Rittenhouse Hotel gets serious about its spa

The renovation of the Rittenhouse Hotel is now complete, with the new Rittenhouse Spa & Club-Hair by Paul Labrecque. Of the nearly $12 million invested in overhauling the hotel, $5 million was spent on the spa and fitness center, which counts among its competition spas at the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, the Borgata in Atlantic City, and Woodloch in the Poconos.

Even if they aren't hotel guests or residents of one of the 125 condos at the Rittenhouse, spa customers will be able to use the new locker rooms, sauna, and an indoor swimming pool that leads to an outdoor deck and lounge. Food from the hotel's restaurants is also available.

Reviews of the old Rittenhouse Spa said it felt tired, like a dingy YMCA, was not open at convenient hours, and was not up to the standards of a world-class hotel. The new, nearly 15,000-square-foot facility, dedicated to beauty, health, and wellness, aims to fix that.

The renovation was designed by Richardson Sadeki and Philadelphia-based BLT Architects, known for its work on the Cira Centre, Suburban Station, and the Union League.

"We wanted it to be an urban resort," said Jay Shah, who with brother Neil runs Hersha Hospitality Trust, which owns the Rittenhouse Hotel.

Said Neil Shah: "We spend a lot of time traveling around the world, and we wanted a resort that rivaled those of hotels in New York and London." Such upscale retreats as the Peninsula Spa in Chicago, Spa Acqualina in Miami, and the spa at the Montage in Beverly Hills are in the Rittenhouse's peer set, he said.

Featuring eight treatment rooms and a couple's room, the new Rittenhouse Spa will carry skin-care products by Tata Harper and Natura Bissé, among others.

Its first-ever spa suite can provide services for couples and small groups. For parties of up to eight people - such as weddings, small corporate events, bridal showers, and bachelorette parties - it features a dressing area, bathroom, rain showers, two treatment beds, and meals.

The "wellness" trend is also on offer: Manicurist Deborah Lippmann omits toluene, formaldehyde, DBP, or any product that requires animal testing, and the spa offers Thai, reflexology, and prenatal massage. If you stay at the hotel, you can order a "butlered bath service" a la Downton Abbey.

The Rittenhouse Spa & Club also hopes to lure local members away from the Bellevue and other high-end fitness clubs with classes and trainers. But those won't come cheap: Membership starts with a $1,000 initiation fee and a $225 ongoing monthly fee, though members will get discounts on spa services and packages.

As residents of Philadelphia themselves, the Shahs said they also wanted a place where they would feel comfortable receiving men's grooming treatments and spending time with their friends. So they added a gentlemen's barbershop offering haircuts, scalp therapy, facial trims, head shaves, hot-foam straight-edge razor shaves, facials, and sports manicures and pedicures.

At least one thing differentiates the Shahs from some other spa operators: They answer not only to spa connoisseurs but to shareholders. Hersha Hospitality Trust is a public company, a self-advised real estate investment trust that owns and operates 51 hotels, with more than 8,000 rooms, in locations such as New York, Boston, Washington, and Miami, as well as on the West Coast.

Rittenhouse Spa & Club also is riding an industry wave. In its 2014 Trends Report, industry website SpaFinder Wellness 365 says "urban wellness retreats" are on a major growth track because of "relentless urbanization."

In 1950, the report says, citing United Nations data, 29 percent of the world's population was urban; in 2005, it was 49 percent. Today, the report says. "more than half of humanity calls an urban area home."

With more people of means moving into Center City's luxury condos, the Shahs said, the new Rittenhouse Spa and other spas could benefit from stressed-out city dwellers willing to spend.

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