Rudnitsky joined Miraval last October and has been tasked will leading the global expansion of the brand
Steve Rudnitsky was named president and CEO of Miraval Group last October, and tasked with leading the global expansion of the brand, which includes the iconic wellness destination Miraval in Tucson, Arizona.
Now, Miraval has made its first big leap: the debut of a Miraval-branded spa at the St Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Orange County, California. The Miraval Life in Balance at Monarch Beach has 24 treatment rooms and 70 signature Miraval therapies, including things like ayurvedic-inspired Shamana-Karma energy rituals and floating meditation.
ESPA, which Miraval investors KSL Capital Partners also owns a stake in, has had a hand in the design and programming.
The St Regis Monarch Beach Resort is owned KSL too, no doubt making the move a no-brainer. But Rudnitsky says Southern California was picked because it has a heavy concentration of existing Miraval customers and destination spa-goers, many of whom are looking for alternatives to Tucson.
The spa is the first step in a major brand expansion for Miraval that will see the it try to replicate the full experience of its wellness destination spa in other locales. “The primary emphasis will be with other destination resorts,” says Rudnitsky. “We know we can easily adapt this experience to the California wine country, the Colorado mountains, parts of New England, Hawaii as well as parts of Florida.”
In the next five years, Rudnitsky is “very confident” there will be up to seven “full-blown” Miraval resorts in North America. “We’ve got a very, very active pipeline for that expansion,” he says.
One location not on that list is the 400-acre (162-hectare) Natirar in New Jersey, which was slated to become a Miraval property back in 2014 (see SB13/4 p38) – before Rudnitsky’s came on board. “It’s a magnificent site, but we’re really focused on resort destinations first and foremost,” he says.
It’s thought the company will seek an alternative location within the New York City catchment.
Full-blown Miraval destination resorts will be augmented with Miraval Life in Balance spas – similar to the Monarch Beach property – located in four-plus star hotels with “owners who understand the value of a Miraval-branded spa.”
While the company has a “pretty big expansion” plan in mind for the Life in Balance spas, Rudnitsky wants to first address the market with destination resorts, and then see what locations make sense for the standalone spa facilities.
Miraval has its eyes set beyond the US: locations in Mexico are on its short-list for development and Rudnitsky is also looking around London. “We’d love to get the product in the UK and really leverage ESPA,” he says. “They add tremendous value to us, given their core competencies in spa design, spa management and their extensive skincare line.”
But, Rudnitsky says, there are so many opportunities in North America – including sites in Mexico and Hawaii – that he wants to get up and running on home ground before crossing the pond.
“We have to be thoughtful about where we locate a property,” he says. “There’s got to be a certain scale and traffic of wellness or luxury spa consumers for us to be interested and roll up our sleeves and say, ‘this makes sense’.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2016 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Who will own the well-life consumer?
It’s the wild west out there and there’s a land grab going on as interested parties make their play to own the well-life consumer. It’s not clear yet how this will pan out as the industry matures, or where spa stands in the pecking order, but the threats are clear
Spa people: Tyler Gage
Runa’s Tyler Gage working with Channing Tatum on an Amazon healing centre
Spa people: Todd Hewitt
For the first time in four years, Shangri-La appoints a global head of spas. Spa Business talks to Todd Hewitt, the man to fill the role
Spa people: James White
Thermal spa researcher and consultant to head up major overhaul of Maruia Hot Springs in New Zealand
Interview: Irene Forte
Daughter of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte and niece of designer Olga Polizzi tells Jane Kitchen why the Rocco Forte Hotel’s new spa concept is a family affair
Design: Natural wonderland
Neena Dhillon visits the striking new Keemala resort and spa in Phuket and finds out about its unique design
Science: Skin deep
Modern research is redefining the way we think about skin. Neuroscientist Dr Claudia Aguirre explains what the findings mean for spas
Promotional feature: Clarins
Clarins’ head of Spas, My Blend and Retail, Prisca Courtin-Clarins, talks about the strides the company is making in highly prescriptive skincare, and the development of hotel spa concepts with the My Blend brand
Promotional feature: Massage Heights
There’s a clear gap in the UK spa market for an affordable local offering that places an emphasis on top-quality treatments and services. Is Massage Heights, the successful US franchise chain, the solution?
Promotional feature: Neaumorinc
From a director of spa at Four Seasons to an entrepreneur who introduces exciting new beauty brands to five-star facilities, Shawna Morneau’s experience on both sides of the industry is enabling her consultancy to have an impact worldwide
Promotional feature: Dr Burgener Switzerland
Dr Burgener Switzerland to launch Haute Couture, a revolutionary skin treatment that personalises product and treatments to each person’s skin, using cutting-edge technology
Sensory zone: Set adrift
Niamh Madigan talks to researcher Justin Feinstein who thinks floatation could be a shortcut to meditation
Fitness: Defying gravity
The founder of AntiGravity® Aerial Yoga tells Niamh Madigan about the technique and a new suspension massage he’s developing for spas
Promotional feature: Gharieni
As Gharieni prepares to celebrate 25 years in the industry, founder and CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about the company’s culture of innovation, and how there will so many more exciting products to come
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Rudnitsky joined Miraval last October and has been tasked will leading the global expansion of the brand
Steve Rudnitsky was named president and CEO of Miraval Group last October, and tasked with leading the global expansion of the brand, which includes the iconic wellness destination Miraval in Tucson, Arizona.
