Cayman’s newest luxury health and wellness spa has officially opened with Governor Jane Owen performing the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The 16,000-square-foot Meraki Wellness spa, which is linked to The Watermark residences by a covered walkway over West Bay Road, is the creation of husband-and-wife team Peter and Shula Clarke, who have worked in the spa wellness industry for more than three decades.
Peter explained, “We’d actually retired and moved to Majorca, but a mutual friend told us about [property developer] Fraser Wellon and his plans for The Watermark. After meeting with him we decided to come and see Cayman for ourselves, and we just fell in love with the place.”
Watermark owners will have automatic membership with a waiting list for the few hundred other membership spots available. Annual memberships will cost an annual fee between US$5,000 and $7,000, and individual spa treatments with spa access also available for day guests. The Clarkes’ plan is for Meraki to become the number one spa in the Caribbean and ultimately in the world’s top 10 spas, with the aim of opening other Meraki Wellness spas around the world.
“This is the birth of a new brand, because that’s what my wife and I do,” said Peter. “Meraki is a Greek word that means ‘everything I do, I do with love and passion.’”
Facilities include five relaxation lounges, eight treatment rooms, a hammam, nail salon, gentlemen’s barber, fitness centre, clothing boutique, cafe, steam room and a longevity and wellness screening suite where a consultant will measure your current state of wellness including sleep, stress levels and nutritional and heart health.
No expense has been spared in the design, which, says Peter, includes half a million handmade tiles from Mexico, the “Rolls-Royce of treatment beds”, 99.9995% purified air throughout and baths, which fill from the ceiling.
Meraki Wellness’ 42 staff have been training for months to offer a full range of health, fitness and beauty treatments, a highlight being the “hydrotherapy odyssey” which takes guests through seven different temperature zones, including a panoramic sauna – the largest in the Caribbean – a caldarium, frigidarium, mineral pool, rain showers and a snow room.
Community focus
While health and wellness tourism has grown strongly since COVID-19, Shula said that the focus of Meraki Wellness spa is closer to home.
“Our focus is on the island, people that live here long term,” she said. ‘It’s not just about tourism, but serving people who live in Cayman, serving the community, because to take someone on a wellness journey is really special.”
Governor Jane Owen said she was proud to declare the spa open at the opening ceremony attended by spa and Watermark staff and members of the community, including deputy governor designate, Gloria McField-Nixon.
“It’s an exciting day for Meraki wellness, it’s an exciting day for the Watermark and it’s an exciting day for Cayman,” said Owen. “Congratulations to everyone involved, as it means a lot for Cayman, for our tourism, for the experience for residents and visitors alike, and for Cayman’s international reputation in being able to build something with heart.”
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