Creating spa experiences for teenagers

Lizzie Bath, spa director at Ye Olde Bell Spa in Nottinghamshire, gives her advice on providing teen spa experiences.

Providing a spa experience for 11 to 16 year-olds is a great opportunity to engage with potential clients. Treat them right and they may very well be the future of your business. Before you invite the younger generation to your spa though, it is important to consider what safeguards you need to have in place. 

I would recommend talking to your insurance company in the first instance. They will be able to explain what safeguards you need to put in place for minors and what exclusions there might be. 

It is a good idea to carry out your own risk assessment to look at any potential ways your younger guests could hurt themselves. You can then demonstrate that you have put these plans into action to minimise the risks. 

The next step is to check with your product houses about their policy for under 18s, and then assess each treatment to ascertain its suitability. You often find that each treatment will have its own guidelines with age limitations on certain offerings. 

Having double treatment rooms is a great way to treat teens alongside their parent or guardian. It’s best practice to have the parent/guardian in the treatment room with minors, especially for massage and facial treatments where a degree of undressing is required, so it’s nice if they can both have treatments at the same time. 

Teenagers are now stressed out, absorbed into their devices, and parents are in a constant battle of how to entice them away from their digital world – me included. The spa is a great way for parents to engage with their teen and enjoy some quality time without distractions. 

We hope by educating teens on the benefits of the spa journey, creating positive wellbeing and by sharing our knowledge on areas such as skincare and make-up, we can be instrumental in helping the next generation take time out to focus on themselves and for the spa to be their place to relax and de-stress for years to come. 

Lizzie Bath is spa director at Ye Olde Bell Spa in Nottinghamshire. She has 20 years’ experience in beauty therapy, working with leading luxury brands.