Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Mirbeau Spa Lets You Get Away Your Way
Aired April 13, 2001 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: If you're ready to escape the ordinary this weekend, CNN travel correspondent Gail O'Neill has just the place for you in our weekly travel segment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GAIL O'NEILL, CNN TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Named after Octave Mirbeau, an art critic and close friend of the painter Claude Monet, the 10,000-square-foot luxury spa is located in the Finger Lakes region, 25 miles southwest of Syracuse, in the village of Skaneateles, New York.
LINDA DAL POS, PARTNER, MIRBEAU INN & SPA: Well, we've seen different places is marble and brass and cold, and we wanted warmth, natural fibers, warm colors. That was something we found missing in other spas. So we really designed it more from a customer standpoint. We're not here to tell you, "this is what you eat, this is how you relax, this is how you work out." We will design it all around you. If you want to just work out in our active side of our spa, you're welcome to. If you don't want to burn a calorie while you're here, that's perfectly OK.
O'NEILL: Of course, for you type A personality, Mirbeau does offer personal training sessions in this state-of-the-art fitness center. Or you can take anything from yoga to kickboxing in the motion studio.
But if low-impact is more your speed, enter the inner sanctum to sample what "American Spa" magazine calls "one of the best new resort spas in the country."
DARCIE DE BARTELLO, SPA DIRECTOR: The majority of our guests are coming for a weekend getaway where they're really looking to get some relief out of their hectic lifestyle. I want our guests to leave with a sense of renewal so that they came in and they can face the world back again and kind of have a little bit of peace of mind and relaxation, and almost a whole new skin and a whole new mindset.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what a way to do it. I mean, you're catered to, it's luxurious and it's just comfortable, relaxing. And we need to relax; you know, we don't relax enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, Gail O'Neill is here to tell us some more about all this.
You poor thing; I don't see how you can drag yourself to work every day...
O'NEILL: It was very difficult.
HARRIS: Is this what you have to deal with?
O'NEILL: This is what I do for CNN.
But as the gentleman just said, we do not relax enough. We're a nation that loves to multitask and we kind of brag about, hey, I haven't taken vacation in two years, I don't really need it.
By the same token, Americans know that not having a balance between work and play is unhealthy, it's counterproductive. So spas came about as a -- really we created a market for people who are experts in relaxation. Then there are people who just love to be pampered, and Mirbeau is a great place to do that.
HARRIS: Yes, I know a couple of people like that; even though they deny it, I know a couple people like that.
But let me ask you this, because I don't know too many guys who are like that, who are into that. Do the spas -- do they get much traffic with men coming through there -- as many as women?
O'NEILL: Typically women have to drag their husbands or boyfriends to go or give them gift certificates, and that's primarily because of the language. Spas suffer from, you could call it an image problem. When you think about beautifying, toning, and anticellulite, that does not attract your typical American guy...
HARRIS: You got it.
O'NEILL: ... so as the language changes and the focus changes from -- well maybe they should -- the language and focus changes from beauty to relaxation more and more, and men are coming in.
HARRIS: OK, well good deal. Now you got me hooked. I'm not going to go get anything buffed, but you got me hooked.
O'NEILL: Give it a try.
HARRIS: All right, so what else is coming up this weekend?
O'NEILL: Well, watch tomorrow morning 6:30 and 11:00; Stephanie Oswald is going to take us to the beautiful island of Jamaica for a visit to Goldeneye, which was Ian Fleming's home; and he wrote a couple of his James Bond novels from there. And the Amongonye (ph) Spa, another beautiful place, Daryn, for people who love spas.
HARRIS: All right. Do you guys need an intern or two? I've got some time on my hands.
O'NEILL: We are accepting applications. HARRIS: All right folks, you can also learn some more about the Mirbeau Inn and Spa on cnn.com/travel, right?
O'NEILL: That's right.
HARRIS: That's right; AOL keyword is CNN. Gail O'Neill, thanks much. Good to see you, you poor devil you; I feel so bad for you.
O'NEILL: I need a massage.
HARRIS: Get out of here; see you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
