THE THERAPIST:
Upon arriving the place was nice looking and welcoming. My requested therapist had been bumped - 24hrs prior to my service - and I was now reassigned to a 60 min massage with Andrew. He asked me what I needed worked on and I was very specific. I had pain and tension from travel and need those kinks worked - I named 3 locations on the body and expressed I wanted deep work. His pressure never got to a place where I could say was truly deep tissue. He used the same 3 or 4 moves over and over again. His myofascial work was elementary and not effective. After each spot he worked he asked, "what was the other area you said again?" or "is there somewhere else you need worked?" I wasn't in the mood to be the composer of my own massage. Somewhere in the first half of the massage he said, "I assume you want a relaxing/soothing massage?" And I said, "No, I like deep tissue, no fluff, focused work." He did apologize for assuming and understood I wanted treatment versus relaxation - but I don't understand why that wasn't clear from the start.
Andrew took what I said very literally, and only worked on 4 areas of my body, right low back, right and left shoulder and neck. I would have hopes for more encompassing strokes - to bring everything together - to flush out inflammation? Longer and deeper movements to strip the muscles? More sustained compression with forearm - instead of moments where I felt him counting my vertebrae trying to find the origin and insertion point of my QL muscle and pinning it with his fingers. A lot of his techniques are the kind you learn right out of massage school. And without experience of getting and receiving massage you can't fully know how to execute more appropriate and effective moves for deep tissue. That is why I did not request him - but had no choice once we got to our appt.
THE FACILITY:
I really liked the lay out of the tudor homes. If I could do it all over again I would have gone on the women's only day. There were just way to many men. I don't know if they didn't shower, or have bad body odor, but the sauna and steam room were both difficult to endure with the smell of sweat - almost like a Bikram yoga session. I was wishing for eucalyptus or tea tree oil bc they are anti bacterial and anitmicrobial - instead I just left those 2 spaces because I felt like I was not detoxing, but breathing in that of others.
Finally the Jacuzzi, I wanted so to love this space. And it was very pleasant to be outdoors in the jacuzzi. But there was a very annoying man there who was talking to everyone. He also did not defer his gaze and I felt very much watched coming in and out of the pool naked. I don't mind being nude, but I do find it offensive to be observed intently. He would not stop talking even if my eyes were closed and I was as far as I could be from him. He made sexual comments later and also made jokes of what you say to a pretty woman when she walks into a jacuzzi. (sigh) With only 1 hour to use the facility I was doomed to be there the exact hour he was there. I noticed the rules, like all pools have, about no running at the pool edge, no alcohol, etc. And I was really wishing for a HOUSE RULE board that might educate spa goers on proper etiquette, improper topics of discussion, rules of engagement and even lowered voices and not to bother or approach - to respect privacy and space. I was about to say something confrontational to him - when he finally left.
THE FRONT DESK:
At the end of our services, I went to close out. I wanted to know why my therapist was switched and explained that I was unhappy with my treatment. The front desk staff (Terry, Arianna?) could not figure out why my original choice in therapist was "bumped'? She was nice, but she was also slightly in disagreement with me - which is odd for my understanding of customer service. I told her I booked with a female therapist (who's name I couldn't remember - it was Lisa). And she looked at the computer and said, "No, nothing has changed in the computer?" I expressed I even had a confirmation email from Cassie that confirmed our appts with Rebecca and Lisa. She could not explain why the mishap. Another staff interjected, that if i want to REQUEST, I should let them know to "double star" it. What? I guess bc i was a groupon my request got "bumped"?
Why must I double request a therapist after booking it online, requesting over the phone, and then be told - oh you should have told us to double star it????
In the end, they offered no solution, and only reminded me of my 30% off through groupon for my next visit. Sorry - I don;t think I will be visiting again. read more