MANILA, 1 January 2006 - Each time Miguel Bolos came to the Philippines for vacation when he was working in Saudi Arabia, he would try out a different spa in Manila.
He imagined he would one day be running his own, but did not imagine the opportunity would come too soon.
Last August, he sunk most of his savings from abroad into Bay Spa, an intimate little place along Diosdado Macapagal Ave. in Pasay City, which offers to "rejuvenate your body and mind" with therapy and massages and pampering at its best.
Bay Spa offers different kinds of therapeutic massage, body care treatments for the face, hair and feet, and even body bleaching services.
There are six private rooms for massage therapy, three for women and three for men. In addition, there are four rooms built for couples with retractable dividers and separate entrances so they could become private rooms.
Privacy is important so there are no common massage areas.
The air of relaxation is set the moment one steps into the spa and smells the aromatic candles burning. This is further reinforced with the flavored herbal teas one is plied with before the actual treatment.
In the ante-rooms, before the private rooms, are several divans or lazy-boys where some clients opt to be massaged.
Bolos said there are also private rooms with divans where some of his Korean clients prefer to be massaged while getting a foot bath at the same time.
Bolos, known to his friends simply as Mike, had worked in Riyadh as a financial analyst for the GAMA Services Ltd. (a member of the FAL group of companies) for the past 25 years.
"I don't drink and I don't smoke. I don't even patronize night clubs.
This is really my only vice," he said in an interview with Arab News, adding that he would nevertheless pamper himself each time he vacationed in Manila with a visit to different spas.
It was during a vacation last January that he heard that the Bay Spa, which he had been patronizing for the past three years, was being sold.
Having been a regular client, he was interested because its staff was really good.
Unfortunately, the asking price was too steep for him.
But when he again asked in June, he found that the selling price had been slashed by 50 percent. He spoke with the owner and came up with the payment posthaste.
So by August 1, Bay Spa was his. He immediately began renovating the place, which he said was already in a rundown stage.
He gave it a new look, purchased new equipment, new linen, among others.
One of the first things Mike did was give the place a new look, since it had been a spa cum cafŽ. "Who ever heard of a spa with a cafŽ?" he said.
Then he made sure the male and female sections were laid out in such a way that male and female clients would never interact. From trying out the different spas in the metropolis, he had witnessed females getting spa treatments, a no-no in his modest establishment.
Bay Spa's service fees are considered "reasonable" and within the country's spa industry-wide range of $25, which is lower than the $48 average in Thailand, $51 in Malaysia and $81 in Singapore, as shown by data from the University of Asia and the Pacific.
According to the UA&P, there are 39 spas in the Philippines, as 250 in Thailand, 198 in Malaysia, and 108 in Singapore.
In a briefing last September on health tourism, UA&P's Winston B. Padojinog said the Philippines can compete with these countries with the low cost as well as its skilled labor force.
Bolos does not dispute that. Business is picking up. He spends most days at the spa, which is in a strategic location, being near the Shoemart Group's soon-to-open Mall of Asia.
He is not content to sit on his laurels though. Although already modestly successful, he is looking for ways to improve his little enterprise.
And to prove that yes, the OFW can invest in a business and succeed.
