While the next generation of Harmsworth’s spas will include high-tech services like genetic testing, she continues to champion age-old traditions like aromatherapy and ayurvedic medicine. “You won’t see us coming up with a different treatment every month just to appease the fact that strawberries are the latest thing,” she says.
But of-the-moment locales are another story. Shortly after leaving New York, she’ll be in Africa to scout private game reserves with a pint-size entourage: her four grandsons, ages five to 12. (Both their father, Michael, 41, and Harmsworth’s older son, Charlie, 43, work for ESPA.) “I don’t buy them many things; I buy them experiences,” she says of her grandchildren, reasoning that, ultimately, they will treasure a trip taken with Grandma more than a long-forgotten toy. “I think this applies to the spa industry, too,” she adds with certainty. “People remember experiences.”
