This month’s Spa of the Month:

Turning Urban Chaos Into Calm…

Emerge Spa and Salon, Boston, MA

by Susan Sonner

Boasting a staggering 12 million visitors each year, Boston, MA, is the most popular travel spot in New England. With travelers from across the country and around the globe making the historic city their destination of choice for both business and pleasure, it is the perfect location for the birth of a new concept in beauty and wellness to take root. In April 2006, Emerge Spa and Salon answered the call, and proudly opened its majestic mahogany, iron and glass doors to launch Boston’s first urban destination spa.
Founder and owner Joyce Hampers was no stranger to the spa business, having already created Giuliano (now known as G2O Spa and Salon), another Boston based spa, when the “day spa” trend was just beginning. She helped establish the industry on Boston’s famed Newbury Street in the early 90s, and used her experience and vision of a “one-stop shopping” emporium for beauty and wellness to guide her in the meticulous planning of Emerge Spa and Salon.

Joyce Hampers designed the Men’s Club to be a private space set apart from the general spa areas where men would feel comfortable and welcomed.

Located in the prestigious Back Bay of Boston at 275 Newbury Street, Emerge is housed in a magnificent five level historic building that has been handsomely renovated to blend Asian influences with European design. The Emerge experience begins from the moment you walk through the stately doors, leaving the noisy, urban street and daily cares behind. Visitors are welcomed and surrounded by natural elements from the cool stone floors to the warm mahogany wood, beautiful floral arrangements, tiles and textiles. Staff members are gracious, thoughtful, professional and reassuring. Every thought, design, program and service offered is developed with client needs and solace in mind to create a feeling of truly reaching a destination where one can begin to relax and feel pampered. Emerge strives to create more than just a feeling of indulgence, but also the satisfying sense of being replenished and recharged.
Dedicated to providing a grand experience in an environment of unparalleled luxury and sophistication, Emerge welcomes guests into its well-planned layout that includes a generous and airy retail space, a nail and makeup area, a hydrotherapy center, a VIP suite, the Fireside Lounge and Café, the Roof Garden, beautifully appointed treatment rooms, men’s and women’s private locker/shower facilities and the unique and exclusive Men’s Club.

Male centric

The Men’s Club at Emerge Spa and Salon was a stroke of genius designed to answer the growing demand of local and visiting male clients who had previously had to make do with slightly masculine modifications to a service menu geared towards female clientele. Joyce Hampers designed the Men’s Club to be a private space set apart from the general spa areas where men would feel welcomed and comfortable enough to turn themselves over to the same mind and body benefits from spa treatments that women had been enjoying for so long. Says owner Joyce Hampers, “When we first started out in this business, maybe 10 percent of our clients were men. Now men make up about 35 percent of our clientele, and we’ve devoted more than 800 square feet to them alone.” The crown jewel of the Men’s Club is its classic men’s lounge with windows looking out high above tony Newbury Street, its warm mahogany wood-paneled walls, bluestone tile, graphite grey, tweed carpeting and stylish European fixtures and furnishings. This comfortable and unabashedly masculine environment is the setting for a full complement of men’s services, including shaving and grooming, sports manicures and pedicures and a hair salon that offers cutting and coloring as well as soothing scalp treatments. The airy space provides a very comfortable lounge to take a snack or lunch, or await the next service while monitoring sports scores on the room’s flat screen television. The Men’s Club also provides Internet access for those clients who do not wish to be completely disconnected from the real world.

Two private treatment rooms accommodate spa services geared towards men including a Sports Massage, Gentlemen’s Facial and the Gentlemen’s Kur.

Grooming and health are the two main focus points of the extensive treatment list available to men at Emerge. They begin their experience with private men-only locker and shower facilities fully stocked with soft, dark masculine robes, towels, shave essentials and men’s products. Without having to change floors, they have access to steam, massage and esthetics rooms, all within a few feet of the men’s lounge. Emerge recommends that each clientboth men and womenbegin their spa journey by arriving 20 to 30 minutes prior to a scheduled appointment time to enjoy the benefits of taking the waters. They begin with a brief rinse off (approximately five minutes) in the private shower facilities to refresh the body and awaken the senses and then gently pat dry, leaving skin slightly moist. Next, clients move to the steam room for a brief heated hydration (three to five minutes), allowing the body’s temperature to continue to heat and the skin to soften. They robe up and go back to the lounge for a few minutes prior to their treatment, allowing the body to return to homeostasis. Emerge recommends sipping at least eight ounces of water during this relaxation time before the treatment begins.

