I got a one-hour massage with the spa owner. Overall I thought she had good technique, especially…read moreon my arms and legs. But when she worked on my upper back, neck and traps (areas that can often present problems for many people, and in some ways can be the most important parts of a massage to 'get right', or should I say, to not 'get wrong', sometimes her technique seemed a bit odd and didn't strike me as being necessarily appropriate.
Massage began with my laying on my back. (Most other places I've been to, however, do the opposite...they have you start laying face down, and towards the latter half of the massage they have you turn over, onto your back...). In any case, before she began the massage, she'd asked me what I wanted to focus on. I told her I had tension in my neck and shoulders that I'd like her to work on. And while that is typically my problem areas, I've never had any other massage places have me start by laying on my back.
In any case, she began the massage by diving right into my neck and shoulders, doing some pressing. (She didn't first run her hands lightly over me anywhere.... let me first feel the warmth of her hands laying on me, etc. ....nothing that most other massage places do, to help ease the client into the body work, first.) So because I was already experiencing tightness and a bit of soreness, prior to my coming in for the massage, my instinct upon her just diving in there and pressing hard on my neck, was, naturally, to tighten up and try to 'protect' the areas that were already experiencing discomfort.
She also was turning my head, first to the left...working down the back of my neck up along the side of my neck...then she turned my head to other side, to do the same. I've had many a masseuse do this technique to me before, but they've all done this towards the END of the massage. Either way I found it odd that she did this all stuff right off the bat, at the start of the massage. As a result, I could not relax, and so did not enjoy that portion of the massage or find it helpful vis-a-vis my neck/shoulder tension, at all.. She should have eased into it...before doing all that intense pressing and turning of my head/neck.
Also, when she was pressing on my neck, it was as if she were doing all the moves and techniques that she was taught, but yet, I didn't feel that she was really paying attention to how I might be responding to her pressure, or that she was actually 'in tune' with my body and what I might actually be in need of. It was as if she were literally going on the language that I first told her (that I had neck tension) and so she seemed to think that the way to address that was to 'just start pressing hard all over your neck' (sort of like how an untrained masseuse might do). Part of what makes a good masseuse is not just technique and an understanding of the body, but in paying attention to the client....'listening' to their body...observing how the client's muscles, connective tissue etc. respond to whatever the masseuse is doing....
The rest of the massage was very good, especially the work she did on my arms, hands, legs, feet. That said, there was also something odd she was doing with my shoulders...trying to manually move/rotate my shoulders...almost like 'shoulder rolls'...that felt like an odd/not helpful technique to me.
I should also add that, I made an appointment, over the phone, for a one-hour massage (which I expected would be $75, since that is the first 'basic massage' price, that appears at top of their massage price list on the website). I never indicated on the phone that I were looking for any other type of massage. I simply said 'massage', nor did the person on the phone ever ask me to clarify whether I wanted a basic massage or something more specialized.
When I arrived at the spa, and when the masseuse/owner came into room and asked me what I wanted her to work on, I said 'tension in my neck and shoulder'. This is a question most masseuses ask, before they begin a standard massage session.
It was only later, after my husband and I had left the salon (and he paid the bill) that he told me they charged $95 for my massage, vs $75. It seems they made an assumption (perhaps because I said I had tension in my neck and shoulders) and charged me for a 'deep-tissue massage'. They should have confirmed the pricing with me, before beginning the massage, making sure I were aware that if a 'deep tissue massage' were in order, that it would cost more. They should not have made an assumption that I either wanted a 'deep tissue massage', or that we'd be willing to pay more for that.
The spa space is nice overall and the treatment room décor, ambiance and music nice. The quality of the massage oil also felt quite good.