Meet the men behind Oasis Spa

”We offer a beautiful space and indulgent pampering treatments to awaken your zest for life” one reads on the website of famous Oasis Spa in Thailand. Now, who does not want to awaken his zest for life, I wonder?

This, equally confident and tempting, statement of course had to be experienced with real eyes, body, and mind. Therefore, I went to the Oasis Spa’s Bangkok branch, to find out if my dreams of a total relaxing experience really could come true.  Follow me, as I gradually understood the real meaning behind the words “true relaxing experience”.

When entering the lush private garden of Oasis Spa Bangkok it is hard to believe that you are actually in the middle of the bustling city, only a short walk away from the Premier Minister’s house. The sound of traffic on nearby Sukhumvit is suddenly transformed to the soothing sound of pouring water and bird song. I am greeted by sheer smiles from the staff, which bring me to my private villa for a four-hand treatment. This treatment, together with the King of Oasis and the Ayurveda package are the most popular treatments at Oasis Spa. After enjoying the private outdoor shower I am directed to lie down on a bed, and thereafter I gradually transform into a state of utter relaxation and comfort, as the two therapists massage me with the outmost meticulousness, to make sure that their individual movements leave the same pressure and movement on my body. The one-hour treatment passes too fast, and it is with a heavenly feeling that I unwillingly leave my state of peacefulness.

After the treatment I am once more taken through the beautiful garden to enjoy a refreshing cup of tea and a chat with the serviceable and amiable staff. I decide to accept their offer of letting Oasis Spa’s private driver assist me back to the Bangkok Skytrain. At the train station, I am once again surrounded by the noise of the traffic and passer-by ‘s on the street. But the feeling of outmost tranquillity is left in my body during the rest of the day.

But who is then the envisioning force and originator behind this unique and award winning centre for wellbeing? Mr. Toby Allen, one of the two founders, tells me. “I am actually an engineer by profession but have always been interested in other cultures and have travelled to over 70 countries. When coming to Chiang Mai I was in charge of an orphanage for three years. Slowly, the idea of starting a small foot massage parlour came to me.” When facing customers, he and his business partner, Khun Pakin Playphicha, realized the need to create more a complete customer experience. Slowly, the small massage studio expanded to a spa, featuring outdoor showers, Jacuzzi, steam bath and beautiful private treatment villas – all set in scenic lush surroundings.

Pakin Ployphicha and Toby Allen at Glow 2010.

During the recent medical tourism congress Glow 2010, held in Kuala Lumpur in May, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Toby Allen and Khun Pakin Ployphicha. By combining their business and marketing expertise they have developed Oasis Spa with its five branches to one of the fastest growing and most successful spa organizations in Thailand.

You have a very definite philosophy behind Oasis Spa – has this philosophy developed over time?

Our philosophy stands on two corner stones: letting our customers enjoy the tranquillity of a garden villa spa in the middle of a bustling city, and value for money. We give our customers a five-star hotel spa product, at a four-star spa price.

Your business has grown fast, and Oasis Spa currently has five branches in four cities. What is next?

Well, we started with a small spa in Chiang Mai and developed that market first. When the market grew, we opened up another spa in the city. Due to our longevity in Chiang Mai, this is still our strongest market. Back when we started the business, there were very few other spas in Chiang Mai that could deliver what we wanted to give our customers. Many had invested in the facilities, but not in the human resources, which is the most vital element for any spa customer. At Oasis Spa, we try to give our customers a full experience, carefully thought trough, in everything from the facilities, the ambience, the room temperature, the volume of the music, the aroma, and the gentle touch of our therapists. We believe that the spa experience starts as soon as the customer leaves their home to visit our spa; therefore we also offer free transport to and from the spa, a service that about 60-70% of our customers employ.

Could you try to define an Oasis Spa experience?

For us it is important to meet the customer’s expectation, and take them beyond that. The highlight of a visit to the Oasis Spa is of course the actual treatment, but as I mentioned before, we pay careful attention to every small part of their visit. We are also very meticulous in finding the right therapists. They have to be comfortable and relaxed, but at the same time act very professional. For instance; at Oasis Spa, the same therapist does all the treatments in a package on the same customer. This is to make the customer feel relaxed and secure.

You are very meticulous with having the right therapists; are these hard to find?

It is very difficult to find good therapists. We always hire them because of their personality, not skill. Then we train them ourselves. In Chiang Mai we have an academy that does all the training. The course lasts for a few months, but then we pair them up with a more experienced therapist that they have to work with and learn from for a long time. As a spa therapist, you learn for life, and therefore we are careful with having ongoing schooling for all our therapists. We have about 90 therapists employed at the moment, and the entire organization has about 180 employees. We are a young organization filled with creativity. For us, attitude and personality is everything.

Can you tell us a little about your spa menu?

We try to have the same comprehensive and innovative spa menu at all our locations. Every year, we add two new treatments to the menu. We of course also offer different kinds of packages. One of our most popular treatments is the Golden Lanna Massage. Pakin spent a year just developing the right kind of music together with a composer for this treatment! This treatment is really over the top, with two therapists using gold flakes on the customer’s body during the massage.

Our normal four-hand massage is also very popular, and very technically advanced. The two therapists have to train together for a long time to make sure that the movements and amount of pressure is exactly the same. The King of Oasis is also very liked. This treatment uses a combination of thai-massage, hot compress and aroma massage. It is a very strong massage that really softens up the muscles.

Where do most of your clients come from?

It depends on the season and location. We have many Thais visiting our spas, and many Europeans. About 10% of our customers are American, and another 10% are Japanese. The great thing with being a day spa is that you get customers from everywhere!

What is the next plan for Oasis Spa?

We want to focus more on training and expanding our own academy. We want to give other spas the opportunity to send their therapists to Oasis Spa Academy, so that new ideas and experiences can be exchanged.

Finally, why should customers choose Thailand as a destination for their spa treatment?

Easy – for the value for money, quality of treatments and quality of service.

And why should customers choose Oasis Spa?

Simply, because we are the best on all those things!

And for the record; was my “zest for life awakened” ? You bet!!!

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For more information about the Oasis Spas, visit their website:

www.chiangmaioasis.com

Chiang Mai Branch:
Address: 102 Sirimangkalajarn Road, Chiang Mai 50200

Tel: 053 815000,

Website: http://www.chiangmaioasis.com

Business Hours: Open daily. Private villas for treatments.

Bangkok Branch:

Address: 64 Soi Swaddee Sukhumvit 31 Road, Phrakanong, Bangkok 10100

Tel: 02-262-2122 ext:

Website: http://www.bangkokoasis.com

Business Hours: 10.00 AM – 10.00 PM

Tags: Allen, ayurveda, Bangkok, Chiang, GLOW 2010, golden, lanna, Mai, massage, Novasans, Oasis, Pakin, Playphicha, spa, Thailand, Toby, treatment, wellness