SWITZERLAND. La Prairie is synonymous with luxury. With high-end, high-ticket cosmetics. And, through its Art of Beauty concept, with treatments that take pampering to a completely different level. As the company steps up its focus on the travelling consumer, so the Art of Beauty is being expanded into more leading five-star hotels around the world. Openings this year to date include the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles and the Thermes Marins in Monte-Carlo Рa spa which is available to clients of the luxury H̫tel de Paris, H̫tel Hermitage, the Monte Carlo Beach H̫tel and the H̫tel Mirabeau.
“At the end of this year, The Art of Beauty will be ten years old,” explains La Prairie The Art of Beauty international director Laurence Pibouin. “And from the beginning, we have always believed that the five-star hotels would be a very important network for us, because they enjoy the same type of clientele and provide the same level of luxury and service that we and our customers look for.
“However, as demonstrated by our recent Amenities Program launch (The Moodie Report.com, 18 February), it’s only recently that we have become the brand that proposes a complete global offer to the five-star network – and we believe we are the only brand that can do this at that level.”
La Prairie has worked hard to develop its five-star network in the past two years, and today the circle includes 43 members worldwide. To date the heartland of The Art of Beauty has been Europe (specifically Germany, France and the UK), but the company has now set its sights on breaking the US.
“Our first US opening was with the Ritz-Carlton in New York,” Pibouin explains. “Our second opening – which took place at the beginning of the year – was with the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. It’s quite a small spa, just 250sq m, but it’s very cosy. It’s also the first time that the hotel has boasted a spa; before there was just an outdoor pool and a fitness area.”
Pibouin says that the Beverly Hills Hotel chose La Prairie because “it wanted to get the best brand, as such a place deserves”. But what is La Prairie looking for in its hotel partners? What key criteria must be met before The Art of Beauty is installed?
ON THE RECORD: “WHAT IS KEY FOR US IS TO BE THE SOLE BRAND IN THESE LOCATIONS…WE ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO EXCLUSIVITY – AND SO ARE THE HOTELS – SO IT’S A PERFECT MATCH.” – LAURENCE PIBOUIN
“What is key for us is to be the sole brand in these locations,” Pibouin replies. “Because of course, the business side apart, communication and image are really important. We are very sensitive to exclusivity – and so are the hotels – so it’s a perfect match.”
January was a busy time for La Prairie as it also saw the opening of the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin (pictured left) and the Thermes Marins Spa in Monte Carlo. “The hotel in Berlin is a completely new property of the Ritz-Carlton group”¦and it’s their European flagship, so it’s a key location for them,” comments Pibouin. “The spa there covers 400sq m, and includes four treatment cabins and an indoor pool.”
In line with The Art of Beauty’s emphasis on exclusivity, La Prairie has created a three-hour “Champagne & Caviar” package for the location. The treatment (priced at €250) begins with a 30-minute, full-body massage using La Prairie’s Massage Cream, and is followed by a Caviar Firming Facial. Next comes a manicure and foot beauty treatment. The experience ends with a celebratory glass of Champagne.
“According to the logic of our five-star approach we want to design specific treatments and packages for our five-star locations which are tailored to the hotel or which correspond to the special needs of the hotel’s guest profile,” says Pibouin. “For example, international business hotels and holiday destination hotels are completely different in that their guests don’t have the same amount of time.”
In addition to hotel-specific exclusives, The Art of Beauty is careful to offer a full range of its usual treatments, particularly in locations – such as the Ritz-Carlton Berlin – where the spa is open to local residents in addition to hotel guests.
ON THE RECORD: “WE WANT TO DESIGN SPECIFIC TREATMENTS AND PACKAGES FOR OUR FIVE-STAR LOCATIONS WHICH ARE TAILORED TO THE HOTEL OR WHICH CORRESPOND TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF THE HOTEL’S GUEST PROFILE.” – LAURENCE PIBOUIN
And that’s where gifting is another key business opportunity. “The Art of Beauty offers gift certificates, and of course, a treatment such as the Caviar & Champagne package is a perfect present,” comments Pibouin. “But as you would expect from La Prairie, even our gift certificates are luxurious – we are not just talking about a plain piece of paper. At the Ritz-Carlton New York, for example, our gift certificates are presented in a ribbon-wrapped box, along with a brochure of the spa, so it looks like something really special.”
Monte Carlo’s marine magic
Monte Carlo was another key opening for La Prairie. And, in line with its exclusivity policy, the company has created a specific Art of Beauty “Sea Luxury Treatment” to complement the facility’s marine location.
“As its name suggests, the treatment combines thalassotherapy and the benefits of sea-derived products,” explains Pibouin. “It lasts for an hour-and-a-half, and is priced at €188.”
