[shrek05]

On another note, I really like the Optima Camelview Village design...I drive by it everyday and its looking good. When everything at the Scottsdale/Camelback is completed, its gonna look goood

And something we should all go to once in awhile...a Saturday at the spa....

Scottsdale is tops in country for spas
By Shanna Hogan, Tribune
July 11, 2006
The smell of lavenderscented aromatherapy oil fills the lobby of the Spa at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale as soothing melodic music plays from speakers overhead.

Inside, men and women lie in individual rooms wrapped in mud or with hot black stones lining their backbones.

It’s a familiar scene in Scottsdale.

While the city has long been known for its luxury resorts and high-end golf courses, an abundance of resort spas has given Scottsdale the new title of spa capital.

Scottsdale has the highest concentration of resort spas in the U.S., according to Luxury Spa Finder magazine, a 20-year-old publication that maintains a database of spas across the country.

Spas provide luxury beauty and health treatments like manicures, pedicures, massages, body wraps, hydrotherapy and facials.

A look at the Yellow Pages shows there are at least 77 spas in Scottsdale, both in and separate from resorts. The magazine lists at least 20 Scottsdale resort spas.

Consumers hungry for pampering have created a demand for more spa facilities throughout the country. The trend has been embraced feverishly in Scottsdale, with more resorts adding on lavish spas to attract a wider customer base.

“You can’t really have a resort in Scottsdale without having a spa nowadays,” said Kristin Roberts of Scottsdale’s Hotel Valley Ho resort. “Scottsdale is now a spa destination.”

The Valley Ho reopened in December, with a new look and the new VH Spa. Adding the spa was an important component of the renovation process to keep up with the competition, she said.

But resort spas aren’t just appealing to tourists. Complementary use of the pool, sauna and fitness center after a spa treatment has also attracted local residents.

“If I am just getting a regular facial I just go to the salon,” said Scottsdale resident Liz Wilson. ”If I am getting some sort of special treatment I go to the resort spas. It’s more of an all-day experience as opposed to just one hour.”

Wilson gets a regular monthly facial and massage. As a special treat she’ll splurge on a deluxe pedicure about three times a year.

“It’s a way to reward myself,” she said. “It’s much healthier than going out drinking or eating a huge meal.”

Today’s fast-paced lifestyle is driving more people like Wilson to look for ways to unwind, said Susie Ellis, the magazine’s president.

“The increase in stress is causing people to look for places where they can get destressed,” she said. “Spas are the best antidote for stress because that’s what they’re all about — reducing stress.”

The trend in Scottsdale was most likely fueled by the area’s plethora of golf courses, because resorts wanted to give golfers’ wives something to do while their husbands were on the green, experts said.

But the spas have now become the driving force for many out-of-state tourists.

“It’s an extremely popular aspect of the resort in and of itself,” said Trish Nugent of the Sanctuary Spa on Camelback Mountain.

Valerie Poulos of The Phoenician resort said increased competition has led to more luxury facilities and unique treatments. The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician offers a variety of services, including tarot card readings and 80-minute caviar facials.

Scottsdale day spas, which are not attached to resorts, are also creating new services for their clients.

“Eleven years ago we were the only real day spa in this whole city,” said Irene Kelly, owner of Spa du Soleil in Scottsdale. “All the hotels used to send us their guests when we first opened because they didn’t have spas. Over the years that has changed.”

Among Spa du Soleil’s treatments is a microcurrent sculpting facial, which uses electrically charged metal wands to firm skin and reduce wrinkles.

Scottsdale’s resort spa trend is also spreading across the state.

The Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park opened its Red Door Spa in May. It was the first in the West Valley.

“We noticed as the resorts were popping up in Scottsdale and they were offering these great spas, that that’s what people were really starting to travel for,” said Lance Burton of the Wigwam. “It was just time for us to be able to have one as well.”

Burton predicted the trend will continue as more people discover the pleasures of spas.

“All over Arizona they’re popping up,” he said. “But Scottsdale’s always going to be at the top, and that’s where people are going to look.”

The spa industry

• Scottsdale has the highest concentration of resort spas in the United States.

• Spas are a $40 billion global industry.

• The spa industry is the fourth-largest leisure industry in the United States, generating more revenue than ski resorts, amusement/theme parks or box office receipts.

• Between 1994 and 2004, the number of U.S. spas has quadrupled, and 136 million visits to spas are now made each year. The number of spa locations is growing at an average annual rate of 20 percent over the last 8 years.

• The number of hotel/resort spas has more than tripled in five years, rising 290 percent and representing the industry’s fastest-growing segment.

• Over 30 percent of spa visitors are men — up from 24 percent in 2002. Men represent the fastest growing demographic in the spa industry.

Source: Luxury Spa Finder magazine