Feeling burnt out? Time for a manly facial

From ‘executive’ pedicures for CEOs to golf-themed massages, spas are coming over all macho by Tom Chesshyre, August 14 2017, The Times

At the Man Spa at the Adler Thermae hotel in Tuscany the options for burnt-out male executives seeking to re-energise are many, varied, sumptuous and eyebrow-raising. Not to mention pricey.

After a morning’s hike in the hills, recommended to get the circulation going, therapists suggest that tired chief executives head straight for a treatment room for a gentle spot of “fangotherapy”, involving being wrapped in “bioactive volcanic mud containing zeolith”. The mud is claimed to loosen muscles, especially after a good walk (20 minutes, €47, or £43).

Next up it’s time for an “anti-ageing facial with vegetable melatonin extracted from sage, oats and yarrow”. A snip at a mere €127 for 50 minutes — and very soothing. Then it’s on to the Vichy bed, with water jets, for an “anti-stress massage” using almond oil (45 minutes, €79).

After lunch in the health-conscious restaurant, private fitness coaching is available (45 minutes, €60). Therapists advise booking a package of one-on-one classes during your three-night, €734 stay. And if, by the end of your holiday, you feel like indulging in a final rub-down, the Man Spa people suggest a good old-fashioned sports massage (50 minutes, €79) followed by a wallow in a bath of cream infused with camomile, vervain and lavender (75 minutes, €125).

Spa holidays among men, not just exhausted executives, are booming. Across Europe and the UK — and particularly in the United States — hotel spa directors have recognised that there is a growing market for blokes who no longer regard spa breaks as the preserve of groups of female friends seeking manicures and pedicures while lounging around in gowns.

Health and Fitness Travel, a leading specialist in wellness breaks, says bookings by men have increased by 48 per cent in the past five years, with yoga, meditation and spa treatments now de rigueur and no longer regarded as “sissy”. A decade ago men almost exclusively booked sports-focused holidays involving golf, tennis or trekking. Now the focus is on “stress relief, weight loss and mind healing”.

And it’s not just metrosexuals signing up. “In today’s ever more liberal society it’s becoming more socially acceptable for men to escape on a wellness holiday where they can take part in masculine activities like boxing and HIIT [high-intensity interval training] before recovering with massages or spa treatments,” says Denise Teh of Health and Fitness Travel, who believes there has been a societal shift away from “ultra-masculine men” to those who are aware of the benefits of pampering.

Overseas packages do not come cheap. A week’s full-board trip with Health and Fitness Travel, including flights and an intense fitness programme of mountain biking, boot-camp training, box-ercise classes, massages and body exfoliation in the Algarve, starts at £2,080 per person at the Epic Sana Algarve Hotel. A seven-night stay at the Atmantan Wellness Resort in Hadashi in the Indian state of Maharashtra is from £2,835 per person with flights, all meals, boot-camp training, massages and private meditation classes. Body wraps, foot reflexology, aromatherapy baths and “sleep ritual” baths are also available.

The trend for mini-breaks in the UK is especially strong, with hotels such as Chewton Glen in the New Forest and Cliveden in Berkshire targeting men seeking to de-stress. Over the past decade the hotels, which are part of the same hotel group and are known for their wide-ranging spa facilities, report an increase in bookings made by men on their own — as opposed to men booking treatments alongside partners — from about one or two a month to 40.

However, Kerry Hudson, the spa director at Chewton Glen and Cliveden, believes that there remains a residual male reluctance to take to the massage table. “I guess there is still a stigma about going to spas among some men. Some gents get it; some don’t. Those who don’t are missing out,” Hudson says. “In this world in which people rarely switch off, spas are a sanctuary. We try to encourage people to leave their mobiles in the locker.”

Treatments are sometimes tailored to men with descriptions such as “deep-tissue massage” or “strong, powerful massage”, but Hudson says: “A good therapist will simply adapt a facial or a massage to whoever they are treating. Facials for men, for example, aim to open pores to help with shaving.”

Corporate groups have become big business for chi-chi spas in California and Arizona. At the Cal-a-Vie health spa in southern California the proportion of men attending some corporate spa events — booked by companies for team-building and to provide digital detox and relaxation weekends — has been as high as 90 per cent.

Such packages are also offered at Chewton Glen, often with a lot of men taking them. “We add more male-orientated options such as personal training and tennis,” Hudson says. “You have to sell these breaks a bit harder to gents who often want to be active rather than simply relax. We have to teach them to relax as much as possible.”

But some male guests at spa hotels need little prompting. Hence the success, for example, of the Men’s Grooming Club at Ockenden Manor in West Sussex. As well as deep-tissue massages using hot stones and lemongrass, nutmeg and rosemary (£99 for an hour), guests can luxuriate with “hot-oil acupressure scalp massages” (£82 for 45 minutes), enjoy body scrubs using macadamia nuts, papaya, cucumber and watermelon seeds (£82 for 45 minutes) or try an “executive pedicure” for £52. These are said to be “ideal for when your feet are in need of a little TLC”.

The use of the word “executive” when describing male spa treatments is widespread. At the Swan hotel at Lavenham in Suffolk “Go Guy Male Executive” facials are offered. “This macho facial is perfect to revive, refresh and invigorate,” says the spa menu. “Your skin will be revitalised with a deep brush cleanse and an exfoliating mask.”

Meanwhile, Bovey Castle in Devon has introduced treatments aimed at tired male golfers that involve dipping golf balls in essential oils before rolling them along shoulders and arms. Whatley Manor in Wiltshire has also brought in a golf-ball treatment, which it says improves circulation and eases joint pain. The price is £95 an hour (more than the cost of a round of golf in many places). And the Dolphin Square hotel in London has another treatment for men: a 25-minute “Arabian beard ritual” designed to cleanse the faces of hipsters (£45).

It seems as though spas are bending over backwards to satisfy the new male spa-goer. Thermae Bath Spa says that of its 290,000 visitors last year 34 per cent were men (96,000 men), and it has introduced facials that have apparently proved a hit with some of the Bath rugby union team. So, it would seem, it’s OK to be male and macho . . . and love spas too.