Spring 2019

71 The Odyssey Spa :A Journey to Excellence The Odyssey Spa, based in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, offers the ultimate luxury experience through a combination of their noted expertise and partnership with ELEMIS – an award winning British skincare brand. Last month, Odyssey was named among the winners of LUXlife Magazine’s 2019 Leaders in Luxury programme as offering the Most Outstanding Spa Day in Hertfordshire. Eager to find out more, we spoke with the spa’s Director, Tiffany Harding- Aucott, who revealed some of Odyssey’s secrets. For over nine years, The Odyssey Spa has excelled through a dedication to providing a truly luxury experience and a honed expertise in health, beauty and wellness. Catering to the most discerning of clientele and guests, the spa provides a large selection of treatments, from facials and traditional massage to manicures and detox scrubs. As Tiffany was quick to emphasise, this is but the tip of the iceberg for a spa that has always aimed for nothing short of perfection. “We have ten treatment rooms, a beautiful Moroccan-themed relaxation room, nail and make-up bar, as well as a 25m pool with a sauna and steam room poolside. We invest a huge amount in training, with all our spa team trained correctly and methodically in every treatment they carry out. Our new Spa Manager Laura is our in-house ELEMIS master training and is fanatical on correct routines and skin and product knowledge. Our client journey is the most important part of our spa, and we try to make every part from check in to department a truly 5-star experience.” As the conversation moves to The Odyssey’s enviable reputation in the health and beauty sector, Tiffany takes a moment to discuss the hard work of her staff and the role that they all play in ensuring that the spa’s high standards are always met. “Well there’s me, and I’m Spa Director. I’ve been a therapist for twenty years and love retail, though I’m not in treatments anymore, so I’m in charge of retail training and the little things that makes a client’s journey special. I also do all of the marketing. There’s also my Spa Manager Laura, who is in charge of treatments, training and standards. I then have a team of Senior Therapists to Junior Therapists who look after the clients. We all work extremely hard to ensure we deliver an amazing experience for our clients and aim to be the best at what we do. Everyone’s role is important, and I would say I have one of the best teams in the industry.” “Without my amazing, hardworking team, The Odyssey Spa wouldn’t be where it is now, and wouldn’t have experienced the growth that it has. They all work incredibly hard and I’m very lucky to have them in my team.” Like many of their peers, The Odyssey Spa prefers to forge their own path, trusting in their ability to not only predict the ‘next big thing’ but to perfect the ones that have come before, and potentially create new trends in turn. “I think we are quite up to date with most things, it’s quite easy to try and get every new treatment that is in fashion, but sometimes it’s best to do less and be the best at it. I hear a lot about how retailing is hard and that product houses are selling more and more online, but I feel this only makes our jobs easier. Like I say to my team, “there’s no point having an amazing new product if no one knows about it”. We have been very lucky having seen a 600% growth over the past nine years, and have partnered with ELEMIS, so there are exciting times ahead.” “Ultimately, we always follow our own path. We plan a year ahead and only occasionally will we add something new if we feel it will be worth the time training the team.” Finally, Tiffany comments on the future of The Odyssey on the back of their impressive growth. “We have just invested £500k in new Technogym equipment for the gym. Plans for a large Jacuzzi have been drawn up. Later in the year we have plans to build a mind and body studio, private spa dining, ELEMIS shop and a Spa Pod. We also have the whole team on Wellness for Cancer training, which unfortunately we are seeing more and more of our friends and clients in need of.” Company: The Odyssey Spa Contact: Tiffany Harding-Aucott Address: Old Knebworth Lane, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 8DU, United Kingdom Website: www.odysseyspa.com Nov18831 Pampering