This state-of-the-art spa therapy combines the effects of steam, shower, waterfall, aromatherapy and color therapy.

Extensive treatment menu

Two private treatment rooms accommodate spa services geared towards men including a Sports Massage, a Gentlemen’s Facial and the Gentlemen’s Kur, along with a complete list of waxing, shaving and hair treatments. Of course, there is an additional extensive but targeted list of signature Emerge services available to men including the many Kur treatments, body rituals, Turkish Scrub, body wraps and a wide variety of massages and relaxation therapies such as reiki, Rain Drop Therapy, reflexology, Craniosacral Therapy, ear candling and facials. Emerge is also well-known for its Hydrostorm patented water treatment facility. The state-of-the-art spa therapy enclosure accommodates up to two people standing, sitting or lying down. It combines the effects of steam, shower, waterfall, aromatherapy and color therapy through internal control systems so that clients can customize their experience for optimal relaxation, enjoyment and health effects.
Of course, men are also welcome in the more traditional treatment areas at Emerge and may choose from a full range of couples services, designed for a day of bonding and wellness. Along with a generous retail and reception/lounge area, the first floor houses a discreet nail center for classic or deluxe manicures and pedicures, along with more specialized treatments such as the Moor Mud Pedicure, paraffin hydrating hand and foot treatments and the popular French Mani/Pedi. Adjacent to the center is a private room for makeup application and makeovers.

Including the ladies

The second floor of Emerge opens into a bright, warm and welcoming salon space buzzing with activity, overlooking Newbury Street. Eight chairs accommodate the best and brightest stylists/colorists, called upon for all types of hair services, including cutting, coloring, highlighting, blow-outs, hair extensions and scalp treatments. With more than 70 salons on Newbury Street alone, attention to the customer and one-on-one consultation are what make Emerge stylists stand out. Each client leaves satisfied, with a complete understanding of how to use the correct products and tools to recreate their new style at home. On this floor, Emerge has several massage rooms, including a large couples massage room that is designed to be calming and muted for complete relaxation and balance. Hydrostorm, the water experience that focuses on the four senses to detoxify, relieve stress, increase circulation and strengthen the immune system is offered here.
Women of course are treated to their own private locker/shower facility, featuring products and a private lounge with fresh beverages and fruit. Soft, luxurious robes and slippers wrap each client in comfort. The third floor also accommodates the sauna, steam room and hydro-tub. The Men’s Club and its private facilities are adjacent.

Communal areas

To encourage true relaxation and a leisurely pace, Emerge Spa and Salon created several meeting areas designed to be used communally for a peaceful break in the midst of a spa day. Clients can choose from the Fireside Lounge and Café, a real treat in the New England winter, featuring a working fireplace, voluptuous seating and a healthful and delicious luncheon menu or, in the warmer months, the Rooftop Garden. The outdoor garden retreat is a calm and inviting piece of heaven. Perched high above bustling Newbury Street, away from the noise and congestion, clients can relax in a chaise lounge, take in the sun or recline in the shade of the elegantly manicured garden, open to the Boston skyline. Enjoy the warm day breezes and greenery between services while enjoying lunch or take a beverage under an umbrella. The seasoned and discerning spa goer appreciates the amazing design of Emerge, which creates an atmosphere of quiet and well-being, a luxurious escape without ever actually leaving the city. Many area businesses and groups book their functions in the elegant lounge.
Of course, for the well-heeled client, celebrity or the couple who want to create a one-day getaway, Emerge offers the VIP Suite, a cozy and fully accommodated suite featuring an Italian marble bath with a whirlpool for two, wet bar, esthetics room, massage room, private key card access, concierge service and amazing views of the Hancock Tower and Boston. Often, clients use the suite as their private base while enjoying a day of services.

For the well-heeled client, celebrity or the couple who want to create a one-day getaway, Emerge offers the VIP Suite.

Emerge to face the world

Each element of this world-class facility was meticulously planned to create the feeling of a private luxury retreat. Joyce Hampers designed Emerge Spa and Salon as an oasis in the city, a haven where people can enter and check their fast paced lives at the front desk for the day and change perspective, retreat and relax, all the while replenishing their minds and bodies. A day at the spa adds a rejuvenating dimension to pleasure or business travel, and for local Boston clients it becomes a way to take a proactive approach in managing their health, grooming and well-being on a regular basis. They emergearmed to face the city and the obligations of their hectic lives once again.

Emerge Spa and Salon, 275 Newbury Street, Boston, MA, www.emergespasalon.com, 617.437.0006. Photos by Emerge Spa and Salon.