In most hotels, the spa weighs little in revenue and heavily in payroll; a menu of specialised services changes that balance without building work.

Why it matters

The spa is often seen as an image facility. It can become a revenue line, provided it sells something other than hours of massage.

What the market publishes

The weight of the spa in the hotel. Across 297 American hotels operating their own spa, CBRE Hotels Research measures that in 2024 the spa accounts on average for 3.4 % of the hotel's total revenue, 4.2 % in luxury. Spa department profits fell by 0.5 % over one year, driven by a 3.9 % rise in labour costs. CBRE, 2025.

Labour, the largest item. In a sample of 139 hotels tracked from 2018 to 2022, labour accounts for 74 % of spa department expenses. Over the same period, spa revenue per occupied room rose from 23.97 $ to 30.61 $. CBRE, 2023.

The average price of a visit. In the United States, ISPA measures for 2025 an average revenue of 123 $ per spa visit, across 191 million visits and 23.5 billion dollars of revenue. ISPA, 2026.

What a guest spends per night. In the first half of 2025, RLA Global and HotStats measure in France 37.6 $ of spa treatments per occupied room, among the highest levels in their sample of more than 11,000 hotels. RLA Global, 2025.

What is self-reported or partial

The CBRE and ISPA data are American. They describe a cost structure, not the Portuguese market.

A consultant reports, based on projects carried out for her clients, a fall in the labour share from 55 % to 20 % or less of wellness revenue, thanks to self-access spaces and recovery services. Hospitality Net, 2025. This is a consultant's field experience, not a study: we cite it as such.

What cannot be claimed

We do not say that a longevity menu makes a spa profitable with certainty. The result depends on footfall, the season and the guest profile.

We do not say that these services have an effect on health. They are described by what they are and what they measure, never by what they promise.

We do not publish the margin of a typical spa: no reliable public source gives an average departmental margin.

What a hotel can do

The principle. The spa already has what costs the most: treatment rooms, a reception, a booking system, guests on site. What it lacks are services the guest cannot find elsewhere.

The longevity menu. Around ten specialised services, bookable like a massage, each delivered by a trained practitioner: measurements, recovery protocols, guided sessions. Each service has a published unit price, from 60 to 150 € per session. This is the range of the specialised venues that publish their prices.

The mechanics. The practitioner is not one more employee. In our model, they are paid 50 % of the session price. Cost follows revenue: a session not sold costs nothing in labour. This is precisely the item that weighs most heavily on a spa.

Integration. The menu is added to the existing spa. It uses its quiet slots and its rooms, and is aimed at all the hotel's guests, not only those staying in a premium room.

The return. In our model, the investment is recovered within a few months. The exact figure depends on each hotel's data: this is the subject of the Mission's financial module.

What the Living Lab measures

The Living Lab, near Lisbon, does not measure a spa's economics. It tests the services before a hotel adds them to its menu.

Measurement planned. For each service: actual session length, equipment needed and how it holds up over time, hygiene procedure between two guests, training required of the practitioner, time needed to explain it. Each record will be dated and published here.

Sources

• Mandelbaum R., Grigg A. The Role of Hotel Spa Departments. CBRE Hotels Research, Trends in the Hotel Industry, 297 hotels. Hotel Online, August 2025. hotel-online.com
• Mandelbaum R., Dick T. Hotel spas, 2018 to 2022. CBRE Hotels, 139 hotels. Hospitality Net, December 2023. hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4119574
• ISPA, 2026 U.S. Spa Industry Study (Big Five). Spa Business, March 2026. spabusiness.com
• RLA Global, 2025 Mid-year Wellness Real Estate Report, with HotStats. Hospitality Net, November 2025. hospitalitynet.org/news/4129686
• McDonald A. The ROI of Wellness. Hospitality Net, September 2025 (consultant's field experience). hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4128947

The longevity audit for venues  ·  The Research Journal

IO8 Living Lab, near Lisbon. Measured, never promised.

← Previous articleSeries 3Next article →