MeltSpa Brings Tranquility and Chocolate to Locals
Spas don’t normally make people hungry, but the new MeltSpa by Hershey is an ode to chocolate and sugar and mint. Spa colors are a creamy teal and what director Shian Wing calls “bursts of chocolate.” Treatments include the Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Sugar Scrub, and the Mojito Body Wrap. Refreshments include coffee, tea, fruit-infused water, fresh fruit and bowls of Hershey’s chocolates.
Oh, and you won’t miss out on that sinful hot chocolate from the Spa at The Hotel Hershey. It’s all right here. MeltSpa by Hershey is Hershey Entertainment and Resort’s newest offering for locals and visitors. Think high-end resort spa, like the Spa at The Hotel Hershey, but in a day spa setting and with slightly more accessible price points (a Mojito Body Wrap, $95 at MeltSpa vs. $135 or $145 at Hotel Hershey).
In 2016, Hershey Hotel’s spa delivered 107,000 services to more than 52,000 guests. 85 percent of those guests are local residents. Those locals, jaunting over to Hershey for a day of pampering, inspired MeltSpa, now open after five years of planning.
“We really wanted to create something new for our local guests and the community,” said Wing. “Now they have these two beautiful experiences, depending on if you want to come for the whole day or a special occasion, or if you’d just like to come and enjoy a service but still relax, still reconnect and renew and rejuvenate.”
As one visitor noted, a Hotel Hershey day is “so special, and it’s such a commitment, but here you can feel less guilty” with a treatment or two.
Hershey staff were almost giddy as they provided a MeltSpa tour. They talked about transforming the historic Hershey drug store. They talked about revitalizing Chocolate Avenue. They talked about the partnership with JSDC Law Offices, which bought the building from The Hershey Co. in 2016, relocated to the top floors, and leased back the spa space to the Hershey folks.
This is 7,600 square feet of serene, purpose-designed getaway fronting busy Chocolate Avenue. Treatment rooms are spacious and private. The sunny salon, with a wall of windows overlooking Park Avenue, offers stations for hair, makeup and manicures and pedicures. The relaxation room soothes in those chocolate-teal tones and, of course, offers healthy and not-so-healthy treats.
Except for muffins. You won’t find the Hotel Hershey spa’s famous muffins here.
“We really wanted to have similarities and crossovers between the two spas, but also differentiate it, in the experience and the treatments themselves,” said Wing.
That differentiation includes the creation of dark chocolate scrubs and wraps, for body, hands and feet. The range of treatments includes scrubs, massages, facials and a full complement of waxings. Teens 13 and up have a menu of services just for them. So do men, including eyebrow grooming and facials tailored to male skin.
The point, say staff members, is bringing high-quality spa services to the everyday experience. Have one treatment, or several. Full- and half-day packages fit multiple services into one visit. So do the Cuban Experience and Cuban Immersion, whose mojito and sugar-based services pay homage to Cuba and Milton Hershey’s sugar mills and plantations there. If you relish the invigoration of sea salt, you can pair up services through the Ocean Therapy Immersion or Ocean Therapy Package.
“You’re still going to get the same quality of service and treatments that you’d find at Hotel Hershey or any high-end resort spa, but in a day spa setting,” said Wing.
MeltSpa at Hershey, 11 E. Chocolate Ave., Hershey. meltspa.com, 855-500-2366.