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Hotel Galvez opens luxurious spa
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Mary Hodges got a sneak peak of The Spa at the Hotel Galvez before architects, designers and construction workers descended into the hotel’s basement and transformed it into an underground pampering retreat.
The almost 10,000-square-foot storage space was filled with boxes and banquet furniture, but begged to be restored to its former glory as the center of guests’ indoor recreation. When the hotel was built in 1911, the basement was home to a barbershop, candy and drugstore and soda fountain.
In 2005, hotel owners George and Cynthia Mitchell, island natives well known for their work to revitalize the city’s historic buildings and public spaces, decided to convert the space into a full-service spa to serve both locals and hotel guests.
Hodges, who is a friend of the Mitchells, was one of a small group who got a preview of the plans as the family sketched them out.
“I am just floored over this,” she said Thursday after touring the finished product. “I’m a big traveler, and I’ve had massages in Yugoslavia, Rome and Bangkok. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Hodges acknowledged she’d never made a visit to any of New York’s world-famous spas, but said she found it hard to believe even they could compare to what was now available beneath the Galvez lobby.
Increasingly Popular
Spa popularity has almost doubled in the last five years as more and more people look for an experience of relaxation and escape from the pressures of their daily lives.
In 2003, the International Spa Association counted 9,865 spa facilities in the United States. By July 2007, the number of spas had grown to 14,615.
One in four Americans has visited a spa, and the more than 32 million active spa clients generated $9.4 billion in revenue for the industry in 2006, according to the association.
Comfort, Luxury, Tranquility
The Galvez spa is unlike anything else available in Galveston, said Director Vanessa Harris. It’s mission is to provide an environment of total comfort, luxury and tranquility, she said.
The experience starts in the spa’s meditation garden, a walled oasis seemingly worlds away from the busy street that runs just outside its perimeter. A tiled wall covered with flowing water and a gazing pool, where a bed of smooth black river rocks glistens just below the surface, begins to create a more serene state of mind.
Clients transition from the bright light of a sunny island day into the cool and soft atmosphere of the spa’s interior down a long staircase that ends at a wall inlaid with mother of pearl.
The walls, floors and furniture are all done in neutral tones that invoke the feeling of tranquility associated with standing on an empty beach.
Inspired By The Sea
The spa’s treatments are inspired by the sea, with hydrotherapy baths, facials and massages enhanced with marine extracts. Prices range from $30 for a 20-minute aromatherapy bath to $200 for a massage done by two therapists.
Clients start their treatment with a stop in the relaxation room, where they can read, soak their feet in a rose petal-infused bath or listen to guided meditation recordings.
The spa is equipped with seven treatment rooms, including what staff say is the island’s only Vichy shower — a system of water jets that exfoliates and polishes clients while they are laying on a massage table.
The facility was designed with the hotel’s numerous wedding parties in mind and offers a suite where bride and bridesmaids or groups of friends can gather to share their pampering experience together.
The spa includes a full-service salon that provides hair, nail and makeup services and uses Kérastase, an elite line of hair care products found only in 1 percent of American spas.
Good Investment
The renovation, which cost $6 million and took 22 months to complete, also includes a new fitness center with Paramount and Precor equipment, Pilates classes and an on-site private trainer.
Melinda Minton, executive director of The Spa Association, said the Mitchells probably made a good investment.
In a recent survey, 67 percent of respondents said they based their decision about where to stay on spa amenities, Minton said.
And trips to the spa are no longer saved for special occasions, she said.
“A lot of people just have a standing appointment,” she said, attributing spa popularity to the overall focus being placed on health and wellness.
“There’s been a real switch to going to the spa as part of a routine.”
Hodges made an appointment at the spa for a Swedish massage shortly after it opened on March 15.
She said she planned to visit the salon again this weekend for a pedicure.
“I hope the locals realize how special this place is and come and enjoy it,” she said.
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