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Palms Resort plans to create a ‘spa park’
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Posted on Oct 04 2008
Amid talks to put a major international hotel chain in charge of managing Palms Resort, its owners are poised to unveil plans for a new attraction there designed to garner a fuller share of the Asian tourists on Saipan, an elaborate “spa park” that promises to give Bali’s spa industry some new competition.
In an interview Friday, Hiroyuki Saito, Palms Resort’s general manager, said that architects and designers are now crafting plans for what he described as a new concept in health and wellness spas that is intended to capitalize on changing trends in a travel market once dominated by destinations like Indonesia.
“The Japan and Korean markets are a little fed up with the traditional Bali style spas,” said Saito in one of the resort’s coffee shops. “The younger generation, what they want is something that is both very Asian and very ethnic but also something fresh, something new.”
Early plans at the resort, he said, call for a spa with two distinct sections. One is a traditional spa, offering massage treatments, aromatherapy and cosmetics. Yet though a door in the spa would be the entrance to the “park,” a botanical garden fitted with natural rocks, waterfalls and a dozen Jacuzzi baths, each with its own distinctive feature, such as bubbling water or a waterfall effect. Saito said the plans are set to take shape within the year.
The spa plan comes as the resort is now talking with an as yet unnamed international hotel chain—rumored to be Hilton—on a management deal that would increase its profile by giving a major boost to its marketing campaign. Saito declined to comment on the deal.
However, to complete the deal, Saito said the resort’s staff is also planning other upgrades and renovations to meet the hotel chain’s standards and new federal regulations.
Meanwhile, he added that the resort has plans to revamp its outdoor pool area to accommodate a barbecue area and sushi bar, a move aimed at creating a better gathering place for foreign travelers and locals.
