Europe Comes to Hawaii In 2009, Cheriess Bugado opened up a small massage office. Her love of architecture and European history wove their way through her creative design skills as she began transforming the one room massage office into a full service Day Spa. The years of growing and expanding to meet the clients’ needs gave her a canvas to begin to create her dream spa. Cheriess’ space was originally known as Hilo Massage Clinic, but then, with added services, she expanded into facials, waxing, and body scrubs at the request of her clients. That opened a whole new door to the ever growing successful business she had started. She quickly outgrew her small space and took over an old plantation home built in the 1800’s. With a lot of work and elbow grease, Cheriess and her husband remodeled the old colonial style home into a boutique Day Spa. She quickly changed her name to Hilo Massage Clinic and Day Spa to help establish her new services, but that was not enough! Branding came into question…. So, with the support of her staff and regular clients, she chose the DBA name, Spa Vive. The name Spa Vive, meaning “The Spa Life” in Italian, resonated more clearly with Cheriess’s style. The spa, though housed in the old Hawaiian home, has the ability to transport her clients to old-world Europe the minute they enter. Styles, textures, and accents help each customer feel as if they are royalty, transported back in time to a day when service was everything. Each room is decorated in themes of famous European cities that Cheriess has visited, sending the client into more than just an hour or so of treatment. It lets them travel on a blissful experience across land and time. The services, each unique in its creation, offer the highest quality products and techniques – from Swedish massage moves, Hawaii’s Lomi lomi techniques, to the emerald waters of Venice in the Venetian Facials. I hope you find the time to experience the transformation when you visit Spa Vive on the Big Island of Hawaii!