Luxury spa industry veteran Blake Feeney has been appointed spa development vice president at Arch Amenities Group, a full-service provider of wellness, amenity, and meeting services for commercial and residential properties, hotels, and private clubs. In this position, Feeney, who spent 13 years at Canyon Ranch Spa at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, will oversee spa management accounts and collaborate with the senior leadership team on long-term strategic planning to enhance financial returns, customer experiences, and spa operations.
Speaking recently with LODGING, Feeney and Arch Amenities CEO Barry Goldstein described the spa niche that does or can exist in what Feeney calls “unexpected places,” and how they are meeting rising demand for wellness options and facilities by adding services, including through acquisitions.
Goldstein speaks in terms of activating wellness spaces outside the usual spas and fitness centers in hotels and resorts. “We can also do this in other settings, like country clubs, residential properties, or office buildings, where we can create wellness programming and manage fitness.” Because the company is now seeking to bring in additional services customers may need or want, he says, it is “growing by acquisition.” Such recent acquisitions have included Synergy Fitness Group, a fitness management company that specializes in wellness and fitness programming; NYS Pool Management, a pool management and construction company; Innovative Spa Management (ISM), which provides spa consulting and management for the hospitality industry; Privai, which manufactures botanical skincare products and operates spas and salons with customized services and treatments; Spa Space, a SaaS platform designed to improve spa utilization and drive revenue; and Hutchinson, a recruiting and a consulting company.
A primary objective of Feeney is “to bring the spa outside the four walls of existing facilities.” Some possibilities for doing this, he mentions, even include placing pop-up facilities inside meeting and convention centers and commercial real estate.
Feeney, who has been in the spa industry for two decades, sees a growing demand, including among men, who, he recalls, made up 55 percent of Canyon Ranch customers in Las Vegas. “We have a great market for spa services, but the vast majority of properties in the hotel industry do not provide such services.” Arch Amenities, he says, is poised to respond. “With our own consulting tools plus the resources of new companies like ISM and Privai and the technology that’s coming through Spa Space, we are now able to enhance or actually create wellness opportunities in non-spa facilities.”
While, naturally, Feeney expects his efforts to support Arch Amenities’ growth and profitability with the addition of more management contracts, he says, “Personally, I think what we’re doing—bringing the wellness experience to more people—can impact their lives for the better.”
