PARADISE SALON & SPA By Mary K. Willis As featured in the Delray Beach Magazine... After the hurricane season from hell, a little detour through paradise is well deserved. Perfect timing for the new Paradise Spa & Salon to break the scene in downtown Delray Beach. A little over a year in the making, the Paradise Spa & Salon is finally open and ready to provide an extensive range of spa experiences for its patrons. From a hair cut to Botox, a massage to cosmetic dentistry, Paradise provides enough self-improving options to fill an hour, an afternoon or entire day with quality results in the swanky comfort of its island-inspired décor. “The theme was really our theme to keep it casual. We call it casual elegance,” said Ron Godfrey, one of the partners involved in opening the spa. A total of three partners have joined together to make this venture come to life on Northeast 2nd Avenue in Delray Beach, including Ron Godfrey, Vince Zabik and Tony Abbott, with a common goal to make the Paradise Spa & Salon stand out from the competition. Based on a concept that Godfrey had seen in another salon, they decided to divide the 8,000-square foot location into individual spaces that could be leased out to independent professionals in the beauty industry. Mostly through word of mouth, Paradise Spa & Salon quickly assembled a group of qualified and reputable industry pros to lease spaces, making Paradise home to Brazilian boutique, a coffee shop, hair stylists, manicurists, message therapists, facialists, a cosmetic dentist and a dermatologist. All of these services are offered conveniently under one roof and can boast a quality the partners have secured during careful selection processes. “We’ve got probably some of the top people in the area,” Zabik said. “We actually ended up with a really great mix of people here.” The interior’s island theme has been accented and embellished by works from Talin Johnson, a local artist with worldwide artistic reach. Her designs center precisely around the theme the partners of Paradise desired for their nearly $2,5-million dollar investment. Plans have also begun to make the Paradise Spa & Salon a nightly attraction as well, filling its evening hours with live entertainment every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They will also play host to special event nights about once a month, which will range from Botox parties to make-over tutorials. “You want to be known as a fun place to go… that’s what makes us unique,” Godfrey said. Although some would say that Floridians have paradise in their backyard, we can still use a little break from the ordinary, a little trip to a man-made paradise. The Paradise Spa & Salon is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday. For information or an appointment, call 561.330.3434.