3 - Sunday, February 12, 1989 - West Vancouver Villager Luxury spa and therapy centre offers a refuge for women who want a getaway “WOMEN IN search of a temporary haven — away from family, career and other life-induced pressures — have been offered an overtown sanctuary by West Vancouver’s June Earle. Earle is the owner of The Secret By PEGGY TRENDELL WHITTAKER Garden, a business she bills as the Villager Reporter “ultimate pampering experience’’ for women. Housed in a refurbished False Creck home built in the carly 1900s, the recently opened facility offers everything from massage to facials to yoga and meditation groups. “We (women) weren’t taught very well how to take care of ourselves,”” says Earle, a mother of six. The basic premise of The Secret Garden, she says, is to provide a place for women to go where they can be ‘‘nurtured and safe,’ away from the arenas in which they have to be the caregivers. “It's a dream I’ve had for a long, long, time .... I've fantasized about a centre with all sorts of alternate therapies.** When asked if she sees a contradiction between her hope that her clients “‘get to know themselves a little better’’ and the promotion of beauty-enhancing esthetic services such as facials and waxing, Earle says it’s “‘an interesting issue,"* and admits that ‘‘women who are more feminist than I would think | was perpetuating an unhealthy fantasy."* However, she asserts that paying attention to outward appearances “doesn’t conflict with women being autonomous and fulfilled,”" and that by pampering themselves occasionally, women will often feel better about themselves **from the inside."* Along with the esthetic services, which are provided by Alice Brown, who worked in Cypress Park’s Setting Sons salon for seven years, indi- vidual counselling sessions and personal well-being courses are offered by Lynne Cove. Cove, who coordinates the North Shore Keep Well program for older adults, is planning a Growing Up weekend workshop on April 1 and 2. The workshop, which costs $150 for women who register prior to March 15, is, according to Earle, ‘‘for women who are changing goals. For whatever reason, their life path is changing."* . With coffee going in the kitchen, a library nook, fresh paint and a homey backyard garden, Earle says she is determined to provide a relax- ing alternative to the bustling ‘“‘high-tech’’ look of many current-day beauty salons. Future plans for the facility include relationship, self-esteem and dream workshops and, perhaps, the incorporation of an evening in which men can visit for massage and esthetic services. For more information on The Secret Garden, which is located at 967 W. 8th St. in Vancouver, call 737-2226. By Gina Mcféurchy-Barber Over the fast decade there has been tremendous growth and change in the travel industry as many remote and unique vacation spots became hospitable and accesible to travellers. But the cost of an overseas holiday is still an expensive luxury and people are beginning to take vacation planning more seriously. Entrepreneur Herman Saltzberg and travel expert Jack Smaii recognized the need for travel agencies to expand and diversify their services to customers. They decided to implement a number of innovations which they now offer through Trust Travet International in West Vancouver. Part of the Trust Travel scene in- corporated a very simple and old fashioned ingredient — personaliz- 746+ Travel Intemational owners, photo Peouy Trendelbwh ittaker WEST VANCOUVER'S June Earle has recently renovated an old False Creek home and opened it as a lux- urious get away for women. Called The Secret Garden, women can drop in for facials, massage, meditation groups, or just a cup of coffee. For more information, call 737-2226, Heman Saltzberg and Jack Smal! ed service. Such service incl : x uses work out details of their agency's grand opening this Saturday. in-home counselling and trip plan- ning, free long-distance help for clients facing booking probiems abroad, and fax and telex for faster service. “We want our business to get a name for itself by providing a real .. service and thus raising standards ‘ to a higher plane,” says Salizberg. The policies set by Trust Travel are already causing new trends within the industry. Through a holisic approach to customer ser- vice their agents go beyond mak: ing phone calis or passing out brochures. “Handing out brochures is not our thing. We want to sit down with all our customers, look at their budget, their needs and then design a tour that suits them specifically,” says Small. “We plan on providing in-house seminars that have an educational value as well as being entertaining. This means inviting professionals axe archeologists or biologists who can show slides and talk on a country’s culture or animal life,” Saltzberg says. When it comes right down to it, “the only thing we have to seit is service, so it had better be good,” he adds. Based on more than 50 years of combined experience the owners of Trust Trave! believe the only way a business can achieve success is by suiting the needs of the people. “If you can do that, you have a business that will thrive” Trust Travel International, located at 1528 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, is now open to serve customers in a multitude of ways. They reatize that making a vaca- tion into a treasured memory begins before the traveller even leaves home. . For more information call Jack Smail, Patricia Lopez or Herman Saltzberg at 926-1692. vl 1528 Marine Dr. — f— West Vancouver pid, 926-4692 TRUST'TRAVEL INTERNATION AL No more guessing when our ACCUMATCK Color Computer matches quality Pittsburgh’ Paints to your wallcovering, fabric or other decorative accents! The ACCUMATCH Color Computer lets us match colors faster than ever before... while you wait! Stop in and see this color matching marvel from Pittsburgh Paints! SAVE now on our very best interior paints. Your North Shore Totai Decorating Store (at Marine Dr.) next to Save-On-Food: Ample Free Parking