Yesterday, my husband and I visited Rose Life Spa, Glen Allen VA for a couples' massage that my husband purchased through Groupon as a gift for us. Although we had never experienced this type of massage before, we have enjoyed individual massages at other spas and researched this type before we went. This spa appears to be owned and managed by a husband and wife with no other employees. We arrived a few minutes early and decided to wait in the car for a few minutes; during that time, a male came out of the spa and stood staring at us. When we were almost to the door of the spa, he asked if we had an appointment and followed us in. The lobby was clean but sparsely and cheaply decorated with a tabletop fountain and plastic flowers.
After he made a call, presumably to someone else in the establishment, he told us to follow him through a sheer curtain, down a dark hallway, and into a dimly lit room with two massage tables. He told my husband to take off his shirt, did not look at or speak to me, and left the room. A few minutes later, a female opened the door and told my husband to strip down to underwear; I asked her what I should do since I had received no instructions. She told me to do the same and both of us to lie face down on the tables, which were each equipped with towel and small pillow on which to rest our heads, shut the door, and left.
The door opened a few minutes later, and we heard someone--we soon determined it was the couple--enter. The woman asked if either of us had back problems; she never asked if we had any other health issues or joint replacements or any other information to share. I have fibromyalgia and another health condition making only certain types of massage appropriate. We were not asked if there was a particular type of massage we wanted or if we had ever had a massage previously; the process was not explained to us either before or during the massages; we were not told whether we were to be massaged by a male or a female or if we had a preference. There was a language barrier, but it did not seem to preclude providing the basic information that was given. The woman proceeded to massage my husband and the man gave my massage, which I was very uncomfortable with. Due to the height of the table and his stature, his groin was constantly rubbing against my head or arms; he wrapped a towel around the back of my head and tucked it into the pillow, which was a problem because I am claustrophobic. I received what I believe was a deep tissue massage, pulling on my limbs and fingers, and shaking my hands, wrists, and arms--which was painful-- and a hot rock massage; the masseuse did not tell me that he was going to place extremely hot rocks on my back before he did so that was a bit of a shock. The only time that either masseuse spoke was to ask my husband three times if he was ok and both of us to turn over. My husband told me after we left that he believes that his masseuse actually had climbed on his back during the massage because he felt what he thinks was her knees and elbows simultaneously.
Following the massage, the couple simply left the room, causing us to assume the massage was over. When we arrived in the lobby, the couple was there and the woman demanded payment. My husband explained that he gave the Groupon printout to the man when we arrived. She insisted that he pay $20, which we determined was a tip that she required, based on a typewritten notice on the front desk we saw, although she never told us that when asked. She requested cash, but my husband doesn't carry cash so he provided his card as payment. She said, "When you come back next time, bring cash." In my experience, a tip is given when service is as expected: this experience did not fit that parameter.
Overall, the spa was clean and the appointment was on time; however, I found it to be an embarrassing, demeaning, unprofessional, intimidating experience. I will not utilize this business again. read more
