The upside of a recession ... sort of

Spas are offering drastic discounts on services, but what's half off of ridiculous?

Published April 28, 2008 6:54PM (EDT)

The New York Times has reported that, in response to the recession, many hoity-toity spas are offering drastic discounts on their services. Kick ass! Tell me more!

"We kind of looked at this recession we're in and said, look, for the next few months, or until this recession can somehow be evaded, let’s cut our core program price in half,' said Alan Coombs, owner of the Green Valley Spa in St. George, Utah."

Finally, good news. And what does half off the regular price translate to? Well, $248 a night per person. You can also get $15 off a $195 massage at the Four Seasons in New York if you go during the workweek, or lodging and $999 worth of spa treatments for, um, $999 at the Equinox Resort in Manchester Village, Vt. The article also helpfully notes that the Web site Spafinder.com can point you to over 50 spas in its "affordable" category, which means under $300 a night.

Well, it was a nice idea while it lasted. And hey, I can get a pair of free rubber flip-flops with a mani-pedi at the basement salon down the block. That's kind of the same thing, right?


By Kate Harding

Kate Harding is the author of Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture--and What We Can Do About It, available from Da Capo Press in August 2015. Previously, she collaborated with Anna Holmes, Amanda Hess, and a cast of thousands on The Book of Jezebel, and with Marianne Kirby on Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere. You might also remember her as the founding editor of Shapely Prose (2007-2010). Kate's essays have appeared in the anthologies Madonna & Me, Yes Means Yes, Feed Me, and Airmail: Women of Letters. She holds an M.F.A. in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a B.A. in English from University of Toronto, and is currently at work on a Ph.D. in creative writing from Bath Spa University

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