YOUR AD HERE »

Coming soon: Glenwood’s new spa

Phillip Yates
Glenwood Springs correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado
Chad Spangler Post Independent
ALL |

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Glenwood’s new spot for pampering is expected to open late this summer ” about a year after construction on the project began.

The best-case scenario for the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool’s new 17,000-square-foot spa to open is either Aug. 15 or Sept. 5, said Kjell Mitchell, general manager of the resort.

It will be a soft opening ” when staff will be in training mode and will fix any glitches that might pop up. The official grand opening of the facility is expected to come about two to three weeks later. Construction began in October.



The spa will focus on authenticity and natural healing, and includes nine massage treatment rooms and one wet treatment room that includes a vichey shower, Mitchell said.

The spa’s locker rooms will have different amenities. In the women’s locker room, there will be three tub treatment rooms, where women can indulge in a mineral salt treatment. The men’s locker room will have two tub treatment rooms, but they “get a fireplace and a flat-screen television,” Mitchell said.




There also are two couple treatment rooms in the new spa.

Earlier this month, Avalon Lionheart signed on as the new spa director at the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool. Her responsibilities include operations management, spearheading the spa’s pre-opening development, and choosing the treatments and spa packages.

Kate Collins, vice president of tourism marketing for the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, said Glenwood Springs already is known as a place to relax, and the new spa at the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool will augment that reputation.

“We have been known as the spa in the Rockies for [more than] 100 years,” Collins said. “It is natural timing for a full-service, upscale spa to come on.”

Collins added that the sale of spa treatments at other facilities in her association’s central reservation system are popular.

“Having another spa just benefits the spa business overall in Glenwood,” Collins said.

Mitchell said construction work on the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool’s new spa has been progressing “OK.”

When construction began at the 120-year-old property, he and workers encountered surprises that have affected the scheduled completion of the spa.

“You discover you have to do more things than you originally planned or the contractor had envisioned,” Mitchell said. “That is the case here.”

Some of the snags construction crews have hit during the remodeling have included additional floor leveling and walls that needed to be replaced.

“You might uncover [a floor] and discover that although the construction in the 1880s was great for when it was done, but after 100 years, it is probably a good idea to replace [the wood],” Mitchell said. “You really don’t know those things until you open things up.”

Mitchell admitted that business is down from previous years, but he attributed that to the ongoing construction and the plentiful days of snowfall during the past winter.

He added that higher gas prices this summer may be a boon to business.

“There are some predictions that people will take shorter trips and Glenwood Springs would be strategically situated from the Denver market,” Mitchell said.

pyates@postindependent.com