Barry White, global director of Langham Hotels and Resorts’ spa brand Chuan Spas, talks to ABTN about bringing traditional Chinese medicine to the world of five-star hotels.
How many Chuan spas are there in the world, and where are they?
We currently have seven spas, all in Langham hotels [but] the aim is that wherever you find a Langham Hotel or a Langham Place Hotel, there will be a Chuan Spa or a Chuan Body and Soul, the boutique version of our Chuan Spa. We currently have two locations for Chuan Body and Soul in Boston and Pasadena. In size they range from the Boston spa, which is two rooms in size up to the Hong Kong property [the Langham Place] which has ten treatment areas. Our largest will be Xintande, Beijing, where our new Langham Hotel has just opened, and it will have 11 rooms.
Chuan is Langham’s in-house brand. Are all the spas the same?
It’s certainly not a cookie-cutter approach to brand design. Our interior has to have a reflection of the brand; there are signature rooms, signature architectural and design structures, smells, music – so the brand comes in more subtle approaches. It is an Asian- spa brand, but it has to have flavours of where it is located as well. In London, we are blessed with a heritage building and are restricted with what we can do, but that helps us retain its traditional Langham identity whilst embracing the “Chuanness” of the brand.
In terms of services and keeping it local, although we have our 18 signature treatments and our standard partner for our skincare, the well-established Thalgo, each property also has a degree of autonomy to bring in a premium product label within that market.
What’s different about Chuan Spa from all the other spas out there?
We are without a doubt the leaders in providing a spa experience integrated with the philosophy, concepts and services of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), on a global scale. Chuan Spa is not just a typical spa experience. It works very closely with and partners with professionals within the TCM world. We have 18 signature treatments, which we have developed by working constantly with our TCM professionals. All the hotel properties have their own TCM doctors, to help create these treatments that are inspired and based upon the principles of TCM. The ingredients of our spa products have been consulted with by the TCM doctors to ensure that they are correct and that they relate exactly to our TCM five-element concept theory, (metal, wood, water, fire and earth).
How do you balance the spa facilities between day customers and hotel users?
We don’t rely too heavily on day spa, and are mindful of the internal business rather than the day spa business. In Hong Kong, it’s slightly different, and it operates at a 50/50 split very comfortably. It drags people all the way from Hong Kong Island, and the fact that we are able to take 40% of our day spa market from the island is a great endorsement for that facility, given the premium competition on that side of the water. There is a similar split in our Auckland hotel. Our Melbourne property is also more heavily orientated around day spa and is very much seen as the leader of the day spa market. It does very much come down to the location.
What’s special about Chuan Spa’s treatments?
We ensure that in addition to our pampering and spa- type experiences, we offer our guests a true TCM experience. It’s almost linked to the medi-spa experience, just not a western one. With all our spas we offer TCM services including acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, scraping therapy and herbal prescription, subject to what is allowed within that country. In London, we partner with a leading TCM practitioner. He has had a highly strict practice for 20 years and is an authority in that area. He is our professional, our consultant and the person who, along with his team, provides those services. If you want a TCM service, it’s done by an expert – a qualified professional, with a great level of experience, who can talk you through it.
How does it work - does the TCM professional come into the spa?
Yes they do. You can’t just book an acupuncture treatment, you have to have a consultation with our doctor before being prescribed one many different types of services. A lot of people are mainly unfamiliar with TCM services, and coming to a spa for a facial is a lot easier that having acupuncture. So once you’re in our spa we give you the opportunity to sit down and speak to an expert in an environment that you feel comfortable in.
Don’t most guests just want a massage?
Yes, but things are changing. While in the last couple of years you see TCM practices shooting up on loads of street corners, we’re bringing it to a level that is in line with our user market and providing a luxury environment. In one sense it is new, and in another it’s a modality that’s been around for five thousand years.
What trends do you see developing in five-star hotel spas?
There’s been a lot of talk about the marriage of a medi-spa experience for a long time with mixed results of success. I think it’s a great concept but I think you have to understand that spas are spas and doctors are doctors. That’s why we spend a lot of time building our relationship with our TCM doctors because the best things about TCM that’s different to western medicine is that it’s not just a medical prescription. It’s all about nutrition, relaxation, spa, exercise, food, herbal prescription. There’s such a wealth there, and that type of modality marries very well, from an alternative medical perspective.
Where will the next Chuan Spas be opened?
First there's the Xintiandi, Shanghai in June 2011. Towards the end of 2011, although the dates are not confirmed there's Beijing Capital Airport and the Langham in Hong Kong to join the Langham Place property. Towards the end of 2011 and into early 2012, there's Langham Place Doha Langham Place Guangzhou, and Langham Place Pune. Then there's Chicago in 2013.