Eau Spa South Palm Beach

It gets better: Eau Spa South Palm Beach

Imagine getting a Hall Pass to a Conde Naste Top 25 Spas in the World. Imagine that Hall Pass is handed out by WTS International, a Global Leader in Spa and Fitness Management, imagine what that kind of access means to a design leader in any design firm, this is the best. It can’t get any better, right? It gets better.

They knew I was coming, but I don’t think it mattered. Managed by the best, the Staff is used to giving star treatment to all that waltz through the door. Fun is the theme here, but to quote the late Malcolm McLaren, it “where serious things are done with a sense of play”. Like any design professional, I wanted to snoop around the BOH as well as guest spaces.

The guest experience is first rate, warm and greeted like returning family, led to ‘The Well’ (my words), where I made my wish, lit my candle and set it floating. Transcendent stuff, of leaving the outside world to the inner sanctum of spa-world. Very cool.

Before completely getting into the ‘Spa-vibe’, a little snooping was in order. The BOH was a reminder of how challenging non-revenue producing space is considered. They make the most of it, operations offices, IT stations, call and reservation center, management tucked away. Staff spaces, laundry (a spa requires an ungodly amount of fresh and soiled laundry space) stores for treatment kits and oils all efficiently organized and managed out of the way, the ‘hidden delivery of services’ you would expect and guests would never notice. Actually the BOH access was knitted into the main spa circulation spaces that it was centralized and operationally successful. Kudos there.

It gets better. The fitness spaces have pool and ocean views. The panel over the treadmills reminded everyone that “One donut equals One mile”. Ouch. Hadn’t thought of it that way before….

Back in Spa-Land, the men’s and women’s areas reflect a very whimsical interpretation of escape. Calm yet unexpected…over stimulated, in an escapist way. Does anyone remember the Philippe Starck Scottsdale Mondrian? It is in that kind of escapist, hard to picture but in a very good way.    

There is a trend in spas that lets you personalize your treatments, picking and choosing your ingredients for a scrub or polish, no problem here with bulk ingredients to combine into personal mixes. Limes, aloe and spices are grown in the courtyard.

It gets better. The Spa has signature cupcakes, but the comp Champagne is a real treat. Nothing says pampering like a glass of champagne BEFORE a treatment. The chill spaces are both indoor and out, gauze curtained inside and outside a full array of cabanas, pools, swings over splash areas, all sorts of stuff to indulge in.

Call to action, Treatment Time. The rooms all have customizable LED lighting depending on your mood, I didn’t ask if you could plug in a personal music player, but should have, wouldn’t surprise me, every spa should have this capacity.

Super treatment complete, back to the chill zone, where WTS had arranged for a private villa, outdoor terrace, personal hot tub, swings, lush landscape shading all of it and more champagne. I was assigned the ‘Villa Flirty’

Villa /flirty – post treatment bliss indoors or out

From front of house to back of house to guest sequence and staff hospitality the Eau Spa has reason to be proud of its credentials.

It gets better. The Eau Spa has no intention of being static, and there is a complete renovation in planning stages for the next evolution. Can’t wait.