Spa splash

The Taj Group of Hotels wants to make an all-round splash with spa services across its entire hotel network.

The Indian hospitality major Taj Group of Hotels is set to turn all its luxury hotels into spa hotels over the next three-four years. At the moment, 18 of its 60 hotels and resorts worldwide have spas, all operating under the brands Jiva and Jiva Grand.

Taj hotels in Udaipur and Jodhpur, apart from Hyderabad's Falaknuma Palace, Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel, Madlives' Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, and Mauritius' Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, are some of the present hotels with full-fledged spas.

Jiva Grand is the group's top-end spa, with an area of more than 10,000 sq ft (smaller ones are just Jiva). "Our business hotels would be expanded with Jiva spas, and the luxury resorts will be expanded with Jiva Grand spas," says Raymond Bickson, managing director, Indian Hotels.

Starting the service is not simply a matter of space accommodation, though. It requires a wide range of specialised skills, and Taj aims to recruit and train 500-600 new employees as service providers and masseurs for the purpose.

The plan includes an investment of about Rs 100-200 crore in the project. "There is tremendous interest among Indian tourists and business travellers in spas," observes Bickson, "Earlier, spas used to cater to foreign tourists, and at huge resorts. Now even business hotels are expanding services with spas for visiting delegates."

But does Jiva differentiate itself from other such services available?

It would take a visit to find out. Aromatherapy with herbal oils, body polish and scrub services, massages and mud baths are considered par for the course nowadays.