Press Room
The State of the Spa
How much does $912 buy? That varies greatly by location. The Kabuki Springs & Spa in Japantown is the largest spa in San Francisco in terms of services purchased last year – 70,000 visits in 18 treatment rooms – according to Chip Conley, founder and chairman and executive officer of Joie de Vivre Hospitality. The chain includes 28 hotels, as well as the Kabuki and two other spas. Costs range from $16 for the Kabuki's signature communal Japanese bath to $150 for a 105-minute Javanese Lulur body treatment. This traditional Indonesian ritual blends a jasmine-scented massage with a turmeric and rice skin scrub, cooling yogurt application and private, candle-lit flower bath. "What's great about the Kabuki is it is very democratically priced," Conley says. "It's known as one of the more affordable spas."
In fact, San Francisco has always "been a mind, body and spirit kind of place, on the edge of whatever is new in terms of health regimes," says Conley, whose latest enterprise, the Hotel Vitale in the Embarcadero , offers spa services and daily complimentary yoga. "If someone travels to San Francisco on business, the quality of massage is going to be very high because there are a lot of practitioners and a lot of schools. People come to San Francisco to eat. Now more and more people are coming here to rejuvenate and relax."
