Courtesy the Hotel Ivy
When the Hotel Ivy closed its spa mid-December, it reinvented all 17,000 feet of the spa and fitness center to the tune of $2.5 million. While the fitness center opened up in time for the 2019 Final Four (with top-of-the-line equipment like Peloton, Technogym, and Concept 2), the spa has remained under wraps.
Now, though, Anda—which means “spirit” in Swedish—is ready to open its doors August 1, touting a bespoke experience that makes the spa an “urban wellness retreat.” To help do this, the team turned toward holistic practices and the alleged healing power of crystals, including a 68-pound threshold rose quartz crystal from Madagascar to promote circulation, positivity, passion, and love.
All That Glimmers
The Anda team also installed multiple floor-to-ceiling quartz walls from Cambria and fulfilled the crystal-embedding prescription that nationally known energy practitioner and stylist Colleen McCann prescribed for the second floor’s build out. (McCann came in February to do a cleansing ritual and, based off of the energy in certain areas, requested that the ceilings and walls include crystals that are not necessarily seen but whose effects can be felt.)
Courtesy the Hotel Ivy
Besides the physical space, crystal healing is incorporated throughout the treatments, including facials with labradorite gemstones and a rose quartz-infused bath soak. In the highly curated retail area of the spa lobby, staff are trained to help you pick crystals to take home that might help balance and rejuvenate your life. In addition to buying the skincare brands used in your treatments, such as KYPRIS, Naturopathica, and Zents, you can also buy Gem Water bottles so you can infuse your water with crystal powers.
“[A crystal-based spa] was, first of all, unlike anything else in the region,” marketing manager Jeremy Smith says, mentioning that while McCann does much of her work on the coasts, her highest digital engagement is in the Midwest. “Plus, crystals speak to that deeper sense of wellness we were going for, that ritual.”
More Than Crystals
Confession: I don’t believe in the healing properties of crystals. I like the symbolism fine, though, and I enjoy how pretty the gemstones are. While some aspects of Anda lean really hard into crystal ideology, the spa service seems like it will be just as good, if not better, because of the thought put into the guest’s journey.
After all, Anda is not trying to be a service spa, but an immersive, guided experience—a destination. Its logo is not a crystal, but a hummingbird. “It was chosen for its symbolism in many cultures as a bringer of joy, hope, and endurance,” Smith says. “The hummingbird’s strength and vitality align closely with Anda’s philosophy of creating a calmer, more balanced, perspective on life.”
In chasing this philosophy, the spa makes every detail a testimony toward your wellbeing, like the river rock border lining the hallways or a personalized aromatherapy scent as a common thread throughout your treatments. The team even managed to find a gel product for manicures and pedicures that was sustainable and natural. These will be the little details that keep you coming.
Courtesy the Hotel Ivy
Here are some of the big features that will draw you in: nine treatment rooms including a couples’ massage room connected to a deep soak tub. An almost completely new service menu including the Ultimate Zen Ritual, a 150-minute experience with an ultra-hydrating scrub, full body wrap, hot oil scalp ritual, and full body massage. Steam rooms in each locker room and a co-ed quartz sauna. And my favorite: the whirlpool room (or rather, the hydrotherapy cove).
In the room, the Cambria quartz walls are a dove gray, similar to others at Anda, but white streaks undulate through them, giving the room the life of electricity but the calm of ocean waves. In the front is the whirlpool, in the same footprint as the old spa design but with a new custom surround of black tile. Two shining goose neck aerators lean over the water, and a blue light highlights the dappled backsplash behind it. Two gray-tile heated lounge chairs are waiting in front of the whirlpool area, but more treasure is revealed behind the backsplash: rain showers that are able to change their pressures and temperatures to emulate anything from a jungle downpour to a cool mist, with color therapy lights to complete the feel.
See for yourself during Anda’s grand opening on August 1 or book an appointment . While you can stop by during a lunch break for one of the spa’s Flash Hydrafacials, let’s be real: Go big or go home and give yourself a whole day’s worth of pampering.
