"Spa Puts Ahhh Into Treatment!"

Published September 28, 2005

By Bruce C. Smith

Geist-area resident Amie Redman was relishing a warm toe bliss pedicure in the newly opened Villaggio Day Spa.It was a heavenly foot treatment and, as she sipped a glass of white wine, she declared, "I'll be a regular here." With chocolate lover's mud wraps, enzyme facials, European pedicures and manicures, waxes, haircuts and styling, body and facial care, Botox treatments and hot stone massage among the menu of services, Villaggio is designed to cater to women and men. Redman said she had to drag her husband to the spa for a massage last week, and he loved it. That's the response that Dr. Jim Brillhart and his wife, Barbara, anticipate in the new Villaggio spa they've opened in Geist Pavilion. It is one of the first businesses in the new shopping center under development by Kite Realty on the southeast corner of 116th Street and Olio Road. Other businesses to open soon in the upscale center include a Marsh neighborhood market, party supply store, jewelry store, and eh! Formaggio Italian restaurant. Villaggio quietly opened Sept. 19 and will have an official opening Oct. 6. Jim Brillhart -- a specialist in obstetrics, gynecology and women's health -- practices at Community North Hospital. Barbara Brillhart, who will handle daily operations of the spa, is a registered nurse. "In talking with patients over the past year, I found that they are going to many different places to find these services, so we decided to put everything together in one place," Jim Brillhart said. "I heard them say they need a place to relax, and they have concerns about aging." "Times are changing, so that men are seeking these types of services." There are many spas and beauty salons in Hamilton County and the suburban Northside, but Jim Brillhart doesn't see them as direct competition. "There are places that offer segments of these services, but my wife and I didn't see anyplace that offered it all. So we decided to pull it all together with a salon and a center to help (guests) to be beautiful." Walk through the front door, and the immediate impression of the spa is softness, earth tones, relaxation, serenity, indulgence, class, style and warmth. Water cascades down a 10-foot glass into a bed of rounded river rock with a gentle splash. The 5,000-square-foot facility, with a staff of 12 that is expected to double, is designed with separate hallways and treatment rooms, lounges, locker and shower facilities for women and men. A wide door can slide open between the men's and women's massage rooms so couples may share sessions. On the men's menu, there's a 90-minute stone massage priced at $110, a 60-minute facial at $70, a back treatment (deep-pore cleansing, extractions, mask and massage) for 50 minutes at $90, the three-hour executive escape package (massage, facial, manicure) for $200 or the four-hour "manly man's makeover" (facial, four-handed massage, manicure, pedicure and spa cuisine) at $340. Two professional massage therapists create the four-handed massage. Manicures and pedicures range from 30 to 75 minutes and are priced from $20-$110. Services that may be most popular with women include a cranberry and pomegranate or a mango and mandarin body polish. The menu also includes mud wrap treatments like the black Baltic mud wrap, the Napa Valley wine wrap or the tasty-sounding chocolate lover's wrap, in which powered chocolate is mixed with mud. A Vichy shower washes off the mud mix and is followed with raspberry oil. A prenatal massage is offered for women in the second trimester of pregnancy.

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