Atlantis: New spa drawing additional guests to hotel

For the better part of three years, Darlyne Sullivan took on a second fulltime job spa planner-in-chief in addition to her duties as general manager of Atlantis Casino Resort.

She educated herself on the differences between resort spas and day spas, attended one trade show after another, and supervised construction of the multi-million-dollar expansion of the spa.

The work paid off.

The 30,000-square-foot spa has drawn customers from all 50 states since it opened in late January. Even better, Sullivan says the spa appears to be working as a destination unto itself, attracting hotel guests who book specifically because they want to soak up a couple of days of serenity.

Spa Atlantis also has proven to be a strong draw for residents of Reno and Sparks. "We knew it would be great," she says. "We have been overwhelmed with how great it has been. The repeat business is just off the charts."

But Atlantis executives aren't yet satisfied with the performance of expanded spa business and probably, Sullivan acknowledges, they never will be.

But executives hope to cure some of their dissatisfaction as they develop marketing strategies to target the large potential market of men who haven't savored the spa experience. So far, women have accounted for the overwhelming majority of clients at Spa Atlantis.

Another potential growth market, Sullivan says, is teen-aged girls, and Atlantis executives are toying with the idea of creating special teen nights or other teen events.

But even as Atlantis executives look for ways to tap new markets of spa users, Sullivan takes deep satisfaction in the project she created almost from scratch as part of the property's just-completed $75 million expansion.

Spa Visions, a spa consulting company from Swedesboro, N.J., helped Sullivan's team pull together the ideas they assembled during their initial research, and Waldemar Eklof Architect and Tandem Design completed the design.

Among the keystones: A cool room that provides brine inhalation and light therapy, a laconium relaxation lounge, sauna and herbal steam rooms and a full menu of spa treatments.

Some mundane considerations the location of plumbing lines in the high-rise hotel tower, for instance helped dictate the layout of the spa.

Contractors on the project included SMC Construction, Complete Mill Works, Custom Glass, Hartstone, Mariner Electric, Savage & Son Plumbing, Long Painting and Prestige Home Automation.

Important as the design and construction may have been, Sullivan says she put even more attention into hiring the 60 people who work at Spa Atlantis.

The staff plays a key role in helping spa patrons reduce stress, and Atlantis executives recruited team members on the basis of their niceness as much as their skills.

Along the way, Sullivan learned that good spa people are touchers they reach out and touch a visitor on the arm, for instance as part of their basic psychological makeup.

While the numbers from the first 90 days of Spa Atlantis have been satisfying, Sullivan takes even more

pleasure as she watches folks leaving the spa after they've undergone its stress-removal therapies.

"They've turned into jelly," she says. "They are there for themselves."