Virginia Day Spas • Virginia Resort Spas • Virginia Medical Spas
Taking the spa to new heights
Couple transforms routine retail space into three-level Le Papillon
Since Carolyn and Thomas Webber spend most of their time at Le Papillon Day Resort, they depend on the chefs who work there for just about all their meals.
An intimate kitchen-style eatery is made available to spa members or private parties who can sit in groups of four to five people at large island and eat exotic gourmet fare while watching Le Papillon’s chefs at work.
Lea Wells, an employee at Le Papillon, drinks some tea as she models the spa’s meditation room. Before opening their Winchester spa, owners Carolyn and Thomas Webber studied the city, noting the area is growing in population as well as in levels of income.
The former Montana residents have spent the last few months pouring most of their time into birthing Le Papillon, a three-level upscale spa in Winchester that has been in operation for several months.
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The detailed planning can be seen in every aspect of the spa, from the large sunlit kitchen eatery, to the extensive list of health and wellness services that include massages, acupuncture, yoga and Pilates classes, hairstyling and coloring, manicures, pedicures, and facials.
In establishing the spa, Carolyn drew from her 12 years of experience in the industry. She started out as a massage therapist and most recently worked as a consultant helping to design and develop luxury spas around the country, including The Crossing in Austin, Texas, and the Spa at Red Rock and the Bellagio Spa, both in Las Vegas.
“Most of the facilities I’ve helped open were on a much grander scale,” she said.
Although the Webbers did not want to reveal the cost of retrofitting the suite they occupy at the end of a strip mall at 650 Cedar Creek Grade, it’s evident that the couple heavily invested in high-end features.
Some of them include the Italian plaster in the men’s and women’s “retreat” areas, where clients can shower, change, and store their belongings. The retreat areas have stylishly tiled showers, sinks with ample counter space, and wooden lockers that blend in with the rest of the colorful decor. Soaps and lotions are also provided.
In the meditation room, clients can sip on tea and recline in cushy chairs while listening to the trickle of a fountain to enhance relaxation. Massage rooms are dimly lit and have iPod stations that play soft music.
The hair salon features some high-tech equipment, including a machine that moves around the clients’ head to give an even and long-lasting color. Another similar machine gives hair deep conditioning that is supposed to last longer than traditional treatments.
The Webbers also developed their own make-up line of mineral foundations that are mixed at the spa to match the client’s exact skin pigment.
Prices, listed on the spa’s Web site, vary depending on the service.
Carolyn and Thomas Webber were living in Montana when they visited a bed and breakfast in Winchester and decided they wanted to relocate here. The pair has transformed a routine retail space on Cedar Creek Grade into a spa/resort offering massage, meditation, yoga, gourmet meals, facials, acupuncture, and more. Still to come: a roof-top garden terrace where clients will be able to relax at bistro tables and on lounge chairs while taking in the view of mountains in the distance.
A 60-minute massage is $70, while specialized massages, such as deep tissue, run $10 to $30 higher. Facials start at $50, a basic manicure is $30, and a haircut and style is $55. Yoga and Pilates classes are $15 per drop-in visit or $150 for a three-month membership.
Spa membership and multi-service packages are also available at varying levels and prices.
Still under construction is the roof-top garden terrace where clients will be able to relax at bistro tables and on lounge chairs, while enjoying distant mountain views and the sound of trickling water fountains.
The Webbers said they pay their 23 employees above average salaries in return for accredited and experienced specialists.
Thomas said he and Carolyn believe in making long-term investments in their employees by offering good salaries, medial benefits, vacation pay, and sick days to avoid high turnover.
“It’s actually more expensive in the long run to under pay or just barely pay them and then have them turn around and look for a better-paying job,” said Thomas, who worked in computer and management training at General Electric for 17 years. “It costs a lot more to re-train them,” he added.
At Le Papillon on Cedar Creek Grade in Winchester, VA a waterfall feature creates an Impressionist-like look as a spa customer gets a manicure. Owners Carolyn and Thomas Webber say they hope to eventually employ 50 spa professionals at the resort. Right now, they have a staff of 23.
When the spa began hiring, Carolyn said she received a total of 267 applications.
“We had five interviews minimum for every person,” she said “We actually interviewed, face-to-face, 46 people, and from there, we hired 23.”
Some were hired locally, while others came from other areas of the country.
As the Webbers expand their staff, they said they would like to start offering employees profit-sharing and bonuses.
“I think in the fourth year, we’ll be at full peak, and staff should be up to 50 employees,” Carolyn said.
The Webbers had market studies of the Winchester area done before initiating plans for the spa in 2005. They said the studies showed steady growth in population and income levels.
“When we looked at it two years ago, we could see that the trends were just starting,” Thomas said.
It also showed that a day spa of Le Papillon’s scale, with a full range of health and wellness services, was lacking in the area’s market.
In addition to market potential, the Webbers also had personal reasons coming to Winchester. Carolyn, who grew up in Arlington, said she was re-evaluating her life after her father died several years ago.
She was tired of all the travel that came with being a spa consultant and started investigating other options.
About that time, a friend gave Carolyn and Thomas a gift certificate to a bed and breakfast in the area, and during their visit, fell in love with Winchester.
Knowing right away that they would eventually move to the Winchester area and start their new business venture, the Webbers began working on plans for the spa immediately after returning to Montana.
Carolyn said she knew it would take a couple of years to establish the spa “because of the size and stature and quality of what we were doing.”
After several years of developing plans and redesigning their commercial space, they finally opened the spa in February.
“This has been the most challenging, most painful, and most heart-wrenching experience,” Carolyn said. “But at the same time, this has been the most positive and most fulfilling experience of my life.”
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