Transforming a grand dame into a contemporary, Five-Star (Forbes rated) spa
by MICAH SOLOMON
There are a lot of things that may strike you first when you happen upon Spa Palmera, a component of the sprawling Michael Dell-owned Five Star “The Boca Raton.” It may be the architectural detail, which is highly reminiscent of Spain’s magnificent Alhambra palace and fortress, right down to woodwork and terra cotta painstakingly replicated based on intricate drawing from Alhambra’s famous Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions).
Or, you may be struck by the sheer size and expansiveness of this Five-Star (Forbes rated) facility: 50,000 square feet including the “Great Room” pre- and post-treatment retreat with a 35-foot ceiling height and Hampton Court Palace-scale (well, almost) fireplace; waterfall whirlpools, courtyard, pool, and, of course, treatment rooms (44 of those, in fact). The compound also includes ritual baths in surroundings that nod to both the resort’s original owner and architect, Addison Mizner, and the above-mentioned Alhambra Palace in Grenada, Spain, which Spa Palmera has embraced as its architectural muse and model. Including in the second floor
Whispering Gallery, a nod to the space in the Alhambra where, as the story goes, courtesans whispered among themselves to discreetly share secrets of the court.
More likely than not, though, what you’ll likely notice first will be the calmness and poise of Spa Palmera to encapsulate the sense – physical, auditory, and human – the surroundings and staff of the spa complex exude.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
An operation this expansive could be buzzy and loud, but it’s really the opposite. The hush, including the notably non-intrusive guest service, are palpable. This isn’t your never-quite-enough-time, product-pushing, self-satisfied neighborhood spa. Spa Palmera is a different beast altogether.
This is by intent. It doesn’t come cheaply or by happenstance. Spa Palmera’s first goal, says spa director Vanessa Carter, “is to take our guests away to somewhere they never get to, philosophically and physically, in their daily lives,” and they accomplish this via architecture, sound design, facilities upkeep, and obsessive attention to providing guest service of the highest order.
It should be evident concentration on elevating guest service has been central to Spa Palmera’s ability to earn five stars from Forbes Travel Guide each of the past two years. As any hotelier, restaurateur, or spa operator who has attempted the same can attest, this isn’t easy.
Getting into a Five-Star mindset and embracing the specific and exacting standards of the Forbes Travel Guide’s criteria for awarding its highest star level is an arduous and all-hands-on-deck endeavor.
“It doesn’t happen overnight. You need to achieve universal buy-in to the Five-Star goal, because it just takes one person to break the spell,” Carter said, adding that her team started working toward the stars back in 2016 and saw the effort finally come to fruition in 2023 and again in 2024. “To provide Forbes Five-Star level service, there are so many nuances involved, so much attention to what I might call the ‘service texture,’ for therapists and for the front desk and for the attendants throughout our spa,” she said.
An extensive renovation and re-thinking of the physical plant was a necessity, as well, for the spa to even be in the running for five stars.
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
When MSD Partners (Michael Dell’s family investment arm) bought The Boca Raton complex and recruited Daniel Hostettler and his team as management, they inherited a sturdy but long-in-the-tooth physical plant that had perhaps seen better days. CEO Hostettler and his leadership team reasoned that if they brought the physical plant to a high level which matched the ever-higher service levels which Carter and her team were aspiring, “we stood a very good chance of having Spa Palmera achieve our first five stars.”
The Boca Raton has since also accomplished a separate Five-Star rating for its Beach Club hotel and is aiming to do the same for its Flybridge restaurant and other hotels on the property.
The renovation benefited, Carter said, from the involvement of spa designer Sylvia Sepielli, who is known for creating spas with a particular sense of place, and the overall leadership of Colin Cowie, the celebrated event planner and “lifestyle advisor” to the stars.
Striving for world-class status as a spa costs money, and it isn’t an entirely altruistic endeavor. Spa Palmera uses both customer-satisfaction and occupancy metrics to reach for and to guide its operation. “The real metric for profitability is treatments per room per day,” said The Boca Raton President and CEO Daniel Hostettler. “So, if we have 44 treatment rooms and the spa is open 8 hours per day, a perfect fill is about 340 treatments per day. But realistically, and in the interest of balancing revenue optimization and the guest experience the ideal ‘Goldilocks number’ is 225-250 treatments per day.”
As far as customer service metrics, the property aims to top 92% guest satisfaction and exceed a Forbes score of 90.
To maintain these ratings on the service side, said Spa Director Carter, it helps to embrace a few key principles:
Employees are customers, too
Ensure associates experience the spa. To speak from the heart, you have to know what you’re talking about. Plus, in luxury service, it’s essential to not create a “have and have not” atmosphere – with employees being the “have nots.” To this end, leadership invites team members every summer to not only enjoy the spa themselves but to share it with their loved ones and friends, as well.
HNWIs (high net worth individuals) are, indeed, a different breed of customer, and training should reflect this
Working with high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) calls for certain considerations in what’s included in employee training. Employees need to be taught that there is an intimacy line they shouldn’t cross with these individuals while being educated on their varying perspectives on the relative values of money and time.
Avoid aggressive, or even aggressive-adjacent, tactics
As luxury providers, it’s vital to avoid anything that could be perceived as a hard sell or an aggressive upsell, as some luxury buyers fear being taken advantage of, perceiving they can be viewed as potentially easy marks.
Specifics are important, from language to pacing to overall empathy
Wellness professionals are in an emotion-inducing space. A guest’s thoughts and feelings about themselves may be profoundly affected by the services a property offers, and this effect can live on long beyond a brief interaction with staff to the remainder of the day and beyond. Therefore, it’s crucial to take seriously the small details that can either be confidence-building for a guest or perceived in any way as dismissive. The wording you choose when speaking with a guest can, in itself, make a big difference in how a guest feels about themselves and the service they’ve received, and even their self-regard.
Micah Solomon is a customer service trainer, training designer, consultant, eLearning producer, and the author of The Heart of Hospitality: Great Hotel and Restaurant Leaders Share Their Secrets. Reach him at [email protected], 484-343-5881, or via his website, micahsolomon.com.
