Indulge in best spa regimen

Denise Gray has used the dream location of Black Swan Lakeside Boutique Hotel and Spa to create her dream of a "proper" day spa. Photo / Ben Fraser

A location she fell in love with on holiday combined with a long-held dream to open a proper day spa have combined for Denise Gray.

The result is her new business, Black Swan Day Spa, which she hopes will provide Rotorua people with the chance to enjoy "proper day spa" luxury in a setting which she loves.

It all came about when Mrs Gray and husband Arthur were visiting the Black Swan Boutique Hotel on one of their holidays to escape Auckland. It was a place they'd always loved and when the conversation turned to trying something different and getting out of the Auckland rat-race, she suggested to her husband they purchase "a place like this".

After returning to Auckland the pair sent off an email to the owners asking to be kept informed if they were ever selling, never dreaming that they'd get such a quick response back.

They purchased the Kawaha Point property and the rest, as they say, is history.

But while the pair loved the lodge, Mrs Gray said they always felt something was missing - and that was a day spa. So she set about designing the spa she'd always dreamed of.

"It was one of the first things we did to give people that beautiful escape."

A registered nurse, Mrs Gray moved into the beauty therapy trade while they pair were in Auckland combining both roles until the offer of redundancy came up in her nursing position.

Since then she owned a couple of beauty salons, but said they were never right to transform into the day spa she had always dreamed of.

Mrs Gray said the transition from nursing to beauty therapy was a really nice mix.

"They are both caring for people but nurses are generally caring for the unwell, this is more about caring for people's wellness and enhancing their wellness."

While the focus was on guests staying at Black Swan, Mrs Gray said they made the business decision early on to encourage locals to use the day spa. While locals pay full price for the first treatment they have started offering discounted rates for four subsequent treatments for locals as a way of "giving back".

"We wanted a bit of buy in from them so the first they pay full price."

Mrs Gray said while the tourism industry could be a very seasonal one, when they opened the spa they made the decision to employ permanent staff - not casuals - to help provide certainty for staff.

"We need to make this work. We made a commitment to permanent staff as opposed to casuals because we wanted staff that were committed."

Mrs Gray said she and her husband had travelled a lot and always had spa treatments when they travelled and were confident what they were offering was up their with the best they had experienced around the world.