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Spa-il yourself thoroughly
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This is a destination for middle-aged bodies and souls pining for individual attention
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Nothing like being pampered after a hard day's work. — Photo: K. Ananthan
"ONE OF life's simplest pleasures is to be treated as an individual." That sounds deeply philosophical in the age of mechanical reproductions. So you are a bit surprised when you learn that it's actually all about the experience of a facial or a back massage.
The brochure of Serena Spa further elaborates: "In the modern traveller's quest for a human dimension in a hectic schedule, the spa is becoming a must." So, the international chain treats you to the ultimate individual experience — of being pampered to a massage, facial, a vishy shower, so on and so forth. People at the recently-launched centre in the city (at Hatwork Boulevard, Cunningham Road) will tell you that Bangaloreans are a notch luckier because it's only at this centre that all products used are exclusively from Decleor, the premium French aroma therapy brand. What's more, Bangalore is Serena-Decleor's first spa destination in India.
To what do we owe this special honour? Explains Jesper Hougaard, the Managing Director of Decleor Aroma Care Institute: "India is an emerging market and Bangalore best represents what has been happening in India in the last few years." The city's proximity to their training centre in Mangalore is another factor that decided the location. Jesper says that all their personnel are trained exclusively in the specific properties of products used, hygiene and care, human anatomy, and various therapies.
Jesper claims that Decleor products are "completely natural", work best in combinations, and can't be simply bought off the shelf in any supermarket. The brand name is a USP at the spa because Indians, who perhaps know more about massages than anyone else, wouldn't really spend a couple of thousands on one if they aren't convinced that there is something really special about it — such an impressive, international brand name. Jesper would also like to warn Indians, who know a great deal about the therapeutic value of massages, that the ones in their spa only relax and pamper. "If you have a backache, you should be going to a doctor, not coming to us!"
Another USP of Serena Spa, of course, is that it's bang in the middle of the city, unlike the many on the outskirts. "How many would like to drive through mad traffic for long hours, have a relaxing massage, and hop right back into the same mad traffic for longer hours?" he asks. And though on the busy Cunningham Road, the noise of the traffic outside doesn't reach into the dimly-lit, sweet-smelling, pastel-coloured massage rooms of the spa. All you hear is some soft music. If you are romantically inclined, you could even opt for an Adam-Eve room here, where a couple can have a massage together. "It can double as an Eve-Eve room if two women friends want to chat as they get their massage," smiles Sabrina F.B. Hougaard, Director of Training, Decleor Aroma Care Institute. One of those Between Friends kind of conversations, perhaps.
To feel better
In fact, the spa's target clientele itself is the Between Friends age group, the 35-50 range. (Also well-travelled and well-heeled, need one emphasise?) But why bother with the middle-aged and the old when the whole world is dying to capture the young market? But then, all world is market if only you know how and where to tap it, right? After all, endless worries about all things beginning to sag and wrinkle are part of the mid-life crisis — that time of life when you desperately want to be "treated as an individual". As Jesper would say, that's the time you ask yourself: "Hey, what can I do to feel better?" Some people go on and on asking the same question until they grow tired and too old to bother with answers. Some decide to wake up and actually do something in life. Some others find their final answer in a facial. Jesper sure knows that the last category make for a substantial market.
Delceor Aroma Care Institute can be contacted on 30915290.
BAGESHREE S.
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