CE INSTITUTE LLC BLOG

Before looking into the spa, I went to Claridge's Hotel and enjoyed breakfast in their dining area (near the hotel entrance), prior to going downstairs to view and book in the spa. Claridge's is supposed to be known for their world class service, and my excellent experience at breakfast confirmed that feeling.

I took the elevator down to the basement to get to the spa.  When I exited the elevator, the first thing I saw was this amazing visual art, pictured below.  You have to walk towards it to enter the spa reception area.

After going around the corner, the receptionist greated me with a smile and asked if she could help. I told her I was interested in booking some services, and that I own a school that teaches CE hours to massage therapist, cosmetologist and other licensees, and she responded that she was happy to hear that I was personally visiting them.  She asked if I wanted a tour which I accepted, and then she proceeded to show me their swimming pool area which she said could be used for two hours if a 90-minute spa service was booked. 

She then brought me back to reception where we started reviewing the different spa services they had to offer.  Her first and strongest recommendation was for their Bamboo & Silk Ritual which is £330 pounds in 2025, and what she called their "signature service." On the Claridge's website, the service is described as a "total mind and body immersion".  It's advertised to provide the following over their 90-minute appointment:

• a welcoming foot ceremony
• a nurturing silk facial
• a trilogy of body and hand massage techniques
• an invigorating bamboo body massage
• seasonal herbs within hot oil-infused poultices
• a deep hand massage

After we decided I would schedule their signature Bamboo & Silk Ritual appointment for the following day, she asked for my details such as name, phone, email, etc. I handed her a business card and she said I would need to finish the appointment electronically to hold it.  That means they wanted my credit card.  So I told her I would wait to receive their email to enter my credit card details, given I was in a foreign country and wanted to make sure my credit card worked on their electronic platform.

The establishment is littered with private sitting areas, so she asked if I would like to have a seat while she setup the appointment and I accepted.  She asked if I wanted some water while I waited which I also accepted (pictured above.) Water was served in a thick quality plastic cup which is standard for pool area beverages, or for areas where clients are barefoot so that they do not injure themselves if a drinking glass were to break on tile, marble or hard floors in the massage, spa or ammenities spaces. I received their email on my phone to finish entering my credit card data to hold the appointment and I completed it there in the sitting area. She then requested that I show two hours prior to my appointment so that I could enjoy their ammenities first, which I did.

I arrived well before my service was supposed to start to smiling women at reception. They checked me in and then showed me back to the ladies locker room that included a cold shower room, steam, sauna and there were large cubicles with regular showers, sink and toilet, as if it’s your own private bathroom with door. 

Pictured next is their private cubby bathroom area:

This is their steam room:

And their sauna:

With cold shower. It is setup similar to a Roman waterfall shower that can be adjusted for hot or cold: 

All of those water and bath amenities pictured above are in the ladies locker room.  The ladies lockers are pictured next and stocked with a one size fits everyone bathrobe, flip flops and towel:

She asked if I wanted any tea, nuts or fruit and I gladly accepted. The tea was in a paper cup for the same reason they use plastic drinking cups. The nuts were delivered in a sealed bag which is excellent for sanitation or clients in the area with a nut allergy.  The bag of nuts also had dried fruit, and it was labelled with allergens in bold print too which was extremely conscientious of the facility. 

Most spas would have some type of bowl with nuts and a dispenser which are not self-contained, have sanitation issues, and are a risk to those who have allergies too. So this is an excellent job and effort on behalf of this spa and massage establishment.

On a side note, London overall seems more sensitive about allergens than the United States.  In restaurants, they ask if you have allergies, and then they even ask about cross contamination if you’re food order doesn’t contain your allergen, they want to make sure you’re okay if the allergen was stored in the same cupboard or refrigerator with what you ordered, given some cannot have cross contamination without serious consequences including death.  One restaurant, The Albert in downtown London even had me sign on their tablet about my allergy.

The lockers were fairly standard for an upscale spa, but there wasn’t a second privacy door or corner to the ladies locker room, so anyone standing just outside the ladies locker room could see directly into anyone changing directly in front of their locker which is fairly common practice.  You had to use the bathroom cubbies for privacy from outside male guests.

I changed into my bathing suit, used the pool and relaxed at the one of the pool cabanas where both regular and lemon water with more fresh fruit was provided. 

