10/10/2010

Kid-friendly spas


Take your children to the spa? Why not? More and more spas are offering specially adapted spa menus for kids. A marketing ploy or a real need? Opinions are divided, but the crux of the matter remains the quest for pleasure and relaxation.

Are our children stressed? Apparently so. In any case, this is what spa designers seem to think as they have begun providing real relief for academic pressure and the frenetic schedules of our cherubs. Straight from the US, a new trend has emerged over the past few years with the goal of offering our little ones a range of treatments especially designed for them. Vanilla and sugar pedicures, milk baths with strawberry or cotton candy, manicures with glittery polish applied – the menu is tempting, fun and seems right out of a fairy tale for modern times.

Yet the idea was not necessarily obvious and is anathema to some. Positioned as temples of well-being, Zen-itude and absolute RnR, spas are not, for those most resistant to the concept, the best places for a child’s fulfilment and well-being, as it seems more natural to take them outside, where they can play, run about and make a racket. Nevertheless, in North Africa and Scandinavia, families go together to the hammam and sauna. Germany also has a more playful thermal bath attitude in which we can all participate. And for some time now thalassotherapy has focused on expecting and new mother treatments with infant massages as the icing on the cake. But in terms of spas, many up to now were usually closed to those under the age of 15.

The awakening of the senses

A change in habits? Marketing strategy? A response to a real need? Whatever the case, more and more spas for children are popping up all over. “The idea first came from the USA. A market study showed that pre-adolescents represented a potential 8 billion euros in North America alone. Faced with this kind of economic potential, someone had to use their imagination and come up with a concept” says Siska Von Saxenburg, author of “Spa ABCs”.

No sooner said than done, the first teenager-spas saw the day. To follow in mama’s footsteps, take care of their skin, feet, hands, etc. At a time when adolescents are taking greater care of and are more conscience of their bodies, the idea of creating treatments just for them seemed logical for many professionals. After the US, Québec came on board. In 2006, In Spa Cosmétiques launched its brand new spa concept, Gom-Mee, aimed at children aged 3 to 11. The goal? Entertain them with products that smell like chewing-gum and sugar, all the while initiating them in rites of well-being.

“We should not hide from the truth. The marketing strategies in this respect are not so difficult to figure out. By introducing children and especially adolescents to the spa universe, the hotels and major cosmetics brands are a new generation of future customers” adds Siska Von Saxenburg. Hitching their cart to this profitable new bandwagon, Europe has also begun focusing on our little ones. First Switzerland, in Geneva where last autumn After The Rain opened the first urban spa to welcome children. Nothing seems too good for these children. From seven to seventeen years old, they are pampered and coddled. One Wednesday afternoon each month, a treatment menu is offered that is as fun as it is delicious.

For Isabelle Nordmann and Christine Masson, the spa’s two designers, the idea is simple: children need to learn to take care of themselves and develop awareness of their bodies. To ensure this, these women have studied their needs and come up with a specially adapted protocol. A shorter protocol where treatments last around half an hour, with specifically dosed hand pressure, products adapted for young skin, treatments named “The Little Prince”, “Snow White” or “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (a chocolate bath with marshmallows).

In addition, there is attention to all sorts of little details such as snack-time organised in the relaxation room with popcorn, cookies and cotton candy. Special attention has also been paid to training therapists, most of them mothers themselves, in order to respect children’s shyness about their bodies and their natural reserve. “Because that is the real difficulty of spas for children. You have to take a maximum of precautions. This is a very delicate domain. To avoid any problems, many spas have chosen to offer treatments for the whole family at once,” emphasises Siska Von Saxenburg.

Since the presence of an adult is often required, some spas turn this to their advantage. In January 2010, the L’Étoile spa, for example, began offering daughter/mother dual treatments. While the moms relax, the mini-spa offers back massages, cleansing facials, manicures and other treatments to 6 to 16-year olds. For a delightful moment of bonding, while at the same time making a first step toward taking care of one’s body and mind.

A first step that might make these young girls want to pursue the experience. France is still far behind other countries where it is part of the culture to look after oneself. The figures speak for themselves. In France, just 8% of women go to beauty salons, whereas in Italy for example, 80% do. In Italy, hotels also invite the parents to come with their children to try out their offerings. This is the case at the Métropole hotel in Abano which takes care of 4 to 12-year olds. In the heart of the Oriental Spa, kids have access to anti-acne or anti-cellulite treatments and workout sessions with a personal trainer trained to detect and correct posture problems or potential scoliosis.

Maxi relaxation for mini spas

Having children discover the pleasure of massage, allowing them to relax, helping them find moments of peace and quiet, the virtues of this new generation of spa are numerous, and their numbers are growing every day. Among the places that have surfed the wave of this trend are paradisiacal destinations where families go together to escape, such as Mauritius. At the Four Seasons Mauritius at Anahita, the “Princess” package includes three hours of facial, manicure, henna tattoo and hair styling.

For the young men, there is a “Pirates” package with one hour and 50 minutes of body treatments and a henna tattoo too. To nourish the skin of four to nine-year olds, creams are concocted using local products such as cane sugar, ylang-ylang, coconut and vanilla. The same is true at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles and the Six Senses Evason Ana Mandara at Nha Trang in Vietnam where the Junior Spa pampers 7 to 15-year olds. In the Maldives, the goal is the same. At the Conrad, on Rangali island, an Ice Cream Spa dishes up an irresistible selection of sweet temptations like the “Super Sunday Supreme” body scrub.

A passing fad or a real change in mentalities, whichever the case, the current trend is toward recharging our batteries, whether you are 7 or 77 or even older! And why not after all? While western civilisations seem to have lost the art of touching, other cultures, be they Asian or Native American, have long appreciated the benefits of massage on children’s skin. So perhaps the creation of these spas for children is simply a return to the natural order of things.

By Valérie Ferrer