Boosting productivity at business meetings or retreats comes down to more than just motivational speakers and a busy itinerary.
For Hans-Peter Mayr, general manager and CEO of Vernon’s stunning $122 million Sparkling Hill Resort and Wellness Hotel, alert and engaged attendees are essential to any successful business conference. Centred around the almost 45,000-square-foot KurSpa and wellness centre, Sparkling Hill, which opened this past May and overlooks the Monashee Mountains and Lake Okanagan, provides an environment conducive to not only soothing the minds, bodies and souls of guests but ensuring peak mental and physical performance.
“When we have smaller meetings, we offer them a walk through the cold sauna after lunch because [after lunch] you are not always concentrating and want to take a nap,” said the affable Mayr, a native Austrian who spearheaded the project in an effort to bring a European spa experience focused on wellness to Western Canada. “You walk into the cold sauna after lunch and for the whole afternoon you are fresh and are able to take everything in.”
The treatment Mayr is referring to is Sparkling Hill’s signature cryotherapy cold sauna, one of a number of North American firsts at the resort, where individuals enter a -110 C chamber, wearing only gym clothes, shoes, cotton gloves, a headband and a surgical mask, and remain for up to three minutes.
According to the spa, “The effect of this whole-body treatment is systemic, whereby during and after cold treatment, biochemical, hormonal and immune modulatory processes are activated, giving the nervous and circulatory systems a boost.”
That’s just one of dozens of treatments available. Mayr is quick to point out that, unlike with other North American spa resorts, guests can enjoy many of its facilities for free including seven unique aromatherapy sauna and steam rooms; an indoor pool with underwater music; a hot pool; a year-round outdoor infinity pool; and a state-of-the-art fitness studio.
“We didn’t put our spa in the basement,” he said. “We have chosen the best location [for it], on the ground floor with views everywhere.”
More than 50% of the treatments offered are health focused, he added.
The resort also features an eight-suite wing that includes a private 12-person boardroom equipped with A/V equipment and whiteboards as well as a private lounge and patio.
With more than 10,700 square feet of meeting space, including its signature Austria Ballroom, which can be divided into three smaller breakout rooms and accommodate up to 250 people, Sparkling Hill has a variety of meeting spaces for groups of all sizes.
Hosting business meetings and conferences are an essential part of Sparkling Hill Resort’s business plan, according to Mayr, who sees an opportunity to build the resort’s reputation as not only a tourist destination, but a corporate retreat as well.
The meetings business allows Sparkling Hill to play host to a wide range of guests who may not normally come to the resort, according to Mayr, but who may return on a personal trip after having experienced what the resort has to offer.
Personally financed by Gernot Langes-Swarovski, patriarch of the Swarovski crystal empire, Sparkling Hill Resort is the first public structure in the world where guests can see Swarovski crystal architecture, using about 3.5 million crystals valued at almost $10 million in chandeliers, fireplaces, sculptures and signage throughout the hotel.
While the 72-hectare property atop Mount Royce overlooking the Predator Ridge Golf Resort was purchased in 2003, construction started in September 2008 and finished in May 2010. The Swarovski crystal-inspired atrium is the first of its kind and is an assembly of 15 large glass triangles of different dimensions and sloping in different directions and planes. Spanning 13 metres wide and 17 metres high, the top edge of the atrium is more than four storeys tall and visible from 20 kilometres away.
The 250-seat main restaurant, PeakFine, features fresh menus daily, and the more casual Barrique and Java is a café and pastry shop by day and wine bar by night.
While wine tours of nearby vineyards are available, Sparkling Hill also has an excellent wine list, including not only local vintages, but those from around the world, such as Argentina’s Bodegas Norton, Langes-Swarovski’s private label from his own vineyard.
The resort recently announced a strategic alliance with Bounty Management Group Inc., a Kelowna-based commercial winery that has produced award-winning wines since it was founded in 2004 and helped create a representative wine list.
“This is a relationship for us that has been more of a matter of evolution than negotiation,” said Ron Pennington, president and CEO of Bounty Management Group. What started as consultations focused on the local economy, liquor laws, business practices and the culture of the Okanagan region grew to embrace all aspects of business development.
Embracing the local culture of wine and golf, Sparkling Hill is also busy preparing for its first winter season. While planning to offer cross-country skiing and snowshoeing nearby during the winter months, it is also working very closely with Silver Star Mountain Resort, according to Mayr.
“Sparkling Hill will dazzle. Guests will be in awe from the moment they see the hotel right up to the moment they see the guest rooms,” said Mayr. “By incorporating stunning elements from Swarovski with the beauty of Lake Okanagan, Sparkling Hill will be the first of its kind in North America.”