Towels are plentiful with extra amenities and well appoined touches provided. The spa has made excellent use of common area space for seating:

I then showered prior to my appointment and enjoyed their aromatherapy body wash, shampoo and conditioner.  It was a perfect heavenly aromatic blend of rose, petitgrain and clove essential oils. You can view the aromatherapy products standarly provided to the right of the shower in the pic below:

My appointment then started on time with a very kind and well-groomed practitioner. She reviewed medical conditions with me before we started and had me sign her tablet that the medical intake was complete. 

My signature service was supposed to start with a footbath, but I told her I had just showered and she saw that I had used the pool, so she gave me the option to have the foot bath first, or start on the table, and I opted for the table to receive more table time. She did have the foot bath set up and ready to go if I had opted to use it, pictured below. The foot bath was a large copper bowl with still water, and essence to the side to choose or use.

The therapist then explained the order of my treatment which would include massage, poultice treatment, bamboo massage and then a quick facial.

The treatment room and entire spa is beautiful with simplistic yet elegant blush beige tones. The massage or bodywork table had a hole in it for the face rest which was okay but not great.  The opening felt fairly small so I asked for an additional towel so that the upholstery seam was not digging into my jaw.  The table itself might have been 40 inches wide, and the widest table I have ever seen for massage or spa bodywork. 

Electric massage tables of that width usually cost a small fortune, and are more difficult for a smaller practitioner with a smaller client, because they have to reach further to apply more pressure during massage appointments.  Wider tables are usually more comfortable for clients, so this establishment probably opted for this extra wide table to continue top notch service for their clients.  The table was covered with extremely high thread count linens and very soft padding including a beautiful top blanket for warmth.

After massaging my back with oil, she then proceeded with a heated poultice treatment. Two poultices began with dapping heat onto my back. I forgot where she started with them; however, proper procedure would start on the upper back, working your way down to the lower back given the lower back is the most sensitive area, so while allowing the poultices to cool with the dabbing while providing thermal therapy, they should be started at the top, working your way inferiorly to the sacrum.

After the hot poultices cooled, she then began to massage my back with warm poultices which felt really nice and exfoliating.  The muslin poultice application was a perfect combination of scratchiness and pressure. 

Once she finished the poultice application she moved onto bamboo massage.  The bamboo was heated; however, the heat dissipated rather quickly which is not her fault.  Bamboo retains heat for lesser time than other massage tools, such as basalt lava hot stones.  The bamboo massage was my least favorite of the three back massage applications given its hard surface.  It would be hard to chose which was better between the regular body massage or poultice bodywork on my back because both were fantastic.  All three massage applications were perfectly applied, and a favorite massage style would be a personal preference over any type of functional rating.

Once she finished my back, she then moved onto one leg, and then the other, perfectly draping both one at a time. She flexed my knee during some of the calf and foot massage which felt nice with the added range of motion. She also included shoulder range of motion techniques with the back massage, by placing both arms individually up on my back to reach deeper into the rhomboid muscles.

Once the posterior massage and bodywork was complete, she had me roll over onto my back for anterior bodywork.  She did lift the sheet well into the air completely exposing me, which made it easier to turn over; however, some clients might not want to be so exposed when changing position.  While the sheet covered her face, it is excessive nakedness that can be easily avoided.

Then she used the electrical components of the multipurpose spa treatment table to elevate my lower legs for knee bolstering.  She also place a decent sized pillow under my head to help drain my sinuses, which was wonderful after being pronated for so long during this 90-minute signature service.

She started the supinated body massage with each individual leg and foot, appropriately exposing one at a time.  She then moved up to each individual arm for the same. Nothing was more remarkable or worth noting beyond what is already explained with the pronated massage. When she finished with both the lower and upper extremities, she began my facial.

The facial started with her use of the electrical table to further elevate my head.  First she applied a skin cleansing balm with terrific facial massage application.  It was really wonderful.  She used a hot towel to remove the balm. A facial cleansing gel was applied for a second cleanse.  She used all new facial massage techniques with the cleansing gel which were really unique, thorough and wonderful.  She paid particular attention to my T-zone area which is brilliant during cleansing, given the T-zone would be the area that would need facial cleansing most.  She removed the gel cleanser with another hot towel.  It appeared their hot towels were hand mitts which are another uber expensive investment on behalf of the spa.

After removing both cleansers, she then performed two more applications which felt like a serum and moisturizer, again with perfect and more unique massage applications.  Her facial massage techniques deserve 10+ stars.  The serum and moisturizer appropriately remained on my face.  She ended the treatment with a really strong and fantastic scalp massage.

