectives for the future (more customers out of season, a new clientele, etc.). A consultant should, in addition to creating a project for the center, come up with a business plan, which outlines the expenses and income in minute detail (energy consumption, personnel costs, courses, products, investments in furnishings and equipment, timetable, etc.) so that the investment doesn’t become a shot in the dark. You should never trust professionals or companies that claim to have experience in the field and suggest standard formats, which become very costly to operate and are therefore unprofitable. A true wellness area should guarantee a profit that is proportionate to the investment that is made.