Issue 41

Passionate about training Thai spa therapists to become the world’s best, Centara Hotels and Resorts’ Spa Cenvaree aims to create a memorable stay for guests through its spa treatments.

With over 14,000 spas in Thailand, competition to offer the most unique services is rising. Many spas aim for innovative treatments while others focus on training therapists to the highest standards.

Originally from Australia, Tara Hanrahan is currently the group director of Centara Hotels and Resorts’ spa operations, Spa Cenvaree.
“At first I started out as a therapist,” says Hanrahan, “I studied aromatherapy and massage then moved on to other styles of spa therapies.”
Hanrahan reveals that from her extensive experience working in the Maldives, China and India, the ultimate spa experience comes from training therapists to care for the wellbeing of guests from the heart. She also shares this philosophy with the staff at all branches of Spa Cenvaree.

“What we do here is we train our staff therapists to have a high emotional connection with guests, which results in very high rebooking rates,” says Hanrahan. “Touch can have significant effects on emotions.”

Spa Cenvaree also uses fresh Thai herbs and ingredients paired with unique therapies, such as using warm salt pots or flower dough made with boiled flowers, to address different issues that guests may have.

“We want our therapists to be the best in Thailand,” says Hanrahan, “You need to know about anatomy and physiotherapy. We’re very involved in training programmes and we have strict quality standards in place.”

Attracting and maintaining guests in a highly competitive environment requires spas to understand the needs of different guests in different locations.

Hanrahan says that in tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Phuket, the demography of clients is shifting from largely Russian and European to Chinese and Korean. Hong Kong guests are also keen on spa treatments. However, for city hotels like those in Bangkok, roughly half spa guests are locals and expats who are loyal to the brand and often make repeat visits.

“In the last five years the quality and service of local spas have been higher and can now compete with hotel spas. The challenge is that hotels have to find ways to differentiate themselves from local spas,” says Hanrahan.

Spa Cenvaree is looking into further expansion to serve more guests in the future.

“In two or three years Centara will double the amount of spas and go into shopping centres,” she says. “What we’ll also see is more training and educational services for people in the spa industry.”

For more information, visit www.centarahotelsresorts.com
Words by Pimsirinuch Borsub