PROOF OF pampering A BURGEONING SPA BUSINESS IS RUBBING IT IN
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By MELANIE WARNER SPENCER PHOTOGRAPHED BY JEFFERY JOHNSTON
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t isn’t your imagination if lately you’ve noticed friends and family booking manicures, massages and other treatments at the spa with greater frequency than most of us go to crawfish boils in the spring. As a culture, we seem to be rediscovering what our Roman, Egyptian and European ancestors already knew – a visit to the health spa is both time and money well spent. From facials and massages, manicures and pedicures and body scrubs and wraps, to a revival in the oldest type of spa treatment, hydrotherapy, there’s something for everyone and everyone seems to be indulging in something. The South Central region of the United States, which of course includes Louisiana, makes up 10 percent of the country’s spa indus-
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try, according to Allie Hembree, spokesperson for the International Spa Association (also included are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi). All in all, the region is home to approximately 2,000 spas. The number of spa locations in the country as a whole grew from 4,140 locations in 1999 to 20,600 locations in 2009, according to the ISA. While growth has slowed considerably since ’09, the association’s research from a ’13 study showed only slight continued growth for locations, but a significant rise in the number of spa visits, which went up by 1 million. The local growth is evidenced, for example, in the form of Woodhouse Day Spa and Earthsavers, which both have opened new locations accommodating the rise in visits. Woodhouse, which began in
Victoria, Texas in 2001, has grown to include 35 locations across the U.S. including its most recent second New Orleans-area location in Slidell. Also, relatively new spas have cropped up around town including the Spa at Windsor Court, which is carving its royaltythemed niche in the landscape. Speaking of the royal treatment, Windsor Court is one of many spas to incorporate hydrotherapy into its repertoire. Rooted in the public and private bathhouses of the Roman Empire, hydrotherapy (formerly hydropathy) enjoyed its last heyday in the Victorian era, when the wealthy, worldly and royal would retire to spa towns throughout Europe to “take to the waters.” Whether sea bathing or soaking in artisanal springs, New Orleans has seen the waxing and waning