Once she was finished, she used the electrical components of the table to help me sit upright. This makes table dismount easier. It also allows a moment for blood pressure to regulate itself and help avoid postural hypotension at the end of a long tablework session like this one. The massage therapist washed her hands both pre and post treatment for an appropriate period of time. This is 100% excellent practice by the massage therapist.

At the end of the service, I asked the practitioner if I could keep the poultices if she was going to throw them away.  These shouldn’t be reused given they cannot be sanitized for another client, and any sanitation efforts would strip them of their therapeutic properties, so I was happy to take them instead of seeing them put them in the trash.  But the therapist insisted on providing me with new poultices instead which is not what I asked for.  I think she thought she was doing me a favor, but I would have preferred the ones that were used on me and already had oil on them, because that would have made a better bath treatment at home with the extra oil.  I would always recommend providing the used herbal poultices to clients post-treatment, and recommend they add their used poultice to an at-home soak or bath for further enjoyment.

The pros of this overall service are listed throughout this review. There are too many to list again. It was a wonderful and expensive experience that justifies its price.

I don’t really have cons for this tremendous appointment, but I do have some areas of improvement, which could hit this 5 star service further out of the park:

1.      I detected an extremely faint odor of bleach or chlorine in the hot towel mitts used with my facial, which is likely undetectable to someone who’s not a trained aromatherapist and practitioner like I am. It was good to know these are sanitized; however, soaking or wetting these with an herbal bath of floral waters, teas or essential oils could provide a heightened experience.  Because the treatment and spa are floral oriented, I would recommend geranium, jasmine or rose essential oil in a water bath when preparing the hot towels for the cubby.

2.      I’d like to see this service ended with hot towels on the feet to further remove the oil application, and cream or lotion used for the hand and foot massage.  While the therapist did compress the sheet on my feet which removed some of the oil before she moved onto my upper extremities, I’d like to see more of an effort there. The oil was as perfect as one can get for hand and foot application. There were not any abrupt slips which can happen with oil when using it on these areas of the body where the skin is thickest; but it’s still oil and more slippery which creates avoidable hazards post treatment for the client with table dismount, and until the oil has lost all of its slippery properties.

3.      Don’t ever let someone design a spa for you unless they’re a massage therapist or request onsite massage therapist input.  The treatment space for the oversized multipurpose spa table is not large enough to allow a massage therapist to lunge or use proper body mechanics to apply greater pressure for deep tissue work.  While they might be able to achieve deep tissue with improper application, it could lead to unnecessary injury for the massage therapist.  A larger treatment room would also allow the spa to use a separate face rest at the end of the table instead of pronating clients into a facial hole, which has questionable sanitation and less comfort than a separated facial cradle and cushion. It’s like someone purchased the most expensive equipment or gadgets, but sometimes functionality doesn’t need the most expensive, and better function can be achieved with lesser priced items (i.e. a table at least 2 inches more narrow would be more appropriate, especially when the practitioner is on the petite side themselves.)

4.      Allowing a real spa practitioner to participate in the design of the spa should allow for better judgement, especially when ordering massage equipment, for example oversized tables are expensive, unnecessary and could more easily injure staff. An experienced practitioner might also have added better privacy for the locker areas too.

5.      While I can appreciate the Japanese theme that was used to create and decorate this gorgeous and incredible spa establishment which now occupies the basement of Claridge’s hotel, from the door handles to all of the striking eye-candy finishes, the attire was another matter.  Guests and reception staff are dressed extremely similar, and it would be most awkward if one customer approached another for assistance, because they’re confused when everyone is dressed in similar fabric of the same colors with slightly different patterns. This is especially important when 90 minute services are promoted so that a customer can use the spa facilities including pool, free of extra charge. I would recommend dressing the staff in a light greenish bamboo colored uniform, instead of identical colors to the clients to make a better distinction between guests and staff.  This might have also been done if a real spa provider helped with the overall design and acquisition of materials.  In my opinion, a real practitioner did not participate in this, did not speak up during the design, or didn’t have enough experience to make these recommendations, and the establishment could have benefited even more than what they already have from such expertise and input. 

• Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris: (pictured next/below) https://www.fourseasons.com/paris/spa/
• Ritz Paris: https://www.ritzparis.com/hotel/paris/ritz-club-spa
• Claridge's Spa, London, England : https://www.claridges.co.uk/spa/

Would you like to learn more about the practice of neuromuscular therapy?  Have you ever heard of neuromuscular therapy?  Neuromuscular therapy also known as NMT is hands-on soft tissue manipulation that helps properly align and improve function of the human body. While there are additional benefits, some NMT applications include client evaluations and much more.  Here’s and example:

Kyphoscoliosis is a combination of two different medical conditions that create a three-dimensional deformity of the human vertebral spine:

1. Kyphosis is an excessive forward or anterior curvature in the upper thoracic spine.
2. Scoliosis is an excessive lateral or sideways curvature of the spine, which would always affects multiple areas of the spine.

In neuromuscular therapy appointments, clients should complete a written client intake form or health history prior to hands-on bodywork. The client’s goals for their treatment should also be included during this client intake period, with reasonable goals set and mutually agreed.

After a provider has the client’s medical diagnoses in writing, they should then evaluate a client’s posture amongst other evaluation techniques to provide proper hands-on neuromuscular therapy treatment.  Hopefully, if you ever see an individual similar to the one pictured here, they would already have a kyphoscoliosis diagnosis so that a provider could easily communicate with the client about their medical condition. 

When a practitioner is not qualified to create a diagnosis within their licensed scope of practice, then they would not be able to diagnose or tell this individual that they have kyphoscoliosis. Instead, someone such as a massage therapist (LMT), physical therapist assistant (PTA) and others who cannot legally diagnose medical conditions would need to make a medical referral to a doctor for a proper diagnosis, if or when the client is unaware of their medical condition.

Kyphoscoliosis (or any spinal deformity) becomes easier to treat once a medical diagnosis has been made.  While working various spinal deformities are covered in our neuromuscular therapy courses, we are showing this example here for one obvious reason.  Do you see the shoulder bag on this individual’s depressed shoulder?  If you had a kyphoscoliosis client like this, which shoulder would you recommend they carry their shoulder bag?

The answer is this kyphoscoliosis client should be carrying their shoulder bag on their elevated left shoulder. Their left shoulder is elevated while their right shoulder is depressed.  That creates a lateral curvature of spine which is known as scoliosis, and almost always results with uneven shoulders and/or pelvis. Your goal would be to try to even the two sides of the vertebral spine to bring them anatomically level to one another.  So, while hands-on techniques such as myofascial release, trigger point therapy, deep tissue bodywork or massage therapy could help improve a client’s anatomical position, it would be difficult to maintain any improvements if a kyphoscoliosis individual spends their days walking around like this.

This is why it is critical in neuromuscular therapy appointments to review the client’s activities of daily living, workplace ergonomics, everyday lifestyle habits and more.  This can help you determine if they are doing something that could be harmful to their progress after they leave your treatment room.  Then practitioners can address harmful activities to help prevent a client’s continued digression.  Otherwise, a client might not feel that your therapy is effective or helpful when they do not achieve desired results.

Attempting to correct long term spinal deformities is extremely difficult. It is practically impossible to achieve structural improvement in cases such as structural scoliosis.  Functional scoliosis would prove easier to treat. Each individual and spinal deformity would have a different degree of difficulty or possibility.  A client’s activity outside of your treatment is just as important as the therapy provided inside of it.

If a client with a vertebral spinal deformity is in pain, then pain relief would be an obvious treatment goal.  However, treating the root cause of the pain would create longer lasting results which is why in this case here, we would want to try to even the shoulders into normal anatomical position, if or when possible. This could take years without 100% success.  In this individual’s case, we would consider any postural improvement to be a success and continued digression a possible failure.  Keep in mind that it is difficult in neuromuscular therapy treatments to determine when there is failure because the treatment could have slowed or minimized the client’s digression, and it would be hard to tell otherwise.  One indicator of success versus failure would be if a client terminated their neuromuscular therapy and then rapidly digressed worse than what was happening during treatment, then you’d both know your past treatment(s) were quite successful.

When providing neuromuscular therapy, if we learned our client was walking around with a shoulder bag on their depressed shoulder, we would want to immediately suggest to swap the bag onto their elevated left shoulder, or to not carry anything on their uneven shoulders at all.  We would educate the client that hanging weight on their depressed shoulder could create further depression and deformity, and work against shared treatment goals in neuromuscular therapy.  Although we do need to be a bit careful when making these recommendations because of our licensed scope of practice.  If the client wants greater lifestyle direction beyond a few tips, practitioners such as LMTs and non-autonomous nurses and the like should refer the client to the proper professional who can address any lifestyle improvements to be made as part of their licensed scope of practice.  There are specialty practices that can provide this educated direction.

