The workers were very nice, but this was the worst massage experience I've ever had. My daughter went in for the couples head and foot massage. We waited for so quite some time after our scheduled appointment. My therapist did not speak any English. The first 5 minutes weren't terrible but it went extremely down hill from there. She rubbed my scalp so aggressively in the same spot my head feels burned. She put some much oil in my hair and pulled and tugged. I almost stopped the massage and gotten up. I wish I had. My daughter said she could hear the slapping and pulling. Her experience was the same. Just slapping and pinching. Somehow we made it through, when I got up, my hair was tangled and teased and super greasy. This was the least relaxing experience I've ever paid for. I cannot recommend this place at all. Wish I could get that hour and $150 plus tip back. So disappointed. read more

Wife and I have been many times and always professional and for sure feel more relaxed after leaving. Recommend for sure. All the staff are friendly and courteous read more

So far, I've been here far twice and have only gotten great massages, especially for the price! Just note that the masseuses have always been incredibly respectful, but if you're looking for modesty, you're not necessarily gonna get it. Definitely will continue coming back. read more

Grotto Spa The Forum - Prices as of Feb 2025 - Massage Therapy Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Sophie was amazing. Great massage, and communication. They have very good packages too!

I like the ambient and how comfortable and welcoming it is. The ladies are so efficient and professionals.

I love getting a massage on this place . They really give a good massage, highly recommended.

Language barrier: the massage person used a translation app during the massage; didn't speak a word of English! Too much oil was used, and spent almost the entire time working on just my back; I had to ask to be turned over so the rest of the body could be worked on. The pace was too fast and strokes clunky. Improper draping, amateur and unprofessional. Not relaxing at all! Just awful! read more

1) Made an appointment a month before Mothers Day. Called to confirm two weeks prior only to find out no appointment was made. Spent several minutes confirming time and date. Showed up Mothers Day to find no appointment was made. Moved on to one of their competitors. Frustrating and tired of the miscommunication with the staff. Too irritating but it gets better...... 2) Next time you are there, verify if the sheets, pillowcases, or any of the linens are changed in between sessions. read more

My wife and I had an hour and a half massage booked. We ended up getting a really great deal on Groupon! It was a couples massage and the masseuse used the right amount of pressure. They not only massaged us, but they also did a little foot scrub rub down that felt nice. One of my personal favorites was when the massaged my scalp for a good 5 minutes At the very end they stretched us out. I don't know what they did exactly, but it felt amazing! My wife and I will most definitely be going again, and we will be trying thr full body wrap massage! read more

Service was okay. It was a nice experience. My suggestions: I would prefer to undress so they can truly reach and massage at the body parts that néeded to be massaged. Also to let us know what we need to remove like jewelries and stuff. Communication is a problem too. Giving tip should be a courtesy from the customer and not being demanded or asked by the receptionist . read more

I had a decent experience here. I found this place on Groupon and there was a deal for $60 one hour message with sea salt food scrub. The good : easy process, friendly service. The receptionist was communicative and nice. The room was comfortable and clean. The message was ok not the best I've had. The not so good: the therapist didn't know ANY English. She used way too much massage OIL and it made me feel icky. It didn't feel good that I couldn't tell her what area to focus on since we couldn't communicate at all. They massage your back side, and it's not comfortable. I left my underwear on to give a clue I didn't want my back side done. Not sure I'd return here unless the therapist can communicate with me in English. read more

AVOID. Read the other one-star reviews for the truth. This place has 3.6 stars, that's difficult to get that low of a rating...The entire operation feels unprofessional, sketchy, and completely disorganized from start to finish. Communication is poor, staff seem indifferent, and basic requests are ignored. Get a massage elsewhere. I'm surprised this place hasn't been shut down already. read more

Good deep massage. Very satisfied I'll surely recommend the spa. I'll stop by when chance comes

Swedish massage 60-90 minutes minimum :) I prefer a gentle touch, women. Sometimes here they have more men working than women. I'm not crazy about that, but the sessions are always great. I've taken my mother here and she truly enjoyed it as well. Soothing music, water after. All the usuals. A favorite spot! read more

