Appointments & Promotions

Karen Watson Named Spa Director at the Sagamore

AUGUST 6, 2008. Karen Watson has joined The Sagamore as spa director of The Sagamore Spa and Fitness Center. Watson brings nearly ten years of spa management experience to her new position, garnered in leading hotel destination spas across New England.

At The Sagamore, Watson will be responsible for the overall operations of the spa, salon, fitness and waterfront activities. This includes staff development and training, design and implementation of new services, treatments and activities, quality assurance, budgeting and guest relations.

Prior to joining The Sagamore, Watson was spa manager of Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY, where she managed four distinct operations within the resort including The Salon and Day Spa, Tower Fitness Club, Skana Spa and Lodge Fitness Center. She was an integral part of the team involved in concept, design and opening of Skana Spa in 2006. Before that, Watson was with Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires in Lenox, MA, where she began her career in 1999 as Program Coordinator. She worked her way through a variety of positions of increasing responsibility, including massage administrator and massage director, ultimately being named assistant spa manager in 2004.

Watson's professional affiliations include membership in the International Spa Association (ISPA) and New York Spa Promotion Alliance (NYSPA), where she has served on the Board of Directors since 2007.

Recently renovated, The Sagamore Spa and Fitness Center preserves the resort's singular setting overlooking Lake George and the Adirondacks while expanding and enhancing its atmosphere of tranquility. The Sagamore Spa offers 13 treatment rooms in which guests can enjoy a wide selection of services performed by specially-trained and licensed therapists, including the newly-added Crystalline Massage and Facial.

In addition to its range of spa amenities and treatments, the facility features a 3,800-square-foot glass-enclosed exercise studio with panoramic views of Lake George. State-of-the-art equipment and a comprehensive array of exercise classes and opportunities, including stretching, aerobics, step aerobics, water aerobics, yoga and private hikes up an Adirondack peak, are among the Spa's offerings. The center offers advanced cardiovascular and fitness equipment, including a 12-station Cybex(R) Strength Circuit, Stairmasters(R), Lifecycles(R), Concept II Rowers and True Treadmills. Personal training, fitness evaluations and personalized home exercise programs are available as well.

Coming Up In The June Online Hotel Business Review


Feature Focus
New Trends in Hotel Architecture and Design
On any hotel design project, architects are generally serving at least three masters - the owner/developer, the hotel operator, and the general public who will utilize the hotel - and each have their own goals, objectives and demands. The owner/developer is concerned with brand standards, the target market and the hotel's locale, while the operator is concerned about achieving the highest possible revenue through efficient design. The public is demanding that architecture and design be fully integrated into the guest experience, based on prevailing tastes and preferences. The architect's role is to respond professionally and efficiently to meet the demands of all and to develop a unified solution. Though each project has its own prerequisites and obligations, there are some general design trends which seem to be prevalent across the industry. First, there is an increased emphasis on the importance of the lobby. The principle here is that first impressions matter and that a hotel has only a few minutes to convince a guest that they have made the right decision. Hotel lobbies are being completely re-imagined - from eliminating front desks altogether to turning lobbies into warm, intimate social spaces, replete with fireplaces and comfortable furniture. There is also an increasing use of ambient natural light, even in large spaces like ballrooms and meeting rooms. In addition, there is greater emphasis on incorporating the distinctive attributes of any given location into the hotel design, which guests are defining as central to their experiences. The June issue of the Hotel Business Review will report on all these exciting developments in the fields of architecture and design.
In this issue...
Experiential Design Across All Sectors
By Ellis Katz, Principal, John Portman & Associates
Challenges of Contemporary Design in Historic Buildings
By Gary Meadows, President, HCI Architecture, Inc.
Ideal Meeting Spaces Should Offer Flexibility, Flexibility and Then Some
By Ronald M. Lustig, Design Architect/Principal, Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.
The Hotel Lobby
By Jennifer Skaife, Senior Associate, DiLeonardo
PLUS: Keeping an Eye on the Return on Design; Check In To the Future; L'AND Vineyards Wine Resort; How to Preserve Architectural Detail; Catering to Women in Hotel Design; Sustainability Retrofits, and much more.