We hope this visual and written explanation helps define what neuromuscular therapy practice could be for you, beyond the hands-on work itself.  To learn more as a licensed healthcare practitioner who is capable of performing evaluations and soft tissue manipulation, please visit and register for our neuromuscular therapy training at:  https://ceinstitute.com/collections/neuromuscular

How does your massage appointments compare to one of the most well known, upscale brands in the world?  See our Harrods experience below to compare for yourself:

Scheduling a massage appointment at Harrods was quite easy. I physically went to the spa to schedule and to see their facilities. They did not have a printed price list available. Instead, they had a QR Code that I could look up on my cell phone or they could show me the services and prices on their computer. I chose to book a 50-minute Aromatherapy Massage because it was only 10 pounds more than the regular massage price at one hundred twenty pounds in the year 2025. The attendant who scheduled my massage was very kind and patient. She additionally scheduled a salon appointment directly after my massage. She also wrote out an appointment card so that I could remember the appointment date and time. She underlined their phone number to contact in case I had to reschedule or cancel, and she took a 50% deposit on my credit card to hold the appointment.

I showed up two days later for my scheduled appointment and arrived thirty minutes prior to my appointment start time. Check-in for the appointment was standard and easy. I was directed to a small sitting area to wait for my therapist. The therapist pleasantly greeted me early with a smile and brought me to a treatment room with an electric massage table, chairs and waxing equipment. It was a little disappointing to see that the massage table had a hole in it for the face instead of a separate face crest to support the head and neck in pronated position. The therapist had me fill out a health intake form in the treatment room and asked if I wanted water. I accepted the water, and she brought me a bottle and cup while I was filling out my intake form. I wrote that I was seeking a relaxation massage, and the therapist stated she was going to choose the aromatherapy for me, although it was a little difficult to understand what she was saying because of her thick accent.  I asked her which aromatherapy oil she was going to choose from amongst her 4 preblended choices, and she said it would be rose oil for relaxation, which I accepted.

She then asked me to undress to my knickers and get onto the massage table face down. I undressed to my bottom underwear and covered myself with the extra-large bath sheet towel.  Surprisingly, I found the hole in the table where my head was acceptably comfortable when compared to other tables with holes for face rests. The therapist then re-entered the room and turned on the faucet and ran the water for a maximum of three seconds before it stopped.  She started her service shortly after that with hot towels on my pronated feet.  She then proceeded to provide gentle compressions from my feet to my upper back which included the back of legs, hips and full back.  She then performed a little bit of scalp work and some acupressure as well on my posterior cervical area. She proceeded to undrape my back for massage while I laid flat on the table, so I then asked her if she would please bolster my ankles for lower back support.  She quickly agreed and then physically left the treatment room, closing the door behind her to obtain a bolster.  Unfortunately, she was not prepared to properly provide essential bolstering throughout my massage appointment when she had to leave the room to obtain this vital massage accessory.

She re-entered the room within a short period of time, bolstered my ankles, asked if it felt okay, and then proceeded to my back massage.  The back massage initially felt like she was following or clearing meridian lines instead of Swedish massage.  After working both sides of my vertebral spine, she then proceeded into gentle and general massage work, including the traditional effleurage and petrissage Swedish massage therapy.  She checked in about the pressure of her massage almost 15 minutes into the session, and it was good.  The therapist performed very nice posterior cervical massage while I was pronated to finish the back massage.

The treatment room was extremely warm (at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit if not warmer), so during my back massage I asked her to expose my feet and lower legs to make it a little cooler, and she willingly and quickly obliged.

She then proceeded to undrape one posterior leg, then the other as she massaged each leg individually.  All of the work was good with light to moderate pressure as requested.  She draped the large bath sheet by tucking it into the side of my underwear to securely expose each posterior leg.  She then removed my ankle bolster as she prepared herself for supinated massage.

The therapist then lifted the bath sheet into the air, completely exposing me while asking me to roll over into a supinated position.  I rolled over and she placed the towel over my anterior body and a pillow under my head which was comfortable.  She then exposed one anterior leg and started her massage without bolstering my lower extremities again.  I asked her to place a knee bolster under my knees, and she again obliged, appropriately using the same bolster that had already been removed from under my ankles while I was in pronated position.

