It was our 4th wedding anniversary and we hadn't been out of the house together (alone) in over 8 weeks, as I'd just given birth to our third and final daughter. This anniversary out was, therefore, highly anticipated and special. The insane stress of having a baby and dealing with our new addition to the household (females are highly territorial, apparently) warranted a massage to start this night out right.
Based on a review here on Yelp, we decided to try this little place off Kendall drive and 117th. We weren't expecting much, since the original reviewer mentioned that the interior was sparse and customer service (tea, drinks, etc) was lower than normal. I have to say, that review was absolutely correct.
Although the interior isn't distasteful, it definitely leaves something to be desired. It's bare with deep seaweed-green walls and dim lighting. The front desk is well maintained but reminded me of a Chinese food restaurant, and right off the front desk lies a hallway leading to what I could only assume were the massage rooms.
The staff was very friendly and gave us a great rate ($125 for one hour, two people!) so forgiving the interior was easily done.
A woman led us down the long hallway to a room at the end, where she entered and showed us the side by side beds. Be aware that these folks don't speak very clear English and are somewhat quiet, but they make their point known.
The room was clean and again, sparse green walls with no art or decor accept for a foot massage/pressure point poster on the far wall. A little chest of drawers to the right with tissues on top adorned the room and a small crockpot (yes, crock pot) sat on the floor between the tables. I assumed this was for warm towels, and I was right.
Before they began, they asked if we wanted soft, medium or hard massages. We both chose medium as we wanted a nice massage that would work out the kinks.
In retrospect, I should have asked for soft. That woman tore the crap out of me. She even climbed on the bed and ran her elbow from my lower back up along my spine to my shoulderblade. I won't lie, I yelped (no pun intended) and asked her to be careful. The same was happening to my hubby - they worked us like bread dough. When it was all over, I could barely move. I don't know if this is common practice because of the Asian massage technique, but I'm fairly certain I won't go here again out of plain fear. BE SURE you tell them soft unless you can handle that type of deep tissue massage.
OH I should also mention - they massage your butt. If you are not comfortable with this level of interaction, then I don't recommend this place. I wasn't aware that it was going to happen, although the butt massage was good because hey, I work at a desk all day, but I probably wouldn't do it again.
Overall, I give this place 3 stars because it was clean, the staff was friendly, the price was right and the massage techique (though too hard for my taste) was great.
Tip: Make sure that after you pay, you get your credit card back... she didn't hand me mine and we were taken to the room so quickly that I didn't have a chance to realize until we were done. By then, there was a different staff member at the desk who didn't recall seeing my card. I canceled it immediately just in case, no harm done, so be cautious. read more