Grotto Spa The Forum - Entrance - Massage Therapy Near Me - Carlsbad, California

The place is hard to mind in the upstairs maze. Once we found it, we were hurried back to our room. (We weren't offered the bathroom, water or tea). Then they had us waiting unclothed on the massage tables for 10 minutes after the start time of our massage. I booked this through ClassPass and wasn't sure what to expect. It was not a relaxation massage. There was slapping, foot scrub, flicking of the face and ears. It wasn't all weird though. The shoulder massage was great and they had some good smelling lotions. I didn't like that there is very little communication (English was limited I think). They didn't ask if we had any injuries or wanted to focus on something...they just started and had their formula. They used a lot of oil, which isn't great for everyone. And the massage therapists for our couples massage talked to each other all throughout...not very peaceful. I wouldn't recommend this place. The price is decent, but if you're looking for a cheap massage I'd go somewhere else. Then we finished and came out of the room. They gave us hot tea, which was nice. Then we asked to charge a 20% tip onto our credit card. The woman refused. She pointed to a sign that asked for what amounted to a 30% tip. We refused. It was a standoff. Uncomfortable and unprofessional. Not something you expect given US tipping customs. read more

Grotto Spa The Forum - Menu - Massage Therapy Near Me - Carlsbad, California

I've been coming here for years and only have good things to say about this place! All the workers are very nice and put a lot of care into the massages. Sometimes I come in with a specific request / area of pain and they put so much effort into working on that area. Highly recommend read more

They have mildewed towels, their pillows and towels smell really bad. I have told one of the owners before. I had a foot massage today and they used a towel over my head and I had to come home and wash my hair because of the smell on my hair I will not be returning. They are reasonable in price and the ladies that do the Massage are really good but the place it looks clean, but their laundry is not clean. And most of the ladies do not understand English, which is really hard to communicate. read more

Overall a decent experience. I bought a Groupon for a body massage with a foot scrub and booked an appointment with them before going in. The massage therapists forgot the foot scrub and let me go. I remembered that walking out the door and pointed it out to the receptionist so she said they skipped it because they were tired. I don't blame them for being tired but I find this wrong that they acknowledged it when I pointed it out. They did give me a 20 min massage coupon for the missed scrub. The massage was good, but I might not return because I don't like establishments that do not try to gain the customer's trust. read more

Grotto Spa The Forum - Massage Therapy Near Me - Carlsbad, California

had a Groupon for this place and and the set up was very nice the workers were friendly and space was clean. I almost fell asleep during the massage it was good but I had better read more

There's so much wrong with this business, too much to fix. Absolutely the worse massage I've ever had, mostly completed with elbows and knuckles, which I wouldn't mind except she dug them into my bones more than the knots in my muscles. Lots of squeezing and almost pinching of my skin and she repeatedly hit my head while jamming herself all over the place. Just absurdly rough with no purpose whatsoever. read more

Always have a great massage at Grotto at Forum. Coco is fantastic along with all other masseuses are great too! Highly recommend! Buy 5 - get one free too ;) read more

I found this place through Groupon. It is in the Forum on the top floor. The whole place is very nice. This spa is a standard Asian run spa. I noticed the price posted was what I paid on Groupon. Still, for 60 minutes the price was right! We were early, but they took us back right away after they offered the restroom. The restroom which is 2 doors down was dirty. It needed a good clean but that's more the Forum management's fault. Anyway The Grotto was fine. They have individual rooms. Yes, English is not their first language. There was minimal communication but I'm not here to talk anyway. I personally loved my massage and the lady who gave it to me. It was a full body massage including my buttocks. It didn't bother me though. She worked very hard. I like deep massages and she had the right amount of pressure. I felt for the price I paid she deserved at least a 20% tip and it was appreciated. I will be back! read more

Grotto Spa The Forum - Massage Therapy Near Me - Carlsbad, California

I went to the spa recently , I tipped over 20% apparently that wasn't enough for the Masseuse's. They demanded more money. I will never go back there again. They are complete rip offs. I think so. read more

Spa owner would not honor my gift receipt I purchased for my son In-law I purchased two one for each son in-law . I made a point to accompany one son in-law today who had his gift certificate and booked his appointment so I could explain what happened and that I purchased both certificates the same day hoping they could look it up and give me another one. I was certain they could track the lost one by it's date and serial # Well they don't keep a record so they have my $65. I didn't want to disappoint my son in-law and reluctantly prchased another one I. am furious I will never use that spa again . Any other business would have kept a record and at least after I had purchased two and now 3 $65. ea for gift certificates would honor it . They have have a very BAD business ethic in my opinion. I will never use this spa again or recommend them to anyone they are a rip off read more

OMG the hot oil massage with hot stones, foot scrub and scalp massage was the best spa treatment ever!!! I was able to get a Sunday appointment easily. I will book again!! Don't forget to tip! I tipped the therapist $30 on this treatment. read more

Once I realized the Forum Spa was the Grotto, I made my way to the 2nd floor. The spa itself is not necessarily to my standards, but the 90 minute massage was exceptional! Would return read more

