Summerlin area’s Salt Room aimed at improving health
When Ava Mucikyan opened The Salt Room LV in Trails Village, she had no experience owning or running a business. She only wanted to offer a room where people could relax and breathe in salt-infused air or take a yoga class.
“I probably went against every business-banking rule there was,” she said. “It’s something I would never advise somebody to do.”
She said she spent $400,000 to obtain the space and build it out, paying for some of it with a credit card.
Much of that $400,000 went into building the cave, where the walls are Himalayan rock and an air conditioning system pumps salt-infused air into the space.
“Salt is probably our most ancient and sacred healer,” doctor of holistic medicine Monica Bickerstaff Riley said, adding, “Himalayan salt rejuvenates and restores (the body), it (cleanses) the liver and is good for kidney purification, for the lungs and for skin.”
Sessions in the salt cave last 45 minutes.
Ronnie Tice has been a client for about two years. She uses a neti pot for her allergies and was introduced to halotherapy in the salt cave.
“It was awesome — very relaxing and soothing,” Tice said. “You end up falling asleep. It helps clear up the mucus and you feel so much better when you leave here.”
She said the effect lasts at least a week.
Mucikyan has added elements to grow the business: yoga, then meditation classes. She brought in massage therapists, then aestheticians, and established a network of on-call healers.
The salt room and retail comprise about 60 percent of the business. Facials and auxiliary services such as massages are about 30 percent. Classes are about 10 percent, but they are a vital part.
“The classes are workshop-style. We try to have a variety each month to keep it exciting. Those are a tool to increase the (foot traffic),” Mucikyan said.
Mucikyan sells various products, including salt lamps. The lamp’s heat emits the ions. There are dark salt lamps for when one wants to sleep but still gain the benefits of the negative ions.
Visit saltroomlv.com.
Contact Jan Hogan at jhogan@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2949.
The Salt Room LV
Where: 1958 Village Center Circle, Suite 7
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays
Contact: saltroomlv.com or 702-228-7258
Social media: twitter.com/salt_room_lv or facebook.com/saltroomlv
Reporter’s notebook
I had never heard of a salt cave before I met Ava. There’s a tangible feel as soon as you walk in. It’s like I’d left the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas behind. Deadlines? Traffic? Worrying over the next chapter for my second book my “The Healer” series? They were all gone.
Part of that was Ava. If anyone emits a sense of calmness and peace, this is the person.
We did the interview in the salt cave. Step inside and taking that first whiff is like an epiphany. Those sinus allergies that plague me daily were instantly gone. (I need a salt cave in my house. Really. I do.)
Jan Hogan
