I’m gonna make you a spa

A hotel operator ‘Eurobuild Poland’ spoke to believes that “man is like a battery – he needs recharging from time to time.” He has extended his spa hotel to act as such a battery charger and never complains about any lack of work-weary customers. Although the Polish spa market is relatively young, it can look confidently to the future

 The fashion to be seen relaxing in a spa hotel (Sanus per Aquam – health through water) started in Poland a few years ago, immediately becoming the in-thing with well-to-do Polish women. In a short time men were also being won over to this form of relaxation, and hoteliers also found that  from the very beginning their attractively priced services were enticing foreign customers. Agnieszka Badyna, of the SPA Bryza Hotel situated on the Hel peninsula on Poland’s Baltic coast, paints an idyllic picture of why people are seduced by spas: “Just imagine a fine view of the sea and a beach within a stone’s throw of a hotel furnished with natural materials such as bamboo and rattan, flickering candles and delightfully scented throughout, together with the whoosh of breaking waves. And even though the price may not be the lowest, you will definitely want to return.” The hotel was built in the 1970s, but owes its excellence and spa character to its present proprietor, Zbigniew Niemczycki.

The demand for such services has been noted by hoteliers, many of whom are now investing in new facilities; but those who anticipated spas coming into vogue and invested several years ago are in the best situation, with the advantage of an established brand and position on the market.

 Blazing a trail

The consensus among business insiders is that Dr Irena Eris’s hotel in Krynica Zdrój was the industry’s pioneer. The first guests checked in in 1997. Tomasz Pieniążek, board president of SPA Dr Irena Eris Hotels, reflects on this: “I can proudly claim that we were the original trend-setters in developing spas in Poland. But to us this was not just another profit-generating investment. It was another move to expand the Dr Irena Eris brand, which by then was already associated with cosmetics and beauty parlours.” Initially the hotel was quite small, but as the realities and market demands changed, it was enlarged and today the original four beauty parlours have been extended to 20, and the number of rooms from 20 to 49.

In Tomasz Pieniążek’s estimation: “Clearly the facility was a spa complex from the outset, though not as technologically advanced as that at Wzgórza Dylewskie. However, it must be said that the spa infrastructure is presently being upgraded and should be complete in late 2007, with the investment amounting to several million złoty.” The Wzgórza Dylewskie hotel referred to is the company’s latest investment on the edge of the Wzgórze Dylewskie Landscape Park in the rustic surroundings of the Mazurian Lake District. It was opened this April, at a cost of PLN 50 mln, with 97 rooms and a cosmetic institute, as well as a spa.

 Jacuzzi facilities

Extending an existing hotel is another way to create a spa complex. The Hotel Mercure Mrongovia of the Orbis Hotel Group, and Geovita in its hotel in Krynica Zdrój, went down this road. The SPA and Wellness Institute was opened in December 2005. As Janusz Śmielak, president of the board of Geovita, remarks: “We always try to meet our customers’ requirements, which is why we decided to enlarge our Krynica-Zdrój hotel with a spa unit, whilst accepting that we were entering an already competitive market. Like other hotels in our chain, Krynica had earlier offered health prophylactics and rehabilitation, but the changes we introduced were considerable. We are fully aware that we cannot cut back on quality, since the customers will inevitably sense this.” Geovita runs a chain of 14 hotels throughout Poland and is owned by the Polish Petroleum Mining and Gas Engineering Company.

The fact that there is no external body to assess the quality and scope of services infuriates the industry. There is still no definition of what a spa unit is, since no stars are awarded for quality.

Krzystof Dubrow, the director of Mercure Mrongovia, is particularly incensed: “There are proprietors who have added spa to their hotel logo, but merely installing a jacuzzi is simply not enough to merit such a definition.” In his opinion there are only some 5 to 10 spa hotels in Poland which are entitled to the name. He points to Villa Park in Ciechocinek, the Mrongovia in Mrągrowo and Burza in Jurata as the real competition.

 Guests growing

Hoteliers rarely talk about infrastructure investment costs, claiming it is difficult to give accurate figures since they are frequently part of larger modernization efforts. On the subject of the cost of spas, Krzysztof Dubrow remarks that: “We installed a spa three and half years ago. To give some measure of the size of the investment, I can only say that the money we spent on the spa could have been used to build a small hotel. But we do not regret the investment since it has already paid back what it cost.” He estimates that hotel occupancy has risen from around 5 to 7 pct since the spa was opened, to 60 pct annually. Because of the spa, the seasonal occupancy factor         – which is painfully felt by Lake District hotels – has fallen, since the spa attracts customers in both the autumn and winter.

Tomasz Pieniążek adds that: “As regards spa customer gender, women dominate – though the number of men has been rising over the past

5 years and presently accounts for around 30 pct of all guests. Families, too, have been coming in increasing numbers. The average stay in our hotels is 3 to 4 days. Foreigners also visit us regularly, both from the east – for example, the Ukraine and the west for example Germany and Great Britain.”

 Fine spa days ahead

The appetite of hoteliers for new investments shows no sign of abating; indeed, it seems likely that Polish business-people as they get richer will increasingly be looking for somewhere to recharge their batteries and get away from the rat race. The manager of Geovita, Janusz Śmielak, is preparing himself for more investments: “A present we operate 8 hotels that can be adapted into spa units, but I think we shall focus on 3 or 4 so that they will not have to compete with each other as regards location. The competition is strong enough even without that,” says Mr Śmielak.

But the head of Dr Irena Eris Hotels has ambitions beyond Poland’s borders. Tomasz Pieniązek declares that: “We plan to open two spa hotels in Poland in 8 to 10 years, but we are placing greater stress on expanding our operations abroad, where we want to introduce not only the SPA brand, but the whole offer that the Dr Irena Eris logo stands for. And we are more interested in western than eastern Europe.”

 Ewa Andrzejewska