After each individual leg massage which was appropriately undraped then draped again, she massaged each arm, hand and fingers appropriately. Some of her "strongest" or "best" massage was then executed through the decollete and cervical area while pronated.  She finished the appointment strongly with a nice scalp massage.  Facial massage was not offered nor provided during this 50-minute aromatherapy massage appointment.  When she finished the appointment, she told me I could keep the bottle of water that she left on the sink counter and proceeded to leave the room.  She ended the massage pleasantly but before she closed the door behind her, I stopped her and asked if she could please wipe the oil off the soles of my feet given, I was wearing sandals without socks, and did not want to slip and slide in them post-massage. The therapist again complied and used a hot towel to remove the oil.

Overall, I would rate this 50-minutes aromatherapy massage appointment at Harrods 3.8 stars out of 5 stars.  It was a good massage but there is a significant rating reduction from 5 stars due to the lack of automatic bolstering, which could leave a client feeling less comfortable after their massage appointment than when they started.  The human spine is curved and physically stressed on a flat surface without appropriate knee and ankle bolstering while lying flat in both prone and supine position. The multi-purpose treatment room was not properly stocked when the therapist had to leave it during the service to obtain an essential massage bolster. The deduction from 5 stars continues for leaving heated wax pots uncovered during an aromatherapy massage because the wax odor overpowered the aromatherapy and cognitive olfactory senses. Significant deduction was created further when the provider applied oil to the soles of the feet and did not automatically remove it which creates a safety hazard for a massage establishment and client. The front desk staff, massage therapist and physical contact of the massage provider itself was very good and could easily receive five stars.

MASSAGE FACILITIES

The facilities upon arrival were clean, professional, almost sterile but very modern and beautiful.  I received the massage in an interior room with no window.  The bathroom was extremely clean upon my arrival and fairly filthy when I was leaving the facilities several hours later, after my massage and salon appointment when my services were concluded.  When I was leaving, one of the toilet stalls had a cone in the middle of it to prevent the overflowing water situation from being used or perhaps worsening.  There was trash on the floors in the bathroom which looked like it was not being properly maintained.  The handicap toilet stall appeared to have a hand soap dispenser on both sides of the sink which provides brilliant access to individuals with mobility issues. It also had a high toilet and low sink which is most appropriate and accommodating for handicapped individuals.  I did not see a shower, bath or extra facilities that are usually standard in an upscale spa or massage establishment. I did not change into a robe, and both dressed and undressed in the multi-purpose treatment room.

The front desk to schedule, check-in and check-out for the massage session was clean and fully staffed with pleasant and knowledgeable employees. The sitting area prior to the massage was void of complimentary magazines or reading material, snacks or beverages. There was a small food menu in the waiting area that was left out in the open without instructions. The menu required additional payment for their various offerings, and it was unclear how to exercise it.  It seems fairly awkward that a client would order a sandwich or salad from their massage therapist, which is the only person I saw or spoke to once I was seated in the waiting area.

Recommended changes for the facilities would be:

1. Have massage or bodywork recipients fill out their health intake form in the waiting area instead of inside of an overheated treatment room while sitting next to open wax pots with an unpleasant aroma. 
2. Cover the wax pots in the multi-purpose treatment room. This could reduce the temperature of the overheated room, keep the wax itself more sanitary and diminish some of the unpleasant aroma that the wax creates in that small treatment room.
3. Keep appropriate equipment and accessories in any room where they could be required.
4. Add complimentary snacks, beverages and reading material to the waiting area to create an upscale experience which is expected of Harrods' reputation. The extremely well staffed front desk could certainly attend to the sitting area with these added amenities to keep it upscale, tidy and organized.
5. Provide an appropriate tipping chart for service providers given English standards are different from American and perhaps other countries as well. In London's tourist district where Harrods is located, most of the surrounding businesses include a service charge but apparently Harrods did not.  Without a chart or recommendation, it's awkward and difficult to ascertain what would be appropriate or offensive.
6. Add separate face rests to massage tables for increased cervical or head support and comfort, instead of using tables with a hole cut out for breathing space and pronated position.  While it did not appear there was physical space in the multi-purpose treatment room to add length to the massage table with an added face rest, it would have been best to provide my aromatherapy service in one of the many empty treatment rooms that appeared to be available, especially if they were larger, had face rests and appropriate massage equipment or accessories to provide the session uninterrupted.
7. We do not recommend adding robe service or shower facilities to the appointment which would likely increase the cost of providing or paying for it.