The treatment begins with the client being wrapped in warmed towels perfumed with La Prairie’s Sea Energy Body Fragrance, followed by an application of Cellular Refining Lotion. Next comes a complete body exfoliation (including feet, hands, arms and hands), using Cellular Buffing Oil. The client is then immersed in a tub full of Mediterranean sea water to detoxify for 20 minutes. This is followed by a total body massage and to finish there is an application of La Prairie’s Skin Caviar Luxe Body Cream.
“Monte-Carlo, and indeed all three openings this year to date, were great developments for us,” commented Pibouin. “They all had everything we look for: exclusive locations, with renowned hotels/spas where we are if possible the sole brand, plus a tailor-made service.”
And the company is already looking forward to the second half, where it will open a 2,000sq m spa – with 17 treatment rooms – at the Ritz-Carlton in Grand Cayman. This will be the first La Prairie Art of Beauty location in the Caribbean.
The US$400 million Grand Cayman project will encompass 365 guest rooms and suites, and 69 oceanfront condominiums. There will also be two Olympic-sized swimming pools, and a Greg Norman-designed nine-hole golf course.
“The hotel is still under construction, but it is scheduled to open this Fall,” says Pibouin. “We have not yet made the final decision on specific treatments, but there is likely to be something themed around sun, sea and/or hydrotherapy, as this is a vacation, not business, destination.”
So far Grand Cayman is the only opening slated for The Art of Beauty in the second half, a fact that Pibouin is very much at ease with. “Our target is qualitative,” she emphasises. “That will be our 44th location, and to date we are in some of the best locations throughout the world. What we want to do is improve our existing partnerships in these locations, and expand always in quality as opposed to quantity terms.”
ON THE RECORD: “WE WANT TO IMPROVE OUR EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS, AND EXPAND ALWAYS IN QUALITY AS OPPOSED TO QUANTITY TERMS.” LAURENCE PIBOUIN
But who exactly benefits from all this quality? Are such top-end treatments the sole preserve of “ladies who lunch” or is The Art of Beauty’s client profile much broader than that?
“The majority of our spa customers are female, but it’s changing,” says Pibouin. “The split is about 80% women, 20% men – and we definitely get more men in the hotel spas than we do in our beauty salons.”
Accordingly, the company has created a treatment specifically for its male clientele, called Swiss Cellular Treatment for Men. This is said to detoxify or soothe, cleanse and exfoliate. It lasts for one hour and is priced at €110. “This is popular with men who are not so accustomed to treatments,” remarks Pibouin. “But we also have men who are used to taking care of their skin and they come in and request a Caviar Firming Facial [one-and-a-half hours long, €160]. They want perfection and sophistication.”
Targeting the traveller
Grand Cayman might be the only full Art of Beauty opening in the second half, but Pibouin will be involved in La Prairie’s first stand-alone store in travel retail, set to open in September/October at Zurich airport in conjunction with The Nuance Group (The Moodie Report.com, 13 November). The outlet will measure about 45sq m and will be located in the new Airside Centre.
“The store will have a cabin, but for complimentary mini-treatments only,” says Pibouin. “We don’t want to sell the services there. What we will offer is a free service for the guests. And we are working on treatments that are tailored to the needs of travellers.”
Most companies, across all product sectors, wax long and lyrically about “targeting the travelling consumer more closely” and “increasing brand exposure”. La Prairie is not just talking the talk, but walking the walk as well.
It is expanding its presence in travel retail perfumeries; it is poised to open its first stand-alone store which could well pave the way for others; and last November it came out of the store and toured the terminals of Frankfurt airport dispensing samples on silver platters as part of its Art of Connection initiative (The Moodie Report.com, 13 November 2003). Outside the airport, it is nailing travellers in their hotels, via its Art of Beauty installations, and its new Amenities Program which is now being expanded to encompass selected five-star hotels, luxury cruise ships and beauty/fitness spas.
Even in sleep there is no respite: as part of selected hotels’ “˜turn-down’ service, guests will be left a small jar of La Prairie’s Cellular Night Cream on their pillows. And participating hotels are now offering a “˜Beauty Butler’ service in the form of a bedside “˜menu’ of additional La Prairie treatment products. Guests will be invited to select solutions to specific problems – for example, dried-out, jet-lagged skin – and telephone the hotel concierge with their requests. A beauty butler will then deliver the appropriate La Prairie treatments on a silver platter.
In short, the Swiss bliss is everywhere – or rather everywhere the jet-set go, stay and shop. And La Prairie is determined to lavish luxury on these prestige travellers in ever more innovative ways for a long time to come.
