Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Serenity Day Spa—The Station for Relaxation Celebrates 7 Years

Story by Sam Calhoun

Most visitors to the mountains come to relax, to indulge, even to renew—and Serenity Day Spa, 72 Arnett Road, has taken those feelings to a whole new level for visitors and locals.

Cari Ashbaugh, owner of Serenity Day Spa, has offered therapeutic massage—relaxation and deep tissue—regular facials, European facials, microdermabrasion, glycolic peels, waxing, all-natural manicures and pedicures, sea salt body glows, mud treatments, couples’ massages and spa lunches for the past seven years in the High Country and now she is doing it all in a building she owns and helped build.

After leasing space at The Shoppes at Tynecastle for 6.5 years, Ashbaugh built her own 2,000-square-foot building over the winter.

“I get to pay my own mortgage now,” said Ashbaugh, 47, who used Corbin Construction as the general contractor and then handled the subcontract work by herself. “It was the challenge of my life, but it turned out to be incredible and worth all the hardship. This was a big step at almost 50 years of age.”

On May 31, Ashbaugh celebrates 7 years in business in the High Country.

Ashbaugh grew up and attended high school in Clearwater Beach, Fla. and attended the six-month Hill Country Therapeutic Massage School in Austin, Texas, when she was 22 years of age. After completing school in Texas, Ashbaugh returned to Clearwater Beach to attend the Humanities School of Massage for one year. Then it was time to start her career.

Ashbaugh opened Beach Spa in Clearwater Beach—a business she ran for 18 years before coming to the High Country. While running Beach Spa, Ashbaugh regularly vacationed in the High Country and she quite simply “fell in love,” she said, “so I decided to open a summer business here.”

For four years, Ashbaugh spent her winters in Florida running Beach Spa and her summers in the High Country running Serenity Day Spa. But after a while, Ashbaugh did so much business in the High Country that she decided to move to the area permanently. She settled at Sugar Mountain and never looked back.

Just as she suspected, the permanent move meant more business, and the space she needed at The Shoppes at Tynecastle tripled. Unfortunately, so did her rent. Realizing that for what she was paying in rent she could easily pay a mortgage, Ashbaugh set out to build her own spa to her own specifications.

Complete with an organic garden and a pondscape, the new Serenity Day Spa features views of Sugar Mountain from each of the five treatment rooms—four individual rooms and one couple’s room—two fireplaces, skylights, waiting rooms, a relaxation room with free tea and a retail section for spa products.

“[The new spa] has exceeded our expectations,” said Ashbaugh. “There’s so much more we have to offer as a spa here than at a strip mall center. It came out beautifully.”

The new facility handles a large customer base that hails from Virginia and Tennessee and from Linville Ridge, Elk River, Sugar Mountain, Beech Mountain, Diamond Creek, Boone and Blowing Rock.

“We’re really pulling from all areas now,” said Ashbaugh. “And we have an incredible staff. It’s a great team.”

Eight employees help Ashbaugh run the spa.

“There’s a lot of giving involved of a therapist in a spa—that they give of themselves,” said Ashbaugh. “It’s incredible—the relationship with the client—it’s a wonderful thing.”

Ashbaugh has worked as a licensed massage therapist for 25 years and as a skin care specialist for 15 years.

“After 25 years, I can say that I’m still passionate about what I do,” said Ashbaugh.

Ashbaugh attributes her success to word of mouth, marketing and her approach to business. She believes that she gives customers a better product and a better atmosphere No cell phones are allowed, for instance.

Another popular service is Ashbaugh’s Sparties—birthday or wedding parties that are held at the spa—and she thinks the parties have made her business more popular.

“It’s a blast,” said Ashbaugh.

Ashbaugh plans to stay at her new location for the foreseeable future. This winter, she plans to open the spa after night skiing sessions at Sugar Mountain Resort.

“I see a lot more opportunity here at this location,” said Ashbaugh. “I just love it here.”

Serenity Day Spa is located at 72 Arnett Road in Sugar Mountain, across from the entrance to Sugar Mountain Resort and directly behind EXTREME. The spa is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday by appointment only. For more information, call 828-898-3550 or click to www.relaxatserenity.com.