Had a couples massage last night. The ladies came in and were so loud opening and closing things. They were moving things around being loud. During our massage their CELL PHONES were buzzing with phone calls or messages the entire time. In the middle of the massage the front desk lady came in room to ask which lady does deep massages and then continues to discuss with the customer across the hall (yelling across the hall) which lady she wants to do her deep massage! We were not able to relax or enjoy the massage. The lady who did my massage, I felt like she was rushing. My husband said he felt like his was rushed as well. They would have to stop the massage every single time to walk to the front of the room to get the oil or lotion bottle. In all it was not an enjoyable experience. I wouldn't go back or recommend. read more

I actually had a lovely reflexology session on Mother's Day. It was $45. There was a sign at the front with the "recommended" tip amounts; $15 if I "liked"it (33%) and $20 if I "loved" it (44%)- it was a great service, so I did $15, more than enough, as 20% is normally a good tip. Total should have been $60. However, when I checked my account the next day, they charged me $62. Sleezy move. I may go back, but pay in all cash. I'll certainly tell everyone I know they did this. read more

If I could give no stars or negative stars I would. Horrible massage. And she broke my hair clip. And I went to use my gift card and she acted like she had no idea that they sold gift cards. Then I went to tip her $5 cus the whole experience was beyond horrible, but I still wanted to make sure to tip something, but then she grabbed the tip sign "recommendations" and put it in my face like I was going to give her more money for that terrible massage and terrible customer service. Oh and there's a board in the room and you cross out things you don't want touched so I crossed out my face and hair. And she still did my face and I have sensitive skin and she put lotion and her hands all over my face, mind you this was after she did my feet and she didn't even clean them or sanitize or anything, and she took out my claw clip and completely broke it, didn't even apologize. And then (on the board) u circled the body parts that you want them to focus on. She barely even touched the spots I circled. And to make everything worse is there was an argument between an employee and a customer in the room next to mine and to say this was at all a relaxing experience is far from the truth. read more

Had the most amazing 90 minute massage! Included deep tissue massage, hot rock massage and sugar foot treatment. Very friendly staff, soothing music, clean rooms. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed - caught myself falling asleep. LOVE IT!!!! I'd do again and I highly recommend the GROTTO SPA! read more

Hubby purchased the Groupon deal. Ladies were very kind and professional. Space was clean and relaxing. Thank you!

My husband and I went for a couples massage for our anniversary. I thought the massage therapist did a great job and my husband enjoyed his as well. But we had the oddest thing happen. I've never experience something like this at a spa. It sounded like a big group had come into the spa and they were laughing and carrying on. They were so loud! So in my head I'm thinking OK they're gonna get settled and put into rooms and then they'll stop. And that did happen for a few minutes, but then I just heard muffled laughing and talking, mostly laughing very loud. I was so confused as to where these people went. If they're having a massage why would they be laughing and talking so loud? So I mentioned it to the lady when we left that I found that very strange and kind of inquired about it and she said oh I'm sorry, that's one of our customers. OK... so ask him to be quiet! This carried on for more than half of my massage. He has to be disrupting others too and it sounds like this is a common occurrence with this guy. I'm just surprised they don't say anything to him. Better to lose one loud customer than a bunch of others. read more

