Summary: Overcharged, safety issues, lacked basic amenities, staff incompetent…read more
Detail: My wife and I made massage reservations and visited Alter Meierhof Monday, 6 April, 2009. We arrived several minutes before our appointments, checked-in with the girls at the front desk and were handed two towels. I proceeded into the men's locker room and thought I'd take a shower before my massage. I was not given a tour or any orientation of the facilities. I undressed in the locker room and realized I had no sandals. While I was undressed and completely nude, a female staff member silently walking into the locker room. Although I am completely unashamed of my body, I found her interruption unprofessional and uncomfortable. Barefoot, I went back to the front desk to request some sandals, and re-confirm my massage time (15:10). When asked about the time, it took three people close to 10 minutes to find my wife's name in the computer even though I spelled it slowly several times and it only contains 5 letters! I also noticed a copy of the book I was currently reading was laying on the front desk. I asked about the book (are you enjoying reading this?), only to realize later that my wife had brought my book to the desk for me but the staff was unable to make the connection and did not give it to me as requested.
Still completely unfamiliar with the facility, I asked where the massage would be, is nudity allowed (my wife inadvertently took my swim pants), and is there a pool? A staff person gave me a brief tour, explained the saunas are OK if nude (and set at three different temperatures thank god, I would have likely chosen the wrong one and been burned or very uncomfortable, and I don't recall any signs on the doors this could be considered a safety violation), and showed me the massage meeting place (but that was all).
I thought I'd take a quick shower. Back into the locker room where there was only hand soap in a dispenser, but no hair shampoo. I used the hand soap to wash my hair and had wire hair the rest of the day. Never have I been into a spa that didn't provide shampoo as well as a host of other amenities like aftershave, lotions, creams, etc. Here, there was only lowly community bowl of body lotion (I think, it looked like a bowl of mayonnaise) next to a lone hair dryer.
After 10 minutes in the sauna, I rinsed and went to the meeting area. After 7 or 8 minutes, nobody arrived so I went back to the front desk to inquire. One of the staff walked back with me to the meeting area, and the masseuse was still not there! Finally, she arrived about 10 minutes late. The masseuse went on to give a pretty ordinary back massage. When I commented to her that I have frequent massages and would invite you to use more force, she was only moderately effective. The massage ended, she disappeared, and I noticed that clock in the room read exactly 15:40 so I received only a 20 minute massage!
I left the room and went to the pool area looking for a glass of water. Every major spa I have ever been has always had copious amount of complementary fresh water available. I asked at the bar for a glass of water, please, and the response was what is your number? -- so I could be charged! How cheap is this?!! Next, I looked for my wife who had just finished her treatment. She said her massage was pretty good and we looked for a place to sit. Many of the seats and chairs were empty, but used towels/empty glasses were left behind and not removed by spa staff, so nobody could use these seats without doing the cleanup themselves! We found the last remaining pair of seats in a back corner area, and I watched other customers search for seating (and consider sitting outside, but it was too cold). We had a quick dip in the pool, showered and left. Since I was only given one large towel and no others were readily available, I continued to use the same cold, wet towel to dry off three times! Unbelievable!
When we checked out (after just under 2 hours), we were (over)charged 192 Euro. I understand the spa was busy on this holiday Easter week, but this is not an acceptable excuse and we should not have been given reservations if staff was overbooked and/or could not comfortably accommodate us.
In summary, the Alter Meierhof lacks basic amenities, staff is confused and has trouble with basic requests, the facility is clean but nothing special, and service ranges from average to poor. But the worst offense is overcharging for massage time not delivered. AVOID!
