Do as the Romans do

Rome in West Ave: A pampering peek at the already-opened spa

The goddess Hebe presides over Rome
The second-floor entrance to Rome Salon & Day Spa
The relaxation lounge seats are truly heavenly.

With West Ave still under constant jackhammer as new tenant spaces are constructed and perfected, walking through the surprisingly soundproof doors of Rome Salon & Day Spa already seems like an entrance to an oasis of calm.

It's an atmosphere that executive spa director Zahira Coll has worked hard to create. the entrance hallway opens grandly to a circular corner room with a statue of Hebe, goddess of youth, surrounded by sumptuous recliners for hand and foot treatments and natural light streaming in from the windows.

Coll designed Rome to be both practical and relaxing. The spa treatment rooms are hidden in the back, near a private VIP entrance, centered around a shaded relaxation room with four ergonomic lounges so form-fitting and soft they almost feel like floating in a dream state. On the other side of the space is the salon, where shampoo and highlighting areas are hidden away in a corner.

"I always hate walking around in front of people with a towel on my head, or looking like a work in progress," Coll explains.

The spaces are segmented, but there's actually a hidden flow, and for parties many of the fixtures are mobile to open up room for cocktail parties, wine tastings, or other social events.

When it comes to the treatments, Rome looks both to the original hedonists — the Romans, natch — but also to cutting-edge treatments. A 25-minute bath ritual is recommended to begin any treatment to relax the body, soothe the skin and loosen muscles so that massages, facials and other treatments have even more of an effect.

The signature treatment is the Pleasure of the Face, a unique facial massage designed to hit every pressure point and muscle using lymphatic drainage and acupressure techniques. Gentle yet soothing, it's geared to leave one as refreshed as a full-body massage.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”