Although Haven Spa has helped Rhinebeck relax and rejuvenate for the past 20 years, under the new management of Annika Barriteau, it has blossomed into a wonderful combination of traditional day spa practices and medical spa procedures.
Barriteau, who is originally from Long Island, moved to Rockland County when she got married and works in healthcare at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
“I am the physician’s assistant to a cardiac surgeon, so I do open heart surgery for a living,” she explains. However, it was her interest in plastic surgery and the medical spa business that led her to an internship with a plastic surgeon. After practicing with the surgeon for five years, she decided to create her own mobile med-spa business that functioned during the pandemic.
Barriteau stumbled upon Rhinebeck and Haven Spa when she was searching for a place to set down the roots of her med-spa. Two months into renting Haven Spa’s basement, the owner informed Barriteau that she wanted to retire and planned on closing the business.
“I literally went home and went to bed thinking, ‘Oh my god, where am I going to find another location for my med-spa business?’” she recalls.
The metaphorical lightbulb went off in her head when she realized she could buy Haven Spa from the original owner. Naturally, she pitched herself as someone who would continue providing the Rhinebeck community with care.
“[The owner] actually turned me down,” Barriteau explains of that first conversation. “Initially, she thought that I didn’t have enough experience running a day spa, which she was correct. But, I gave her a pretty good story; I felt really strongly about Haven Spa being a wonderful business and, eventually, she allowed me to take over.”
Barriteau’s role in Rhinebeck is an important one; she is one of the only female African American business owners in town.
“Diversity is super important,” she observes. “To be African American and female feels really good; the fact that I was embraced by this town shows that we can be a part of the community and that we have something to offer it.”
As an African American woman, a wife, a mom, a healthcare worker, and a business owner, Barriteau gracefully balances each role that she plays while providing Rhinebeck with both friendship and relaxation.
What to Expect at Haven Spa
Barriteau has owned Haven Spa for about two years now. She offers luxurious services including high-end facials, massages, nail treatment, and laser therapy, just to name a few. She also continues to provide her medical spa services at Haven through LaLume, her concierge aesthetics branch that also has a location in Manhattan.
“We do standard Botox filler, laser hair removal and hyperpigmentation treatment, micro needling, PRP services, and we are now launching IV hydration therapy, which I’m very excited about,” she shares.
Barriteau became the owner of Haven Spa when the pandemic left people uncertain about how to re-enter public spaces.
“For the first six months it was pretty rocky because not only were people a little skittish about coming to a business where we are supposed to be in your personal space, but customers were also unfamiliar with me as the new owner,” she explains. Within a year and a half, Haven Spa’s regular customers started returning, along with new customers interested in services thanks to the business’s social media presence.
Today, Barriteau ensures that Haven Spa continues to provide Rhinebeck with an outlet for care and relaxation. On top of offering top-tier spa treatments, she emphasizes the importance of care for her customers’ mental health.
“When you come to our spa, you are greeted by people who are smiling, who give you a hug, who remember if it was your kid’s birthday this week. We are friends who give you all the technical things that you need, who are focused on giving that to you and making you feel happy. Our investment in our customers makes the experience different from going to another high-end spa,” she notes.
With the success of Haven Spa and LaLume so far, Barriteau would love to be able to bring her level of care to more customers in major cities around the United States. “I want Haven to be a household name. I want you to think of us when you’re feeling down and need an escape, so having that essence of Haven in multiple places across the country is my ultimate goal,” she says.
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