Men go for the spa effect

The spa break is no longer a female preserve. Men are muscling in.

It used to be a rare sighting when a lone male scuttled selfconsciously along the hushed corridors of these bastions of female self-indulgence, a vision in fluffy white robe atop hairy legs. All this, though, is about to change. Increasing health awareness is leading men to demand the same opportunities as women on holiday to care for themselves and de-stress.

"The momentum of male interest has escalated beyond expectation over the past two years,? says Susan Harmsworth, founder of E'Spa products and spa treatments.

What the sexes want from a spa, however, is very different. While women want pampering, men prefer to feel they're achieving something or have earned a spa treatment. They want outdoor

activities followed by sports massage, herbal or spicy massage oils, clear and straightforward treatment names - and certainly nothing they can't pronounce.

"Men have felt that they're entering female territory, so they feel intimidated,? says Anne McCall, director of Fairmont Spas in America.

Fairmont has gone all out to attract and keep a male clientele. At its new, state-of-the-art spa, Willow Stream, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort in Arizona, men's needs were taken into consideration at the design stage. Natural materials in neutral colours were used to create a "neutral gender? atmosphere, somewhere both sexes can feel comfortable. A cultural anthropologistwas even consulted to discover male preferences. "Men want to know the rules, where to go and what's going to happen to them,? says McCall. Willow Stream offers shorts and T-shirts instead of the requisite fluffy white robe, there are television sets and male attendants in the changing rooms. "Men don't really want to talk to each other, they'd rather sit and watch TV or read the newspaper," McCall adds.

Even day spas are now pitching for male business. America's first-ever male-only spa, Nickel Day Spa in New York, opened earlier this year with chrome-andglass interior, blue lighting, napping room, massage showers and mineral water bar.

In Britain, according to Susan Harmsworth, up to 50 per cent of E'Spa's clients are now men. New treatments sound more masculine, such as the flight reviver for jet-lag and golfer's tonic.

Spa man
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