HARRODS MASSAGE APPOINTMENT PROS:

• Caring compassionate contact by the service provider.
• Friendly and accommodating practitioner.
• Provided slightly greater time than the 50-minute advertised appointment.
• Hot towels were available and used with the massage service.
• The massage appointment was very reasonably priced when compared to other local massage establishments, and with the Harrods' name or brand behind the service.

HARRODS MASSAGE APPOINTMENT CONS

• Unpleasant aroma of uncovered wax pots overpowered the smell of the aromatherapy oil and appointment, and likely contributed to the overheating of the room.
• Large bath towel/sheel (instead of "regular"/larger sheet) draping created overexposure while turning from pronated to supinated position.
• Appropriate bolstering was not automatically performed nor readily available/prepared within the treatment room.
• Used oil to perform hand and foot massage.  Massage lotion or cream would be preferred for massage application in these areas.
• Did not automatically remove oil from soles of feet prior to table dismount which creates liability risk if/when client slips and falls.
• Facial massage was not included nor addressed by the service provider.
• Hand washing should be more thorough if the massage therapist's only hand wash prior to the appointment was the 3 second rinse that I physically heard.

Many pathogens including harmful parasites can be microscopic, meaning they are not visible to the naked eye. If your client suggests they have a new unknown itch or rash, it’s always safest to have them see a doctor prior to potentially spreading a harmful infection.  Working on a client with an unknown rash or itch is too big of a risk, given the practitioner could acquire the infection themselves and/or spread it onto other clients.  Even if a practitioner wears gloves, that is not good enough, because parasites or other harmful pathogens could spread into your treatment area causing further infection later on down the road.

Different parasites commonly harbor in different areas of the human body depending on which type of infection is present.  Some integumentary or skin infections may be more prevalent between the fingers while others may harbor in areas of where clothing meets the skin, such as underwear, shirt or pant lines.  Other infections might show a “line” of parasitic infection on human skin, such as what is pictured in this article on the individual's posterior lower leg. 

It is critical to conduct a proper and thorough client intake process before a client disrobes or infects your treatment space.  This would include devising your own written client health intake form for the modalities that you offer or practice.  Most liability insurance companies provide general client health intake forms for free to their customers, and then a practitioner can determine if that form makes sense for their practice, or if it should be modified for their own practical needs with legal counsel or other options. Once the client has filled out their intake form, practitioners should take notes of each treatment provided to ensure the client’s goals are being met for overall quality and improvement measures.  Upon each new client appointment, practitioners should then ask the client if there’s anything new since their last visit, and that is when a practitioner should be notified if a client has a new itch or rash.

If the client does not disclose a new rash or itch (that developed for an unknown reason) until they are on the treatment table, it is probably best to immediately terminate the session until a medical diagnosis is determined that it was not caused by something that could be contagious.  While that may seem inconvenient, continuing the session with a possible contagion puts everyone at higher risk and is ill-advised.

It is also important to prohibit clients from bringing their own linens, cushions and other fabric type items into your work space, given they can be difficult to sanitize and can also harbor harmful pathogens beyond our clients themselves.

CE Institute LLC has extensive hands-on home study courses for licensed health care providers to learn hands-on modalities from the comfort of your own home, at your own pace.  Login 24/7/365 until your course access expires to make training convenient and easy!  Please click the play button on the video below to see more:

One of the best ways to add and maintain loyal customers within your spa or massage business is to offer a membership program that provides exclusive benefits to people who pay a monthly or annual fee. Your business will continue to operate as usual for regular customers while your membership program generates a new source of income.

A membership program offers multiple products and customized experiences to your customers. This makes good business sense because when people have more options they will buy more. By making certain products and experiences exclusive to one segment of your clientele— your members—you will build customer loyalty while maximizing profitability.

People want to feel like they belong. They want to feel special. Your members will experience more services, products and support than when they were nonmembers. A membership program provides a sense of belonging while offering authentic benefits to members.

This is the purpose of a membership program: to increase customer loyalty and business revenue, while the customer benefits from enhanced care.

Management should be thinking of business tips to increase service values, business revenue and brand loyalty, all by offering a membership program. (While you are getting ready to launch your membership program, these ideas can be provided within your regular business model as benefits that are upsold to regular customers.) Making sure benefits are truly special will incentivize customers to join your membership program.

All of your guests should feel pampered; otherwise, you won’t attract or retain enough regular clients—nor enough potential customers to join your membership program—so the benefits you provide should stand above and beyond standard items offered to all customers, to justify becoming a member.

