Hilton Spa Takes New Approach

With a long weekend and Valentine's Day here, some may be heading for a trip of relaxation at the Short Hills Hilton.

Adding to the relaxing atmosphere is the hotel's newly renovated spa, Spa Chakra, which reopened last November, and you probably will find mainly locals there.

Michael Perez, who manages the spa and is new to Millburn-Short Hills, said most of the people who use the spa—and can be members and use the facilities—are from Millburn-Short Hills.

The spa takes a new approach to the spa experience at the Hilton, he said.

The chief executive officer couldn't find the true spa experience where he felt relaxed, he said, because so many spas were focused on the business more than the guests' needs.

"We've done a lot of research and found that if you focus on the guest's needs, the business end will take care of itself," he said.

It's a no tip spa, Perez said, because they don't want guests focusing on money once they are inside the doors.

"Thinking about money can be stressful and take away from the relaxing atmosphere we want to create," he said.

It's also why the pricing is built around the time spent inside the spa rather than the specific services, he said. A guest may need a different type of massage than the one they arranged before arriving, he said.

"In a typical spa, they are trained to upsell," he said. "All of our pricing is the same based on the time. It allows for custom services. There is no talk of money in our rooms."

Most spays want to push as many people as they can through the spa each day, he said, and the average appointment is a hour. At another spay in which he worked in Florida, Perez said, they wanted to have 250 guests per day.

At the Spa Chakra, he said, they're happy to have half of the number he would have daily in Florida. Plus they want an average of a two hour appointment for a client, he said.

The $7 million renovation upgraded the equipment in the different rooms, Perez said, and created better temperature and sound controls throughout the spa. All of the therapy rooms are sound-proof, including the doors.

"(Temperature and sound controls) were two of the biggest issues," he said. "They've been fixed."

Walking into the spa, the smell is the first thing a visitor will notice. Perez said there are aroma therapy diffusers throughout the spa. The lighting is also adjusted based on the time of day, he said, with the lights dimmed to candlelighting after 4 p.m.

The spa's front desk workers are also not the ones who are taking reservations, he said, so they can focus solely on the guest's needs. The spa has a central reservation system in Tampa, he said, and the people answering the phone can focus on the reservation and what a guest may need in their appointment.

Each guest is assigned a guest room that will be theirs the entire time they are in the spa, he said, and they can change in the room rather than the public locker room.

"Your room is your room," Perez said. "The therapists are the ones who switch."

Many times you will have a massage, feel relaxed and then are told to move to another room, Perez said. It breaks up the experience, he said.

The treatment rooms are divided into sections of two to four rooms. There are private restrooms in each section too. Of the rooms in each section, not all are filled at any one time, Perez said.

The rooms, however, are not large enough for couples, he said. Couples who are staying at the hotel, however, can have a massage or other service in some of the larger suites in the hotel.

The specialist will take the person to their room and ask the guest to change before having any consultation, he said. It's during a 15-minute welcome foot bath that the consultation takes place, Perez said.

The guest is given water or tea while they fill out forms, he said, and it's part of a 15-minute bonding time. Research shows it takes about 15 minutes for a therapist and the guest to bond in a way where the guest can relax, he said. The foot bath allows for that bonding to take place before a massage or other therapy, he said.

"By the time they're in the room, they feel comfortable with their therapist," he said.

In addition to the private therapy rooms, there's a vichy shower area for the scrubs and polishes, Perez said. There's also a hydrobath, which is used before a massage for more stressed clients, he said. The bath loosens the muscles to allow the benefits of the massage last longer, he said. The benefits of a regular massage lasts one or two days, he said, but the benefits can last two to three weeks if there's a hydrobath before.