The space is beautiful, and the staff was kind and attentive. But at nearly $300, this has got to be one of the most bizarre and disappointing spa experiences I've ever had.
I booked the 90-minute Himalayan Salt Stone Ritual and many basic spa expectations were not met: body parts were not always re-draped after being massaged, techniques used on one side were not repeated on the other, and much of the treatment felt like quick rubbing/grabbing rather than intentional massage strokes.
The room was also a bit uncomfortable. Temperature-wise it was pretty warm, and the face cradle was really small, so there were times where I felt hot and claustrophobic. The music also stopped about halfway through the massage, and I could hear muffled subway rumbling intermittently since we were underground.
Now, for probably the worst part of this experience. My therapist didn't speak English, which is completely fine, but the spa had no effective way for me to communicate basic and expected requests at a spa like adjusting pressure. The receptionist had to come in and translate, but remained in the room for a while in case more translation was needed (it wasn't lol). This made it difficult to relax because she was just watching the massage, chatting with the therapist, and asking me questions about my life. She also suddenly pulled my underwear down to expose my WHOLE BUTT while the therapist massaged my back?? Usually, underwear is lowered only slightly during a massage -- but regardless, why is the receptionist touching me at all??? She also commented on my figure unnecessarily which was super unprofessional. And even after all that, the pressure briefly became too hard before returning to far too light for the rest of the massage.
At checkout, no one asked for feedback. Instead, I was told (unprompted) that because I selected "medium pressure" on my intake form, they assumed I was inexperienced with massages and thus intentionally gave me a gentler treatment. They essentially blamed ME for the pressure being too light...? I was then recommended a different therapist for next time, and insinuated she was more experienced. I found this excuse confusing and problematic: how does preferring medium pressure suggest that I don't get massages often, and why would that mean I should receive light pressure or a less experienced therapist instead? I've had many massages across NYC at all price points, and this is the only place where requesting more/less pressure one time became such a strange ordeal.
Given the luxury price tag, I expected a near perfect experience. Unfortunately, it didn't even meet the standards of an average massage, and more importantly, fell short of basic standards of comfort and professionalism. read more