Build a Membership Program

Building a membership program is not a one-size-fits-all experience. Determining which benefits you will offer will be entirely customized to each business’s capability, staff skill levels and licensed capabilities, space limitations and budget.

All businesses should capitalize on any perceived benefits they can offer to their customers. Therefore, one goal of your membership program is to use and maximize what you already have in order to generate added value.

A membership program is an opportunity for a business to highlight its specialties, whether onsite perks, retail or massage-tools investments, exclusive treatment spaces or appointments, or such staff competencies as chair massage, reflexology, aromatherapy and mini treatments that could be included in standard business, or treatments that are only available for special clientele.

To determine if a membership model is a good fit for your business, you can engage in beta testing by asking some of your most loyal customers to trial a membership program for free or at a reduced price. If the program is a success, those customers could be offered a founding-member reduced rate to join your membership program. If the beta test is deemed unsuccessful, this presents you with the opportunity to make changes to the program.

You can start with one level of membership as a trial. When the membership program begins to grow, additional tiers of membership benefits could be offered along with an increasing tiered price-point. 

This is how this works, as one example: A member at tier one receives five basic benefits for $20 per month while a member at tier two receives five basic benefits plus five enhanced benefits for $35 per month.

Once existing business practices and services are recognized and translated into member benefits, then owners and management can get creative and think about additional benefits that can be added to the membership program. In evaluating how to add benefits, it is important to review past successes and leading business models.

To learn more, please register for live business training at our school where you share in questions and answers with a live instructor at:  https://ceinstitute.com/

How a business charges for membership will be entirely up to ownership and/or management. There are many unique factors that must be evaluated, and there is no one national business model that fits all practices.

It is not within the scope of this, or any, article to tell someone how much they should charge for membership because this charge—as with any service or product you sell—is determined by each unique marketplace, treatment space, and staff abilities. There is no one correct formula that can be applied across all healthcare, massage and/or spa establishments. Expecting someone to determine your business’s price points and benefits without an evaluation would be like asking an appraiser to price a home without looking at the home or marketplace!

The author of this article does not offer or sell any type of business marketplace evaluations; in fact, we recommend owners evaluate their own business rather than hire someone to conduct an evaluation because a business owner—you— will understand your own business, marketplace and customer base best, more so than any expert who would have to do copious amounts of research to learn the same.

Different marketplaces and skill levels will command different price points. Some business markets are seasonal, some are saturated, and some are void of competition. The evaluation criteria are endless and must be considered for accurate business direction, especially with business offerings and price points.

As many as 95% of new start-ups do not make it past their first five years of business. Many times those failures are due to poor planning and improper evaluation of the business’s unique abilities and situation.

Also, a successful business model cannot always be copied and applied to a different or new business with hopes of similar success. Each business and marketplace will have its own unique criteria to consider when determining operations.

That Said, Consider These Pricing Models

That said, things to take into consideration when setting your membership pricing, as well as the member-only special fees for services and products you set, include competition pricing in your locality, as well as customer-perceived value for the services and products that will be included in the membership.

Customers should feel like they’re getting something extra when they’re paying extra, and it will be up to the business ledger and customer feedback to determine when an appropriate balance has been achieved.

 The Price-Per-Session Model

One option to consider is the price-per-session model for a membership program. This is the model national massage franchises use.

This is how it works: You charge a certain price for a one-time appointment. For the customer who commits to receiving a set number of sessions per month as a benefit of your membership program, each per-session price is lower than the usual price.

For example, if a member pays $100 for a monthly membership that allows them to pay up-front for three massage sessions to be used within one month at a cost per session of $125 instead of the usual $150, they save $75 per month. Additional perks and benefits of membership will more than make up for the additional $25 paid for a monthly membership fee.

This model incentivizes a customer to join your membership program, which provides a reliable stream of income for your business, while the customer enjoys a discounted rate and benefits from regular body-care sessions.

The Annual Pricing Model

Consider providing a discount if a customer pays for membership for a year in advance versus paying a monthly membership fee.

Some customers might look at an annual membership payment as an excellent way to support your business while also saving money. A 15% savings is an appropriate amount for this discount.

This is how it works: Let’s say your membership program costs $75 per month. That equals $900 per year. 15% off $900 is $135, so a member who pays for an entire year of membership benefits upfront pays just $765.

To learn more, please register for live business training at our school where you share in questions and answers with a live instructor at:  https://ceinstitute.com/