“We don’t follow suit, we create, we develop, we’re artisans and yes, we see ourselves as a leader in the field,” says Steve Jeisman, the group director of spas and development for Alila Hotels & Resorts.

As an example, Jeisman is hiring PR people as spa managers and considers therapist wellbeing a key performance indicator. All of Alila’s treatments are crafted in-house and its proud to have created all of its own spa products and villa amenities – 60 in total – which can be purchased via a dedicated e-commerce platform, shopalila.com.

Alila means surprise in Sanskrit and unique touches are part of its ethos. The Indonesian company launched in 2001 and has been growing slowly, but surely. Today, it has 10 boutique properties, nine with spas, and 19 more in the pipeline (see p44).

In a strategic move this May, Alila also announced a partnership with Commune Hotels & Resorts, which has 36 sites across the US plus 10 others in development.

As the pace picks up, we talk to Jeisman about how he first created the Spa Alila brand, what the tie-up with Commune means and what other innovations we can expect.

The spa choice
Attention to detail was something Jeisman learned early on in his career. Aged 22, he found himself running a small boutique hotel in his hometown of Perth, Australia where “things were done properly,” he recalls. “It had an old-school Italian swagger where even the little handle on the coffee cup was turned out 90 degrees.”

His foray into spa came in 2002 when The Villas, Seminyak, the Balinese property he was managing, opened one of the largest spas in the country with 27 treatment rooms. The native Australian says: “I grew up in competitive sports with a deep interest in sports and health... so when the owner decided to open up Prana Spa it was something of great interest.

“We employed some fantastic consultants such as Bryan Hoare and Judy Chapman to launch Prana Spa and it was really good, creative fun! Once it opened, I got to know my way around the spa industry a little bit and focused on knowing the spa business inside and out.”

A year on, Chill, a smaller spa for aesthetic and express treatments which was ahead of its time, was introduced.

These experiences proved pivotal when Jeisman was approached by Alila in 2006. “They were looking for someone to manage one of their properties, at the same time though, they were looking to develop their own spa concept as they were using Mandara Spa as their third party,” he says. “We discussed both roles and I took 10 minutes of private deliberation. I was sent a spa contract a week later.”

Honing the brand
More than eight years on, it’s clear Jeisman still has a passion for spa even though he jokes that “I’ll be coming up for long-service soon!” He describes his role as “managing a complete turnkey solution from A to Z”: an accurate summation given that he handles everything from concept briefs, working with architects and FF&E to recruitment, revenue management and ongoing audits.

He was also responsible for developing the original Spa Alila concept, although initially converting the Mandara Spas was a baptism of fire he recalls: “We were putting together everything from furniture plans and therapist’s uniforms to forecasts and basically turning it around overnight.”

He’s been honing the brand ever since. “To do things properly, at the level we wish, you have to have your own brand identity,” he says. And two obvious examples of this at Alila are its treatment protocols and bespoke products.

“All the treatments we trialled within our competitive set were stock standard and generic,” says Jeisman who brought in consultant Jacqueline Le Sueur to help develop the therapies. “We wanted to stand out. In Bali, there’s a saying known as ‘sayang sayang’ which means to nuture and we added that dynamic to take guests down to another level of relaxation.”

In practice, this translates into a series of graceful, soft touches that therapists use to maintain contact with the guest and help the massage flow. As an added extra, guests are left in the room undisturbed if they fall asleep – “there’s no big gong or face mist – we let them go at their own pace,” he says.

Products are also made according to the Alila brief which includes a strict 100 per cent natural policy. “We begin by looking at the results we want,” explains Jeisman. “So if it’s a detox or cellulite treatment, we’d look at oils and masks with coconut or coffee. We’d then make it attractive to the marketplace – does it look good? is it easy to use? does it smell nice?”

In Indonesia, it partners with Sensatia Botanicals to make the products and Jeisman says the business has blossomed as Alila’s demands have increased. Altogether there are 60 Alila Living items including 18 villa amenities which cover everything from sun creams to mosquito repellent.

For those who want to buy into the Alila lifestyle, the products can be bought at shopalila.com. For the moment there’s no intention of opening up concept stores despite requests from America, the UK and even Kuwait. “What we do isn’t rocket science, but it’s actually difficult to do it well… and at this stage we want to keep it in-house,” says Jeisman.

New approach to staffing
With all this talk of concepts, treatments and products, you’d be forgiven for thinking that creativity and development is the main focus for Jeisman. Not so. There’s also the running of the nine Spa Alilas (and counting) – for which he also thinks outside the box.

“I’ve shifted my employment scope: I’m not looking for spa managers any more, I’m looking for PR, marketing and sales people,” he replies when questioned about staffing challenges. “At the end of the day, a talented spa supervisor can run the day to day operations. I want my spa managers to be the leaders on the floor: if they’re spending any more than 15 per cent of their time back of house we have a problem. PR people can talk to guests, be the face of the business and sell treatments and retail – because if you miss out on selling additional treatment time or product to just one guest that’s money out the door.”

