Visited Champneys Henlow Grange and the Spa Finder Europe office today. They are within about 15 minutes of one another. It was great to meet Sasha, Tina, Monica, and Jessica from the Spa Finder UK office, which opened last June. I finally got a chance to add faces to their names. Bright and energetic, they are the nucleus of the new Spa Finder Europe team along with Cassandra and Kevin, who head up the operation.

At Champneys Henlow Grange, we had lunch, experienced a moisturizing float spa treatment, and afterward had the good fortune to spend a bit of time with Stephen Purdew - who, along with his mother Dorothy, is the owner of the Champneys empire. They are developing it brilliantly....destination spas, day spas, a resort spa, various Champneys skin care and body care lines, electrical spa products, Champneys meals and nutritional supplements - and probably a few other extensions I didn't have time to find out about.

But I just wanted to share my excitement about Champneys. They are truly destination spas, offering an outstanding program at a reasonable price. It had been more than ten years since I visited Grange - back then it was not called Champneys. And I must say I was amazed and impressed. It was busy, lunch was delicious, and it had a real English country feel. After spending time with Stephen, I am so glad that they will be expanding the brand further. There are very few people in the world today who "get it" when it comes to destination spas. Luckily for us, Dorothy (who I believe is in her mid-70s) is still alive, and her son has taken the business to another level, with his sights set on yet another level no one has seen yet.