I thought spas were for women. I was wrong

Walk into one now and you’ll see men everywhere

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My wife and I recently stayed at the Ste. Anne’s Spa in Grafton, Ont. What I witnessed there provided me with a different outlook about who is actually going to health spas and resorts. To quote Henry Winkler’s memorable TV character The Fonz, my original assumption may have been “wr-, wr-, wrong!”

St. Anne’s history is rather fascinating.

The first owner was Daniel Honeywell. He sold over 100 acres of land, including the location of the current spa, in 1809 to Daniel Massey and his family. (The deal was registered three years later.) If that latter name sounds familiar, it’s with good reason. Daniel is the father of Daniel Massey Jr., who founded Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory in 1847, which was later renamed Massey Manufacturing Co., Massey-Harris and, most notably, Massey Ferguson.

The centre of the original building was built in 1858 by Samuel Massey and called “Sunnyside.” It was passed down to his son, Edward Massey, who lived there for several years until it faced foreclosure. Thomas Hoskins bought the property in 1890 and ultimately sold it to Simon Jayne in 1901. While it’s unclear whether the Jayne family resided at Sunnyside, there’s some suggestion that Elizabeth Massey “may have lived there for some of the time.” It was sold to William Keeler in 1919.

The Keelers, like many families, struggled during the Great Depression to keep things afloat. So much so that they sold their property to a wealthy Texan, Robert Blaffer, in 1939. His wife, Sarah, also purchased “the farm to the west which was owned by Ernest Joice,” who had bought it from Jayne years earlier. Her vision was to build a summer home for the family “which would resemble the old stone cottages she had seen and admired in the Cotswold district of England.” This helped create much of Ste. Anne’s facade, which still stands today. Many visitors came to their home, including Vincent Massey, the great-grandson of Daniel Jr., who served as Governor General of Canada.

Sarah Blaffer passed away in 1975. Ste. Anne’s would remain empty until Carl and Nan Corcoran purchased it in 1981. They would begin the task of renovating the entire house and expanding the business for the next few years. Their son, Jim, took over in 1990. He has turned Ste. Anne’s into one of the most popular spas and resorts in Ontario.

My wife and I were both impressed with Ste. Anne’s. The spa has maintained its rich history and architecture under the ownership of the Corcoran family, with new buildings and amenities currently under construction. Our room was large, comfortable and situated in a quiet spot. The food in the dining room was stellar—not like spa fare at all—and could have easily been served in restaurants in large cities like Toronto. The staff were kind, considerate and helpful. The spa services were top-flight (I gave most of them to my wife), as were the amenities like the Eucalyptus Steam Room and hydrotherapy pools.

Having never stayed overnight at a spa before, it was an interesting experience and a very relaxing weekend!

Who was at Ste. Anne’s when we were there? Most of the day spa visitors were groups of women, which was to be expected. What did surprise me—and even my wife, who was obviously the main reason why we went—was that the number of men and women staying at Ste. Anne’s, either married or dating, was surprisingly close to equal.

Call me either old-fashioned or a dinosaur, but I would have never guessed this in a million years.

My wife, to be fair, has told me that the number of male visitors to spas has increased dramatically. I’ve always doubted it, but it seems like I was mistaken. “Research by the International Spa Association (ISPA), has revealed that more men are going to spas than ever before,” according to an Aug. 16, 2019 piece by Lauren Heath-Jones in spa business magazine, “with stats indicating that 49 per cent of spa customers are now men, a 20 per cent increase from the 29 per cent reported in 2005.”

Moreover, a July 11, 2023, piece published on the UK’s Professional Beauty Group website noted that “there has been a 346 per cent increase in men booking spa treatments and experiences since 2018, according to spa experience and booking agency Spabreaks.com.” The article also mentioned that “in 2018/2019, men constituted 25 per cent of its audience, whereas the current figures show that 40 per cent of its audience consists of men. This shift signifies a growing interest among men in engaging with spa services and wellness offerings.”

What does all of this mean?

While it’s probably fair to say that homosexual men are visiting spas on a more regular basis, the biggest reason for this spike is heterosexual men going with their girlfriends or spouses. Male attitudes about spas, resorts, relaxation, style, fashion and therapeutic treatments have changed, too. Some of this may be related to the younger male demographic and the emergence of metrosexual men. That’s clearly not the whole story.

My stay at Ste. Anne’s opened my eyes to something I’ve either refused to accept or chosen to ignore. Either way, I was completely wrong about the number of men going to spas and resorts and my wife was right. I hate when that happens!

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.