Blissfully nestled in the scenic hills of Mussoorie, Cedar Spa by L'Occitane is a haven for Mediterranean wellness. Spread in 5,500 sq ft, the spa was launched in October last year, to offer sedate experience to invigorate all senses. Wellness India talked to Dr Praseed Nair, who holds the position of Associate Director at Cedar Spa by L'Occitane, JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa, to understand its business model and strategies.
Scope of wellness in Mussoorie
Mussoorie was discovered by the British as a place for their soldiers to recover from the tropical diseases that they suffered from in India’s warm climate. Hence, the cool temperatures of the hill station have always been looked at as a source of wellbeing.
Till now, Mussoorie has not had an international luxury brand in the market, even though it has been one of the most popular hill stations in North India. However, with the opening of the JW Marriott, the dynamics of the market are slowly changing as we are seeing affluent families from nearby cities coming to stay at the resort. This has increased the potential of Mussoorie as a popular tourist destination for those, who are seeking the finer luxuries in life including the wellness facilities which we offer at the Cedar Spa by L’Occitane.
No competition zone
Given that JW Marriott is the first international hotel chain to establish a resort in Mussoorie, we do not consider any of the existing hotels or spas in the city as competition. We are in a completely different
league.
What Cedar spa offers?
We offer 5 rooms including 3 single rooms and 2 couple therapy suites. We administer all our body treatments, facials, wraps and scrubs in these treatment rooms. For foot reflexology, we offer an open air section where we can cater to 5 guests at a time.
Cedar spa promotion
As mentioned before, our alliance with a brand like JW Marriott has assisted us in establishing a name for ourselves in the market. In order to attract locals from Mussoorie or Dehradun, we are working on building a day package that would combine the spa with some facilities from the hotel.
Quality maintenance & staff
We have been extremely careful about choosing our associates at the Spa. 25 per cent of our staff has 3 years of experience with L’Occitane spas, 25 per cent with 1.5 years and 50 per cent with at least a year’s experience.
Prior to joining the Cedar Spa, our staff trained extensively for 3 months at our training facility in Pune. We also conduct 5days onsight training once in 3 months so as to further hone the skills of our employees. The company also conducts quality inspection and internal audits once in every 6 months.
Future roadmap
Based on the feedback received from our guests, we do plan to expend our wellness offerings to include Indian treatments as well. Discussions are currently underway for the same.