It’s a tack Jeisman will be trying for new openings which are proving the most difficult to recruit for. “It’s getting harder every year as salaries keep going up by 20 per cent [annually], and it’s still not enough to stop them from going overseas once they’ve got the experience.”

It’s not such a serious problem for the more established spas, he says, where staff turnover has been a highly commendable 5 per cent over the last eight years. He puts this down to localisation, saying that “at some properties therapists all come from the local village and they don’t really want to move anywhere else.”

Important KPIs
Perhaps another reason why staff turnover is low is because the welfare of therapists is considered one of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) at Alila. “The health and wellbeing of the therapist has such a dramatic impact on our business and how we look after guests,” explains Jeisman. “The number two priority is the service and making sure core standards are met. We know that leaving 30 minutes between treatments [for guests to sleep] will effect our revenue, but it’s about brand standards.”

And it seems that not compromising in these areas is paying off. “The number of guests who visit a spa twice in their stay can be as high as 25 per cent and believe it or not they spend 30 per cent more than the first time round.”

Of course, Jeisman keeps an eye on the money too and reveals that the spas at Alila account for 5 to 10 per cent of the company’s overall revenue. But even then his approach to revenue management is slightly different. “I’m not too concerned if spas don’t reach their bottom line budget,” he says. “If they set their sights on meeting the average spend per guest and capture rate they’ve done a good job.” His reasoning is that these KPIs give more of a sense of achievement than budget forecasts when hotel occupancy is low.

To monitor progress, Jeisman explains that spa managers produce a dashboard which has a mix of financial and marketing stats to show exactly where revenue streams come from and where they need to go. If targets aren’t met, one of the first things they look at is capture rate per nationality. He explains: “Let’s say the Japanese market makes up 30 per cent of hotel occupancy but accounts for only 2-3 per cent of spa revenue. We look at why that market isn’t coming to the spa – they might have ties to different spas – and then we create a marketing plan to resolve that issue. So we look at everything in detail.”

Investment and growth
In the next four years, Alila is planning to open 19 more properties (see p44) and all except for one will have a spa. As the company grows, the majority of new developments will be based on management agreements, apart from new properties in Indonesia which Alila will also own.

Jeisman confirms that there are no plans at present to offer spa management services to third-party operators, adding that as he’s the only employee at a spa director level he’s not short of work.

However, things will undoubtedly get busier following a new partnership with US-based operator Commune Hotels & Resorts which was announced in May. The alliance is a result of Geolo Capital, the private equity firm that owns Commune, acquiring an interest in Alila. Previously, Geolo was an investor in Mandara Spa Asia which was founded by Mark Edleson – now president of Alila – before it was sold to Steiner Leisure in 2001.

Hotel management company Commune has a portfolio of 36 boutique hotels across the US under the Joie de Vivre, Thompson and Tommie brands, with another 10 developments in the pipeline.

Both companies will benefit and gain access to each other’s brands, sales, marketing and revenue management channels – Commune in Asia and Alila in the US – to gain wider exposure and distribution internationally.

How the deal impacts on development remains to be seen says Jeisman. “It’s yet to be determined when or even if we start co-branding and when the first joint developments will begin. We’re only just starting to look at that.”

Whatever the move, protecting the Spa Alila identity will be a priority – “Mass developed spas have the potential to lose their charm and brand essence, so we’ll be very careful when discussing expansion,” says Jeisman. To avoid this, all spas will continue to align with Alila’s core values and incorporate its signature therapeutic experiences and the Alila Living products. There is, however, flexibility to develop treatments to suit market demands, such as traditional Chinese massage and ayurveda as long they’re ‘honest’, authentic and of high quality.

There’s also ongoing auditing to ensure the spas are on-message and having developed the Spa Alila concept from scratch this comes as second nature to Jeisman. “It’s easy for me to audit everything from finance and marketing to the treatment, but if they need attention I send our trainers, as I’m definitely not a therapist, I just know what our standard is.”

Tackling wellness
While the long-term vision for Alila is mapped out in its development pipeline, the next immediate step is to work out whether or not to incorporate wellness into the offering. “We’re at a crossroads where we need to decide whether we’re going down the wellness path,” says Jeisman. “It’s a term that’s very loosely used right now and we’re trying to understand public perceptions of it, what that means for us and how far we go.

“Do we go purely for a well-rounded natural offer combing our 100 per cent natural products and therapies with yoga, healthy food and lifestyle consultations and guidance? Or do we partner with a third party to introduce aesthetic services, machinery and injectables as a one-stop-shop solution?”

Working on new ideas such as this is a process Jeisman particularly enjoys. “We’ve got a great corporate team, they’re easygoing, innovative people. We get to create our own development guidelines and it almost feels as though it’s your own business. It’s quite funny, my wife actually said to me yesterday that she’d been to Alila Villa Soori and said that it ‘had you written all over it’. Other people have said ‘that’s you – a little bit edgy’ after reading the menu or product descriptions too.”

He concludes: “It’s easy to be passionate when it’s something you do yourself. And I love what I do. It’s an interesting and exciting time for us.”