I have been getting migraines so I knew it was time for stress relief. My body only responds to deep tissue massage. I called and spoke with a man and scheduled a 5:30 PM deep tissue massage for one hour last night. When I arrived, nobody was there and there was a sign that told me to wait. So I waited about 20 minutes and finally someone came out and took me into a room. Nobody spoke in English. I kept telling the massage therapist that I needed a deep tissue And she didn't understand. I couldn't keep telling her DURING THE MASSAGE - when I should have been relaxing. it got to a point where it was just ridiculous and she couldn't understand anything. She ended up doing a 90 minute Swedish instead of the one hour deep tissue massage That I had booked - Swedish does nothing for me. Then when I came out of the massage I had to pay $115 For the Swedish 90 minute that I did not want. The 60 minute deep tissue was $65. The lady at the front desk didn't speak any English either. She kept shoving her iPhone in my face, literally 2 inches from my mouth with the bright iPhone light blinding me and asking me to speak for a translator app that did not work and she was getting upset at me for not allowing me to shove this iPhone in my face. I kept pushing it away after the translator did work about 5 times. It was seriously disrespectful. The translator didn't work. Then she kept hassling me to pay for it $115!!! instead of $65. This went on for about 15 minutes and I couldn't handle it anymore. I had to give them my credit card so they would let me leave the building. Then she stalled with the credit card processing machine in her hand and wouldn't charge my credit card because they were hassling me for a tip. I didn't wanna leave a tip. I was already being bullied and overcharged for something I didn't even want..and didn't receive any benefit from. They wouldn't let me leave until I tipped on the credit card. so I threw $10 out and she finally ran my credit card for the $115. They wanted me to tip more and I was just disgusted at this point. I just wanted to leave and go home. I had a headache and now I'm out $125 for something I didn't ask for. At this point I just wanna refund and I don't think I'll go back there anymore.. I was going once or twice a week and my boyfriend was taking me every week to a massage at one of their few locations. I'm just going to have to tell him I don't wanna go back there again. You need somebody that speaks English on premises at all time. They're pushy for money and tips. It's horrible. I go to relax and have nothing but anxiety. It's bad enough my massage therapist can't understand me during a treatment and I'm constantly hassled to explain myself with sign language they don't understand DURING THE TREATMENT!!. Really bad. I woke up sick to my stomach this morning from the whole experience. NEVER AGAIN!! Go somewhere you can actually enjoy the experience instead of getting hassled, upset and held against your will. There are several negative reviews - don't dismiss them. The business says they are against their employees hassling over a tip - this isn't true. I sent my son in for a massage a few months ago and he tried to give them $15 for a tip on a $65 massage and she kept hassling him until he pulled more money out of his pocket for her. Just gross read more

The worst experience ever by far!Absolutely horrible and I had many massages in my life. Where do I start. First of all I was never asked what medical conditions I have, Secondly never asked what kind of massage and intensity I want. The masseuse was very rough and insensitive. Never communicated with me. After burning my skin with hot stones which I never agreed to and me screaming to stop she kept on burning my skin again and again... hell on earth. Then she started to pull my hair, very painful. Finally after the longest 90 minutes of my life the pain marathon was over. Do yourself a favorite and stay away from this place!. read more

HORRIBLE experience. Believe the 1 star reviews because they are telling the truth. If i could rate this place a 0 i would. First off the lady's were very very rude. During mine and my husband couple massage they would be talking and giggling wasn't able to relax in peace. After the massage my husband told them we would run to the car and come back with a tip because we left our belongings in the car. She kept refusing, giving us faces and acting very unprofessional and rude. So I continued to walk out im not dealing with rude people like that especially when our experiences was already horrible from the start. She proceeded to follow us to the car demanding a tip. Who the hell does that!!!!!! So unprofessional. Ive never felt so uncomfortable. Definitely do not recommend this place horrible service!!!!!!!!! read more

Second time back and always a great message! Call for reservations and confirmed We bought a Groupon for a couples message. We had our own room, it was clean and had nice soft sheets and blankets. They used nice oils, balms, hot rocks and towels and salt scrub for legs and feet! Our ladies did a wonderful job. 90 minutes was great read more

My husband and I were staying in Carlsbad and came across a coupon for the Grotto Spa. We booked 90 minute massages after reading positive reviews on Yelp. The massages were excellent. The therapists were very professional, providing the perfect amount of pressure. Besides massaging the front and back of the body, they also massaged the head and face and exfoliated the feet with salt and warm towels, which was an added bonus. We enjoyed our experience and would definitely go back to the spa next time we are staying in the Carlsbad area. read more

A great attentive staff with knowledgeable staff that listens to your needs. Linda, Nancy, and Mia are excellent! read more

THE WORST MASSAGE MY HUSBAND AND I EVER HAD! There is no way the people working here are licensed. Believe the bad reviews. They didn't ask what areas to focus on. Rolling your arms over and over again up and down someone's back is not a massage. They never worked on any of the knots, they barely touched our arms and legs, and pressing your thumbs as hard as you can into someone's scalp is not a head massage. I had to stop the masseuse at one point when she put burning hot stones on me. I've had stone massages before, and never once has someone put stones that were that hot on me. Once they were done they took the roughest towels and scrubbed us down with them. This massage was in no way relaxing. I would have gotten up and left, but I thought my husband was enjoying his massage. Unfortunately he felt the same way about his masseuse. Save your money and go elsewhere. read more

It was a good massage for the price. Am I certain they are totally licensed...no. But have I had a good massage from unlicensed people before...sure. I would say the value here is great and it may become my regular massage spot. I've avoided regular massage as the price is too high but here the quality to value strikes the right balance. I wish I would have written down the lady's name who gave me my last massage, it was great! I'll be back again soon and hopefully will find her or another who has her talent. read more