La Dolce Vita Spa to offer guests a taste of the sweet life

The "everything under one roof" concept has been used in giant retail stores in Las Vegas. But it's probably never before applied to a spa setting, at least not like Carol Sage and Lori Smith are planning.

Sage, owner of Sage Salon & Spa in Boca Park, and Smith, owner of Better Nutrition, which has multiple outlets throughout the valley, joined forces and are now on the brink of launching La Dolcé Vita Longevity and Wellness Spa. Smith and Sage already broke ground at the site on Grand Canyon Parkway, near Flamingo Road and the Beltway. Plans are for it to open in July or August.

The 45,000-square-foot La Dolcé Vita will take a total-body/mind approach to wellness and the partners say part of that is pampering.

"We have so much stress in our lives," said Sage, who keeps her own life in balance with meditation. "This is an experience. What it's about is stopping the clock and seizing the moment."

It may have everything under one roof, but patrons should expect elegance instead of a big-box approach, the owners say. The building makes a distinct statement with its Roman pillars, domed entry and upscale facade. Plans are to have it surrounded by manicured landscaping.

A uniformed doorman will greet visitors and escort them into the facility. Valet parkers will whisk cars away. If vehicles are dirty, they can be washed while the owners shop. It's a service Sage and Smith made sure to include.

For tourists staying at Strip hotels, La Dolcé Vita will offer limousine service.

Inside, the entry is dominated by a wish-bone-shaped dual staircase. There are also marble floors, oversized vases and more pillars.

"When you look around Las Vegas, you see a lot of day spas, tons of them," Smith said. "We didn't want to do what's already been done. In business, you have to be a step ahead. I spoke with a plastic surgeon in Marina Del Ray and he said there's nothing like this in California. Nothing. That tells you something."

Plans include boutiques, a hair salon, massage rooms, therapy baths, an endless pool and a restaurant on the building's first level. Specifics are still under wraps, but Smith promised it would be a top restaurant from Beverly Hills with a well-known name.

"We just have to dot the I's and cross the T's on that," she said.

The restaurant will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner, cover 2,500 square feet and offer outdoor patio dining. The menu will lean toward healthy fare, she said, but "not some weird food like veggie-tofu things."

In a nod to Smith's Low Carb Kafes, located inside some Better Nutrition shops, La Dolcé Vita also plans to have its own weight-loss group associated with the nutrition department.

Shops in the 5,000-square-foot retail area will offer things like candles and inspirational items, bath and beauty products, cosmetics, vitamins and herbal supplements, designer sunglasses, perfumes, jewelry and lingerie. There will also be a shop specializing in boudoir photography.

What will set La Dolcé Vita apart even more is its second floor. Roughly 15,000 square feet will be devoted to medical procedures including Botox, laser hair removal, skin resurfacing and chemical peels. There will be a cosmetic dentist, internal medicine physicians, an eye doctor who corrects vision on site with LASIK surgery, a chiropractor and a plastic surgeon.

A surgery center will eventually be incorporated into the building so people can have procedures like liposuction, an eye lift, face-lift or breast augmentation done there.

"I feel women can age nicely," Sage said. "I don't want a 50-year-old woman to look 15. I want her to look good for her age. If you care for your skin and have a stylist do your hair, it's like you're transformed."

Besides a pool and jacuzzi area, La Dolcé Vita will have a workout gym and offer classes like Pilates, step and aerobics.

The spa section will address personal body comfort with offerings like healing wraps, Russian steam baths, massages, spray-on tans, a hair salon and makeup experts.

If all this sounds a bit over the top -- with price tags to match -- Smith nixed that notion, saying services will be affordable. The owners said to expect prices comparable with well-respected spas already in Las Vegas.

"It's not like your typical spa," Smith said. "It's also a social setting. After you're done at the spa, after you do your thing in the gym or with treatments, you can sit down and have a health cocktail and meet people."

La Dolcé Vita will anchor the shopping center, a Triple Five Development Corp. project, and is the first building to go up on the site. Interested parties can reach La Dolcé Vita through bncorp@aol.com.

Smith said she and Sage will take La Dolcé Vita to Florida, New York and California.


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