With its three biggest spa openings of the year all in the month of February—Kilolani Spa at Grand Wailea, Maui, Conrad Spa at Conrad Orlando, and Spa Signia at Signia by Hilton, Atlanta—Hilton is on a serious spa and wellness roll. I recently talked shop with Jessica Shea, Hilton’s Vice President, Wellness, Retail and Leisure Operations, Americas, to learn more. But first, let me tell you a little bit about Jessica.
Jessica, who has been with Hilton for nearly eight years now, grew up sweeping hair and making appointments in an old-school appointment book, thanks to her stepfather who was a hairdresser. “I was young, but really into it and was struck by the power of what he specifically did for women,” she recalls. “They’d come into the salon after a rough day, and after two to three hours, they’d leave transformed.” She was particularly inspired by the work he did with real hair wig replacement for women undergoing cancer.
Jessica Shea
Her stepfather was the visionary behind Andrew Michaels Spa and Salon, which opened in 2001 in an historic library in Salem, Massachusetts. Jessica helped him launch the day spa and served as spa director. In 2005, when he became ill and stepped back from the business, she ran it. “It was a lot for a twenty-five-year-old.”
Jessica landed her second spa director role at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort. That was followed by spa director stints at Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa and at Elemis Spa at The Saint Regis, Bangkok (Thailand was where she met her American husband). In 2012, she became Director of Spas, Thailand, for Hyatt Hotels.
During her time in Thailand, recalls Jessica, “Hilton was hiring for its Director of Global Brand Strategy for spa, and Ryan Crabbe was heading that up.” He flew to Bangkok, interviewed Jessica, and shortly thereafter she moved to Virginia and the Hilton adventure began. As Vice President, Wellness, Retail and Leisure Operations, Americas, Jessica oversees 40 spas in 220 hotels, in addition to overseeing retail and resort activities.
And now, our conversation.
Let’s talk about Hilton’s vision for spa and wellness.
As you know, coming out of Covid accelerated guest expectations of wellness in brands in general. Hilton has done a fantastic job of identifying the opportunity that exists in hospitality to better serve people’s wellness. Not even the opportunity but the obligation as a hospitality company to have our guests’ wellness at top of mind.
We are seeing two ends of the spectrum when it comes to today’s spa-goer: Those more focused on the physical—fitness, technology, recovery, and appearance-driven results—to those looking for more mental, emotional, and spiritual support. We aim to provide experiences that serve both intentions, and ideally everything in between, delivering holistic experiences that support overall wellbeing. There are twenty-two brands that range from focus service—your Hampton Inn—to your luxury Waldorf Astoria.
The Conrad Spa at Conrad Orlando
Speaking broadly of wellness, we are looking at how to support our guests’ wellness across all twenty-two brands globally—so it just isn’t about spa. We want to make it accessible and meaningful to all guests without dictating what it should be, recognizing that people have healthy habits that they would like to see supported while traveling. The way we’re looking at how we can best deliver wellness is about four pillars: sleep, movement, nourishment, and spa and mindfulness.
“We want to make wellness accessible and meaningful to all guests without dictating what it should be . . .”
Hilton has been amazing at supporting the vision. We formed a Peloton partnership last year, and there are lots of new initiatives and partnerships coming. Within spa, we’ve launched two new brand concepts for Waldorf and Conrad hotels that are really focused on providing an elevated consistent experience across our luxury spas while creating bespoke localized programming for each.
Hilton has really doubled down on investing in people and creating an amazing global wellness team. I have some super-passionate industry veterans on my team who are driving this—Amanda Al-Masri, Global Vice President of Wellness and Rachael McCrory, Director Spa and Wellness, North America, as well as Blanca Lorente, Regional Director Spa and Wellness, Caribbean & Latin America.
In February, Hilton celebrated three major spa openings. Let’s begin with the eagerly anticipated Kilolani Spa and what sets it apart.
Kilolani Spa at Grand Wailea is a great example of having an opportunity to do so many things really well. It starts with the investment from the owners, the recognition that Spa Grande [the iconic former spa] was a pioneer of its time but seriously compromised after twenty-five years. The owners recognized the opportunity to bring it totally back to life.
The Hydrothermal Garden at Kilolani Spa at Grand Wailea
It was basically brought to the studs and rebuilt. Because of the passion of everyone involved, it again has the opportunity to be a pioneer—but for today. The vision was a team effort, based on the fact that because of its location and size (fifty-thousand square feet with forty treatment rooms), we have an opportunity to serve the 1.5 wellness traveler. The industry has defined the primary wellness traveler (those whose purpose of travel is specifically wellness, i.e., a retreat) and a secondary wellness traveler (those who want some wellness options available during their stay). I think of the 1.5 wellness traveler as a person for whom wellness is a key driver in their travel-making decisions and how they conceptualize and search for trip destinations, but will be connecting with family and friends or colleagues as the primary reason for their stay. Kilolani Spa represents this—it’s an incredible wellness destination, but it’s not specifically a destination spa.
We can appeal to avid goers of destination spas and can also accommodate large corporate groups without the spa feeling crowded. It’s this spectrum of spa-goers that we want to appeal to, and we have an opportunity to do that here. Kilolani Spa is like a dream spa, very thoughtfully created. Previously, all of the wet areas were single-sex and were all closed to the outside, so we blew out the walls so you’re exposed to the landscape. We created co-ed hydrothermal spaces, and we have an amazing large Hawaiian-inspired hammam with communal spaces. Bringing people together in those places is great, but we also have four private spaces. The spa is a really great mix of both private and social spa spaces.
What about the Conrad Spa in Orlando and Spa Signia in Atlanta?
Spa Signia at Signia by Hilton; photo by Adam Goldberg Photography
Conrad Spa in Orlando is the rollout of the new Conrad Spa concept, which you’ll see in things like the menu categorization and innovative and super-localized product partners. We worked with Under a Tree on the localizing concept, which is based on the history of the natural springs of Central Florida. On that note, the spa features a lush water garden. Brand guidelines and level of experience are important, but then you need to localize the programming to the history. We have beautiful Florida-inspired mineral baths as an ode to the history, but we also a have a recovery room that’s highly focused on the rejuvenation of legs and feet . . . we know a lot of people are going to the parks, so we’re offering a “Disney down day.”
Lastly, our Atlanta property, the beautiful Signia by Hilton hotel just up outside of the Georgia World Congress Center. [Of special note: this property bears the distinction of being Atlanta’s largest ground-up hotel development project in forty years.] It’s luxury-leaning and focused on the business traveler or bleisure traveler—those folks who want to optimize their stay. We’ve created an entire wellness floor with eleven wellness guest rooms, a beauty bar, spa, fitness center, and seasonal rooftop pool. The programming of Spa Signia is optimize, motivate, and connect—recognizing that we want to serve the people who are there and why they’re there. We want to help them be their best.
Mary Bemis
Mary Bemis is Founder & Editorial Director of InsidersGuidetoSpas.com. An advocate for all things spa, Mary forged a vocabulary for spa reportage that is widely used by those who cover the issues today. Recently honored as a Top 30 Influential Voice Transforming Wellness by Medika Life, Mary is an inaugural honoree of Folio’s Top Women in Media Award. Her spa media roots run deep—in 1997, she launched American Spa magazine, in 2007, she co-founded Organic Spa magazine, and in between serving on the ISPA and NYSPA Board of Directors, she was on the launch teams of Luxury SpaFinder and New Beauty magazines. Named a "Wonder Woman of Wellness" by American Spa magazine, Mary was honored by the International Spa Association with the distinguished ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. She is a special advisor to the non-profit Global Wellness Day.
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