Dream team

Business has been good at The Sanctuary,

a new wellness retreat in the South Meadows. So good that co-owners Shawna Hansen and Linda Hartmann already are talking about expanding their business to a second location in the Truckee Meadows.

Hartmann and Hansen opened their doors in August at a carefully selected site at 9333 Double R Blvd. The two consulted Reno interior designer Adele Trebil, owner of Feng Shui Design Concepts, to incorporate principles of feng shui into the building's final layout, and Q&D Construction built out nearly 7,000 square feet of empty space to their specifications.

The result is a place where members can sweat, meditate, get a massage or facial, or simply sip tea, relax and read.

"We are very pleased at the reception the community has given us," says Hartmann, who teamed with Hansen six years ago with the goal of taking their shared ideas from concept to concrete. "We knew that the right building would be there, and we spent probably the last four years looking at places. Something wouldn't be right about it, or the timing wasn't right."

Their long search seems worth the wait: More than 80 members joined in the first two months, and Hartmann says their financial expectations are right on track. "People have been incredibly receptive," she says. "They are beginning to understand that it is something different, and they are looking for something different than their traditional physical workout."

"It is not a fitness center, and it is not a spa," Hansen adds. "It is a daily retreat, a place to rejuvenate."

Monthly membership rates range from $175 -$500 per person, depending on services. Family memberships range from $295-$750. Walk-ins are also welcome.

The Sanctuary offers personalized functional training on Power Plate machines, Pilates, yoga, tai chi and nia (a combination of yoga/tai chi and dance), massage facials, a library, and a meditation and tearoom. Its staff of 11 includes two massage therapists, two estheticians, two personal trainers, a yoga and meditation instructor, and three people who work the front desk.

The owners expected their clientele to be mostly female, but males also have proven receptive to the idea of an upscale gym with a host of pampering perks (women outnumber men about 60 to 40 percent, says Jan McNeff, director of business operations). The clientele ranges from high school athletes to businesspeople to Hansen's elderly grandparents.

Hansen says the idea behind The Sanctuary is to create awareness of the seven dimensions of health: physical, mental, social, occupational, environmental, emotional and spiritual.

Hartman and Hansen used a mix of personal funds and private investors to finance their project. Their expansion plans include opening another location that includes a separate sanctuary for children.

"It is so wonderful every single day to walk into my dream," Hansen says. "Then to see people in here experiencing their own health and well being, expanding on that is just phenomenal."