How Five Star Day Spa Has Scaled Their Ongoing Success

Growth, successes and core values of an outstanding business from leading Five Star Day Spa Founder, Nicole Spargo.

What has been a thriving spa escape location for the last two decades, Five Star Day Spa located on the Central Coast of NSW has re-emerged in the last decade as a holistic oasis of relaxation and rejuvenation. Five Star Day Spa’s focus on client satisfaction and its commitment to providing personalised services has contributed to its amassed success. The spa’s therapists are highly trained and equipped to customise treatments to meet individual needs, including the use of existing spa practices, alongside modernised technology like infrared saunas and other innovative holistic techniques, also including advanced skin therapies in their treatment offering.

To dive deeper into what has propelled the spa into further success, we sat down with Nicole Spargo, owner of Five Star Day Spa, to learn more about the evolution of the business.

Share with us how Five Star Day Spa started and how it has evolved into the Central Coast’s leading day spa?

Five Star Day Spa was established in 2002 on the Central Coast of NSW. You’ll find us in the heart of Erina, tucked away on the quiet side of Fountain Plaza.

Fountain Plaza is a retail focal point of the area and is well known as a successful commercial centre in the region. The centre provides the local community with high end retailers, commercial services and a range of dining options.

Clients enter our spa and feel a sense of seclusion and privacy. We aim to create a unique and enjoyable experience for our clients from the moment they step foot through the door.

Our business focus has always been centred around our beautiful clients. We take pride in offering a service that benefits the well being of others and we ensure these benefits are delivered in an environment of tranquility.

We specialise in a wide variety of holistic massage services, anti-ageing facial treatments and spa packages for both men and women. Our customised experiences are designed to nurture the soul.

I took over the business in March 2014 and have had the pleasure of welcoming the original owner, Cathy Taylor, into the spa every few months since then. We often chat about the spa and its evolution over the years. Maintaining the reputation of the spa has always been my goal and it’s wonderful to discuss the industry, progress and my business with such a knowledgeable soul.

We have grown consistently over the years with staff additions, retail product offerings and renovations that have allowed us to deliver new and exciting treatment options. A big addition during Covid was the inclusion of an Infrared Sauna and Steam Room. This has enabled us to introduce new clientele to our business and evolve into a Wellness Spa, all the while maintaining the same great reputation within our region for our loyal client base.

How do you balance offering wellness treatments with medi-aesthetic treatments?

The transition into a more holistic based wellness spa has given us the opportunity to achieve our ultimate goal of improving the lives of our clients. We are thrilled to see clients leaving feeling as beautiful on the inside as they do on the outside, boosting the inner health of their skin, body, and mind.

Beautiful skin and within is who we are – relaxation, rejuvenation and rebalancing. However, as we know, skin health is so much more than just external appearance; and our wellness and medi-aesthetic treatments are delivered using the latest technologies to maximise the benefits for clients at every appointment.

Tell us about some devices and product ranges you stock – how do you decide who to go with?

We have partnered with Ultraceuticals, Lira Clinical and Waterlily, each offering the highest quality ingredients, sustainability and a level of diversity that allows every client to achieve their desired outcome.

These incredible cosmeceutical skincare lines allow us to make a corrective change in our clients’ skin. These products are used in conjunction with our Medical grade peels, LED light therapy, Hydrafacial, and Dermapen Skin treatments to deliver consistently incredible results.

We also offer a carefully curated collection of quality Australian wellness products and retail home devices from TruDermal, Imbibe, Intrametica, SISUU, and Nativ Sens.

In an exciting move for our brand we have recently partnered with Waterlily to design and curate our very own exclusive Signature Five Star blend which will feature in our Signature collection of Spa packages. Waterlily is Australian owned and developed and comprises nutrient-rich botanicals intensified with multi-purpose actives to deliver real results. Health is at the core of each of these formulations and this aligns just perfectly with our business. The essence encapsulates an authentic indigenous theme, to support health, wellness and vitality.

How do you ensure you employ the right people for your team?

At Five Star Day Spa we break down the recruitment and training process into a number of key stages. The first interview includes a formal introduction which allows us to understand and discuss the employees background, qualifications and personal and professional attributes. We also confirm their values align with our own which is a crucial one in order for us to maintain a harmonious and sustainable environment in the spa. We then move into the fun stuff; the practical training processes which are comprehensive and delivered both online and in the spa.

Training is an integral part of our culture here at Five Star and has been for many years. We ensure our therapists benefit from the best training processes available and our qualifications allow us to maintain our reputation of excellence. We are never stagnant and continually evolve and grow within the health and beauty Industry.

We have found that our employees love to learn from each other in addition to the more traditional means of formal training. We engage staff in training days & regularly attend Industry conferences to up skill and stay across the latest trends.

Staff motivation is an integral part of our business. I’m so proud of the level of commitment, drive and energy that our staff bring to the role each day and we achieve this through the provision of unwavering support for our employees. We seek feedback from employees in monthly meetings, keep work interesting, identify and celebrate employee strengths and provide career path plans to assist with goals and career growth.

You’ve won several awards last year, what makes your business so successful?

Five Star won 2 amazing accolades last year;

Best Beauty Services for the Central Coast NSW – Local Business Awards
Consumer Voted Best Day Spa in the National Category for the Spa and Wellness Awards

The key components to our success at Five Star are;

People, Inspiration and Innovation.

We are people focused, they are at the forefront of everything we do, be it clients or staff. We truly care about every client’s experience, and focus on providing their treatment in a space where they can completely relax, feel rejuvenated and rebalanced when they leave.

We are inspiration, as we reflect on where the business began and where we are 22 years later, with one of the most prominent beauty and wellness Spa brands in our region. We still offer a few of our original Signature Spa packages, as well as many new and advanced treatments, a wellness area, and the capability to accommodate so many clients across so many different service areas.

We are innovation, as we offer more than a traditional beauty clinic, and our recent renovations have allowed us to set the business in a different paradigm to identify new opportunities of growth and to utilise the latest technologies to benefit our wonderful clients. Offering a holistic approach to “traditional” beauty is our objective and our superior skincare solutions and outstanding personalised customer service make us unique here at Five Star.