Scotts Valley Spa & Boutique

By Jon Chown

In 2009, when Julie Lewis and Carol Marting decided to open their own spa in Scotts Valley, there were a lot of formulas they could follow. Instead, they sort of broke the mold, or at least created one all of their own.

“There’s lots of different models for spas,” Lewis said recently while giving a short tour of the spa, located at 4301 Scotts Valley Drive. “Our model is for us to be happy. Then we will make the clients happy.”

The two women’s warm happiness can be felt, drifting amongst the beautiful scents that emanate from the store’s products that line the shelves. It’s part of the atmosphere.

The two had been working together at a local spa when they got the idea to open their own as a team. Marting was a massage therapist and Lewis an aesthetician. After a lot of hard work, Scotts Valley Spa & Boutique was born. Lewis said she and Marting just sort of leaped into the business, unfortunately, right as the economy took a nosedive.

“It was super scary, but it would have been scarier had we known what we were getting into,” Lewis said. “We just made it happen.”

“We wanted to do it our way,” Marting said. “We thought we had a good vision, a similar alignment of ideas and as practitioners, a unique perspective on how things ought to be run.”

Both felt that the customer’s needs, not the spa’s needs to provide a standardized service, should come first.

“The model we didn’t want is where every service is cookie cutter,” Lewis said. “Every service on our menu is customizable. We encourage our practitioners to see each person as an individual with individual needs.”

But she added that the spa still maintains its professional environment and after four years, their reputation and business is established. They’ve grown from having five practitioners in the beginning to seven, and their menu of services has expanded as well. Spray tanning, teeth whitening, massages, facials, waxing, manicures, pedicures, natural nails, advanced skin care and more are offered. One of their popular specialty massages is Thaiyurveda — a 90-minute herbal compress massage with balls made of muslin filled with herbs, lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary and rice to retain the heat.

“They are steamed first and it smells wonderful,” Marting said. “It’s very, very relaxing … and hard to find. It’s done at Pebble Beach, a place in Saratoga, and we do it.”

Ever wanted to be bathed in luxury? The Vichy shower room at Scotts Valley Spa is just the thing for you. Lie down on a special massage table as multiple showerheads soak you, and your skin is exfoliated right down to your toes.

“It’s a very unique treatment — people say ‘Ooh, what’s that?” Marting said.

The two women stock a wide variety of skin and body health products, as well as jewelry and other products created by local artisans. They are also going to start holding seasonal events at the spa. Each season will have a scented theme. For the fall event, planned in September, it will be cranberry.

“So pedicures will have cranberry scrub, we’ll feature a cranberry enzyme mask and so on. And we’ll have a chef making creations around the theme,” Lewis said. “We’ll incorporate everything we do in the spa into it.”

That includes a pinch of happiness, which is perhaps what draws clients the most — the attitude that pervades the spa — light, fresh and serene with a touch of joy.

“Somebody once said it even smells happy in here,” Lewis said.

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Scotts Valley Spa & Boutique, 4301 Scotts Valley Dr. Scotts Valley. Tel #: 439-9900, Email: info@scottsvalleyspa.com – Website: scottsvalleyspa.com

Hours: Tuesday 9-5, 
Wednesday- Friday 9-7, Saturday 9-5, and 
Sunday 10-3, 
Evenings by appointment.