HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009 - 35

SB10061712OO-007/COLORBLIND IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES and allow people to take on the lifestyle tasks of exercise and dietary changes.” Being wired to computer monitors for seven hours may not sound like a relaxing way to spend a night at a luxury resort, but polysomnography proved popular enough that other resorts followed suit. Overnight sleep studies at Canyon Ranch cost $2,325 and an in-room version will be offered at the resort’s new Miami Beach Living hotel, opening in October, 2009. Nevertheless, Eichling admits, most guests prefer to handle their insomnia or sleep disorders with 50-minute physician consultations or behavioral therapy sessions, which book at a steady rate of one or two per week. “Twenty-one percent of the population says it has a significant sleep problem,” Dr. Eichling says. “That is a lot of people. But it’s important to note that there hasn’t been a change in the number of people with sleep probAUGUST 2009 • HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW lems, just a growing awareness of the importance of sleep. At Canyon Ranch, we see a lot of people with serious sleep problems.” The quest for sleep is driving guests to La Quinta Resort & Club as well. When Dr. Daniel Cosgrove opened the WellMax Center for Preventive Medicine there in 2000, his goal was to offer the ultimate executive physical, aiming mainly at early cancer detection. By locating his medical facilities at a resort, he could offer guests gourmet medical evaluations as part of a weekend getaway. Like Dr. Eichling, he soon discovered sleep deprivation was the root of many complaints, from weight gain to depression. That encouraged him to set up a sleep lab in 2001. “People come for medical testing because of low energy or feeling washed out,” says Dr. Cosgrove. “It turns out a lot of them simply aren’t getting restorative sleep.” Having overnight tests at a resort is a lot more inviting than being dropped off at a downtown medical facility, he points out. “For the sleep study, you show up at about 10 p.m., when you’re about to go to sleep, and by 5 a.m., we have everything we need. People can stay if they want but many just pull those wires off and go down the hall to their rooms, where they can relax and order breakfast in bed.” It’s not unusual for executives to bring spouses along for a barrage of high-tech diagnostic tests, followed by nine holes of golf and a meal at the resort’s 5-star restaurant. While WellMax operates independent of La Quinta, it attracts out-of-town patients to the resort who might not otherwise have come. “It’s very synergistic,” Cosgrove says. “My practice benefits by being here at the resort and the resort benefits from my practice.” s 35

HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009