hospitalitystyle.com

(June 2009) posted on Mon Jun 08, 2009 EDT

Opulent retreat’s design mixes wetness, wit and whimsy.

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By Matthew Hall

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Spas are designed to engender serenity. And while the new Eau Spa at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, Fla., does its part to be soothing, it's also home to several splashes of serendipity. There's the projected image of a backward-ticking clock, the disco balls and the penguin statutes, to name just a few.

Those eclectic elements stem from owner Simon Lewis' desire that the new spa reflect a philosophy of "pause, play and perfect." "We began to realize that people do not want to spend the day whispering and tiptoeing around a spa -- they also don't want to be told how to live or eat," says Lewis, who owns both the spa and the oceanfront resort. "Guests just want to have a great time getting away from it all, let time stand still for a while and leave feeling good."

Based on those marching orders, Eau Spa creative director Ayelet Rahav (of Israel-based ZG Practical Concepts) enlisted a high-profile group of design and artistic talent to create the spa. Participants included interior designers from Avery Brooks & Associates in Las Vegas; the Miami office of design/architecture firm RTKL; landscape architect DS Boca of Boca Raton, Fla.; art consultant Joan-Warren Grady of La Jolla, Calif.; and London accessories guru Abigail Ahern.

With a $30 million price tag and 42,000 square feet of space to work with, designers had the chance to construct several variations on Lewis' pause/play/perfect theme. Here are some highlights:

SPA ENTRANCE:

Before guests enter the spa itself, they pass through an antechamber where the image of a backward-ticking clock is projected on the floor. The idea is to get spa patrons to forget about time. The spa check-in is housed in a Baroque-inspired rotunda that features earthy plum and bronze tones, a copper wishing well at its center, a domed copper leaf ceiling adorned with a damask scroll and floor-to-ceiling windows that provide lots natural illumination.

LOCKER ROOMS:

The locker room sports a palate of blues and greens, to make the visitor's transition from earth to water. ("Eau" is the French word for water.) This space is also home to a "scrub & polish bar" that's laden with exotic ingredients imported from around the world. "Experimenting with different tastes, scents and textures is a favorite pastime of mine while traveling," says Rahav. "We wanted to offer something like this as at Eau Spa as a customizable, social activity to further entertain the body and mind."

BATH LOUNGE:

This wet zone is modeled after an ancient hammam, a communal gathering spot for conversing. The rotunda-shaped room features a Jacuzzi with a column of falling water; heated loungers; steam showers; and a large damask tile mosaic. Playful touches within the space include penguin statues in carved-out nooks within the sauna, and overhead disco balls in the steam room.

EAU ZONE:

This indoor lounge features large-scale, sumptuous furniture complemented with tufted damask wall panels. It's here that Ahern installed famed British designer John Harrington's "cut glasses" chandelier, which is made completely out of stemware.

SELF-CENTERED GARDEN:

Lewis envisioned this outdoor retreat as a modern-day Garden of Eden, with a variety of unexpected touches, including a mirror mosaic that gets its sparkle from the sun's reflection and mod metal hanging chairs suspended over an ankle-deep, warm water pond.

The garden also includes a social zone for communal lounging, with private niches cordoned off with soft green curtains. A sail-shaped sundial, masquerading as a sculptural piece, appropriately points to projected thoughts, such as "dream" and "believe" rather than hours and minutes. At night, the garden features color-changing lights, canopy tents and twinkling, underwater fiber optics.

TREATMENT ROOMS:

The spa's 19 treatment rooms seek to evoke a cool and soothing environment, with white damask wall coverings, crackled mirrors and Lucite boudoir chairs set amidst a palette of silver and white. The treatment rooms also offer color therapy via color-changing LED lighting (blue for relaxing; red for energizing and gold for those seeking balance).

Lewis' affection for Asian spas is reflected in the Ipé wood decks in each room. Twelve of the treatment rooms offer adjoining private gardens featuring outdoor showers, soaking bathtubs and day beds for activity that promotional literature for the space discretely describes as "intimate experiences beyond treatments."

SALON:

This space features a communal manicure table, pedicure banquettes and a hot-shave station, along with a boutique selling jewelry, Eau Spa body potions and clothing sourced from around the world.

The sprawling spa marks the final phase of a $120 million makeover of the five-star Ritz Carlton Palm Beach, and Lewis feels it brings an attractive added dimension to the property. "Now our guests can relax and enjoy ancient spa rituals in a spontaneous setting," he says.