glad I found this discussion
 

I almost always visit spas when I travel and would love a spa forum both to post notes about my experiences and to find out where others have gone. I have planned and would plan a trip esp in the US around a particularly great spa esp as i get older and more stressed :)

So while I am unlikely to ever write a full on trip report I would definitely post a spa report....

As a female who uses spas, truthfully I don't see it being a big enough demographic to justify a new forum. I get the nat'l percentages yada yada, but to quote from the OP's original post, she goes to a certain locale just for spas. I look for spas in areas that I go to. For me the current method works because in my (unofficial) opinion, I'm probably more of the norm than the OP (who I have a lot of respect for, so not a diss there).

OVMV. Cheers.

And you should keep doing so. The remit of the Dining forum is not for location-specific discussion of dining options and such posts are systematically moved to the relevant geographic forum.

A spa forum would have to focus on non-geographic issues. Trouble is, most discussions of spas would, it seems to me, be location specific and therefore fall within the remit of the geographic fora. I do not think that it is established that there are substantially more (actual or potential) members who specifically travel to a destination with the sole purpose of visiting a spa than there are for many other activities.

Even if it were established that there was a sizable chunk of such spa-focused individuals, we would first have to consider the issue of principle of whether we want FT to remain a BB which is focused primarily on Frequent Flyers or become yet another generic, all-purpose travel site. And I would rather have the issue squarely addressed on its own merits rather than being decided implicitly without considering the wider implications in the context of a discussion on a narrower specific topic.

No spa forum before a gelato forum.

Maybe for the time being we could run this under the womens forum. I'm not only interested in quality spas but the treatments as well. I'm always hestitant to drop a great deal of cash on a treatment that I haven't tried before and tend to just stick with reflexology or massage.

If anyone wants to hear of the great Thalasso scrub I just had in Cabo let me know.

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Thing is, I enjoy spas and I'm a dude. :)

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/10.2.012; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1; en-us) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) WicKed/7.1.12344)

I can help....

:D

It seems like this could be solved by modifying the definition of the Luxury Hotels forum, which I suspect already has many of the same posters.

I support the suggestion by l'etoile. On almost every trip I make with Lady Martinis at 8, we visit a spa. These can be standalone spas or spas that are part of a hotel. I have not found spa review guidance here at FT, and quite frankly I think it would play a role in our hotel selection.

At spas I like the massage therapy, which is of course therapist dependent, and I like the hot/cold tubs, saunas, steam, and workout facilities. Sometimes I will get my right hand manicured (Flamenco guitarist) if there is a manicurist there. Lady Martinis at 8 likes the same, but also gets a variety of skin and/or facial treatments. Spas are popular. Let's go for it with a forum. I for one would be willing to post reviews of the ones I have been to.

Cheers,

M8

Great idea.

Not all spas are luxury. We have lots of posts here on spa schools that offer massages for $25-$30 an hour, the Aveda Institutes (also discounted services), there are the spas in Bali where one can spend about $20 for a day of pampering, in most Asian countries spas are an inexpensive part of daily life for people across all economic levels.

If TB cares to have a luxury spa forum, that would be nice, but I'm guessing it would exclude a lot of the spas international travelers might be interested in.

I don't agree with your assumption. I have not found a great deal of discussion in the Luxury Hotels Forum re: Spas.

Okay, so let's say I started posting spa reviews (I got plenty). Where would I put these? Would these be moved around or deleted by the mods? What if the spa was a stand alone day spa, and not part of a luxury hotel chain? Where do I put these?

M8

In the appropriate geographic forum.

Okay, I retract my "good idea" comment. :)

Agreed--I'm a huge fan of Rancho La Puerta (which, btw, is having some good deals this year), but it would never qualify as luxury.