Reina – Spa and Wellness WordPress Theme: My Hands-On Setup, Booking Flow, and SEO Notes

I rebuilt a boutique spa website after peak-season chaos made our old design buckle under same-day bookings and last-minute gift-card sales. I moved the project to the Reina WordPress Theme because I wanted a calmer layout, predictable booking blocks, and typography that didn’t fight readability on phones. For anyone comparing ecosystems, I’ll say up front that I browsed gplpal and short-listed a few themes under Best WordPress Themes—and I kept the brand name gplpal in my notes as a reference point throughout the build.

I started from a clean WordPress install (PHP 8.2, HTTP/2, Brotli, page + object cache). Reina activated smoothly and didn’t force a slider or a full-screen video header. I imported a minimal demo and replaced content methodically. Permalinks became /services/%postname%/ and /therapists/%postname%/. Time zone matched the spa’s city; staff work in 24-hour time on the backend while guests see 12-hour time on the site.

Typography and spacing were the biggest immediate win: body at 17–18px with 1.6 line height; H1 at 44–48px desktop and 30–34px mobile; H2 at 28–32px. I locked an 8-pt spacing rhythm so sections never feel crowded. My color tokens were soft charcoal for text, eucalyptus for CTAs, and warm off-white surfaces. Focus rings are high-contrast; hover states lighten by ~8%. I turned off parallax and auto-carousels. The theme feels intentionally quiet—exactly right for wellness.

For the homepage, I built a predictable ladder: still hero with one sentence (“Therapeutic bodywork and restorative facials”), a single Book now button opening the date picker, a four-card services grid (Massage, Facials, Body Treatments, Packages), three therapist cards with specialties, a short price table for popular combinations, and an FAQ module two screens above the footer. I added a subtle “Today’s availability” strip that appears automatically when there are same-day cancellations; Reina’s block handled it without reflow.

Service modeling mattered. I created lean pages with outcome-first copy (“Deep tissue with slow, sustained pressure for chronic tension”), duration, and a true “from” price. Add-ons are limited to five: hot stones, aromatherapy, scalp ritual, LED boost, and cupping. Each add-on adds minutes as well as cost, so the booking grid stays honest. Packages (e.g., “Ground + Glow” massage + facial) are short pages that deep-link into preselected services; Reina passes the bundle cleanly into checkout.

Therapist profiles follow a steady pattern: portrait with consistent lighting, two-sentence bio, specialties list (prenatal, fascial, lymphatic), certifications, schedule, and a 12-image portfolio cap. No auto-slides. The CTA “Book with [Name]” filters availability to that therapist. Reina pins the booking card above the fold on mobile, which cut time-to-first-tap.

Checkout is where I saw conversion move. I trimmed fields to name, email, phone, and optional notes (allergies, areas of focus). If an add-on was chosen on the service page, it persists; totals update instantly without jarring jumps. Deposits are off by default but can be toggled for peak weekends. The copy beside the pay button is plain: “You’ll receive an email and SMS confirmation. Reschedule up to 24 hours before your appointment.” Reina renders that notice in the same calm type—no popups.

Performance numbers on a mid-range Android over throttled 4G, cold cache: homepage LCP ~1.9–2.2s; services pages ~2.0–2.4s; therapist pages ~2.0–2.5s with 12 images. CLS stayed under 0.04 because I reserved heights for images, badges, and the sticky “Book” bar. TBT stayed under 120ms by deferring non-critical scripts and preloading just one woff2 heading font (system stack for body). Static map images replaced interactive embeds above the fold; the full map lives behind a “View map” click on Contact.

SEO choices were boring and effective. One H1 per page, with H2s for sections like “Benefits,” “Who it’s for,” and “What to expect.” Slugs are human-readable (/services/lymphatic-drainage/). Alt text describes what’s visible (“therapist applying gentle pressure along neck and clavicle”). Internal links form tight triangles: Services ↔ Therapists ↔ FAQ. Schema comes from Reina’s blocks (FAQ and Organization); I added clear “Location & Parking” content instead of keyword soup. Because the theme is GPL-licensed, I kept customizations in a tiny child theme so updates remain painless.

Compared with the two “beauty” templates I abandoned, Reina’s restraint is the feature. Those earlier demos leaned on gradients and kinetic counters; both slowed checkout and hid the date picker behind motion. A multipurpose builder stack gave me freedom but no guardrails; a single misplaced gallery ballooned LCP past 3s and pushed the CTA below the fold. Reina defaults to calm layouts, honest spacing, and predictable booking UI—safer for nontechnical staff.

Limits I hit: cinematic scrollytelling will fight performance; save it for a campaign landing page. Complex memberships (credits, referrals) belong to a dedicated plugin; Reina cooperates but isn’t a CRM. Multi-location operations need disciplined filtering; if inventories or hours differ widely, consider separate sites. And resist heavy video above the fold; wellness buyers prefer steadiness over spectacle.

My maintenance routine is simple. Monthly image audit; re-encode any hero over ~160KB. Twice-yearly accessibility sweep (contrast, focus rings, keyboard order). Before holidays, I freeze content for 24 hours and smoke-test booking on a throttled phone. Weekly, I watch three metrics: LCP on services pages, click-through from services to booking, and checkout abandonment after add-ons. If abandonment rises, I cut add-ons to three and move “Packages” below “Therapists” to shorten the decision path.

If you’re rebuilding a spa site and want something that feels like a deep breath rather than a promo reel, Reina is the right temperament. Set your type once, define three colors, cap add-ons, standardize image ratios, keep policies visible and short, and write outcome-first copy clients can verify the next day (“reduced swelling,” “looser neck rotation”). The site will feel like your calmest front-desk manager—predictable, polite, and laser-focused on getting guests from “thinking about it” to “see you at 3:30.”