Customer surveys have shown that the facility and the surroundings can count for nearly as much satisfaction as the treatment itself.
"You and I can walk down the street and have our nails done for whatever price," McCall says. "For me, that's maintenance; that's not an experience. When I get my nails done at a luxury spa, I want the full pampering."
But clearly, perception plays a huge role in pricing. The spa industry doesn't have a formal rating system, explains Maureen Schumacher, director of Le Spa at Sofitel in Los Angeles. "In the eyes of the public, we are judged by the rates we charge," she says. "The more we charge, the more exclusive we seem." (Le Spa's basic massages range from $125 for a 50-minute "So Relaxing" treatment to $145 for a deep-tissue massage.)
"The massage is often the first introduction to a spa experience," says Lynne McNees, president of the International Spa Assn. "And once you have it, you're hooked." Spas recognize that phenomenon, and they're in a race to invent ever-more fabulous, ever-more expensive experiences.
"When you have 15,000 spas in the U.S. alone, you are always going to look for a way to compete with the spa down the street," McNees says.
At top resort hotels across the nation and particularly on the coasts, treatment prices have shot up in sync with room rates and ever-increasing expectations. Hotels are especially adept at creating the most lavish environments, complete with prestige beauty products, marble showers, heated massage tables with silk blankets and daylong treatments. They spin the treatments as "indulgences," and charge accordingly.
$50 at the door
IT'S not just resorts that are upping the luxe factor. Day spas also are reaching deeper into wallets as they upgrade the treatments and the trappings. The basic 50-minute massage at the 6-week-old Voda Spa in West Hollywood is already pricey at $125, and guests must also pay a $50 admission fee that allows access to a pool, saunas, steam rooms, a cafe and even a bar outfitted with Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs.
But at most day spas, visitors don't have the benefit of deluxe hotel amenities such as elegant lobbies, dreamy pools, fabulous restaurants and sometimes even ocean views.
Sparing no expense, the spa at Santa Barbara's Four Seasons Resort, the Biltmore, hired star architect Peter Marino for its recent redesign, which includes two-level, loft-like treatment rooms that overlook the ocean and a rose garden.