Now, Miraval has made its first big leap: the debut of a Miraval-branded spa at the St Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Orange County, California. The Miraval Life in Balance at Monarch Beach has 24 treatment rooms and 70 signature Miraval therapies, including things like ayurvedic-inspired Shamana-Karma energy rituals and floating meditation.
ESPA, which Miraval investors KSL Capital Partners also owns a stake in, has had a hand in the design and programming.
The St Regis Monarch Beach Resort is owned KSL too, no doubt making the move a no-brainer. But Rudnitsky says Southern California was picked because it has a heavy concentration of existing Miraval customers and destination spa-goers, many of whom are looking for alternatives to Tucson.
The spa is the first step in a major brand expansion for Miraval that will see the it try to replicate the full experience of its wellness destination spa in other locales. “The primary emphasis will be with other destination resorts,” says Rudnitsky. “We know we can easily adapt this experience to the California wine country, the Colorado mountains, parts of New England, Hawaii as well as parts of Florida.”
In the next five years, Rudnitsky is “very confident” there will be up to seven “full-blown” Miraval resorts in North America. “We’ve got a very, very active pipeline for that expansion,” he says.
One location not on that list is the 400-acre (162-hectare) Natirar in New Jersey, which was slated to become a Miraval property back in 2014 (see SB13/4 p38) – before Rudnitsky’s came on board. “It’s a magnificent site, but we’re really focused on resort destinations first and foremost,” he says.
It’s thought the company will seek an alternative location within the New York City catchment.
Full-blown Miraval destination resorts will be augmented with Miraval Life in Balance spas – similar to the Monarch Beach property – located in four-plus star hotels with “owners who understand the value of a Miraval-branded spa.”
While the company has a “pretty big expansion” plan in mind for the Life in Balance spas, Rudnitsky wants to first address the market with destination resorts, and then see what locations make sense for the standalone spa facilities.
Miraval has its eyes set beyond the US: locations in Mexico are on its short-list for development and Rudnitsky is also looking around London. “We’d love to get the product in the UK and really leverage ESPA,” he says. “They add tremendous value to us, given their core competencies in spa design, spa management and their extensive skincare line.”
But, Rudnitsky says, there are so many opportunities in North America – including sites in Mexico and Hawaii – that he wants to get up and running on home ground before crossing the pond.
“We have to be thoughtful about where we locate a property,” he says. “There’s got to be a certain scale and traffic of wellness or luxury spa consumers for us to be interested and roll up our sleeves and say, ‘this makes sense’.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2016 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Who will own the well-life consumer?
It’s the wild west out there and there’s a land grab going on as interested parties make their play to own the well-life consumer. It’s not clear yet how this will pan out as the industry matures, or where spa stands in the pecking order, but the threats are clear
Spa people: Tyler Gage
Runa’s Tyler Gage working with Channing Tatum on an Amazon healing centre
Spa people: Todd Hewitt
For the first time in four years, Shangri-La appoints a global head of spas. Spa Business talks to Todd Hewitt, the man to fill the role
Spa people: James White
Thermal spa researcher and consultant to head up major overhaul of Maruia Hot Springs in New Zealand
Interview: Irene Forte
Daughter of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte and niece of designer Olga Polizzi tells Jane Kitchen why the Rocco Forte Hotel’s new spa concept is a family affair
Design: Natural wonderland
Neena Dhillon visits the striking new Keemala resort and spa in Phuket and finds out about its unique design
Science: Skin deep
Modern research is redefining the way we think about skin. Neuroscientist Dr Claudia Aguirre explains what the findings mean for spas
Promotional feature: Clarins
Clarins’ head of Spas, My Blend and Retail, Prisca Courtin-Clarins, talks about the strides the company is making in highly prescriptive skincare, and the development of hotel spa concepts with the My Blend brand
Promotional feature: Massage Heights
There’s a clear gap in the UK spa market for an affordable local offering that places an emphasis on top-quality treatments and services. Is Massage Heights, the successful US franchise chain, the solution?
Promotional feature: Neaumorinc
From a director of spa at Four Seasons to an entrepreneur who introduces exciting new beauty brands to five-star facilities, Shawna Morneau’s experience on both sides of the industry is enabling her consultancy to have an impact worldwide
Promotional feature: Dr Burgener Switzerland
Dr Burgener Switzerland to launch Haute Couture, a revolutionary skin treatment that personalises product and treatments to each person’s skin, using cutting-edge technology
Sensory zone: Set adrift
Niamh Madigan talks to researcher Justin Feinstein who thinks floatation could be a shortcut to meditation
Fitness: Defying gravity
The founder of AntiGravity® Aerial Yoga tells Niamh Madigan about the technique and a new suspension massage he’s developing for spas
Promotional feature: Gharieni
As Gharieni prepares to celebrate 25 years in the industry, founder and CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about the company’s culture of innovation, and how there will so many more exciting products to come
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
