This place seems okay upon first glance -- the waiting room is nicely decorated, clean and the…read morestaff seems friendly. My mom and I each booked the "one hour massage special," -- an hour deep tissue body massage with a "bonus" ten minute hot stone massage.
After twenty minutes of waiting, and being told we would have to share a room due to scheduling conflicts, we were led to a dark room with double beds and got on our respective tables, mine with an irritatingly loud clock ticking right in my ear.
Enter our therapists. Neither speaks much English. They do not say hello, do not introduce themselves nor ask our names. They do not ask if we have any medical issues or are working on any trouble areas. My massage therapist was an abrasive guy who went straight to work on my back in a rushed and hurried manner, never bothering to ask me whether the pressure was too much or not enough.
My mother had a woman therapist who spoke more English -- at least enough to understand my mom's request to turn down the music when the blaring Irish folk music was too much.
Unfortunately for me, the music was on the other side of the room, and once it got turned down all I could hear was the loud breathing, sighing and gum chewing (yes, my massage "therapist" smacked loudly on gum the entire time he "worked" on me).
After about 45 minutes of thoughtless pressing on my back with roughly the skill of an amateur, furious rubbing with a towel -- making me feel with every gesture just how little he cared for the art -- I experienced a very perfunctory passing over the rest of my body. This included pressing down on my sprained knee where I have an injury (not like I could inform him of this in any way) and a quick passing over my glutes and hamstrings.
Then he left.
Just walked out. Seriously, just walked out, went to the kitchen, or bathroom? Smoked a cigarette? No idea, because the bloody massage was not over and the other therapist was still with my mom.
When he returned several minutes later, he closed the door, and went back to work, until a few minutes later when a loud women starting yelling in Chinese through the paper thin wall separating us from the hallway. He started yelling back, along with my mom's therapist. Great, they were having a business argument. Probably she was telling them to hurry up to get back on schedule.
The ten minute "bonus" hot stones massage consisted of passing the stones -- which did feel quite nice -- over my back for about 30 seconds, clinking the stones together and abruptly announcing "Finished!"
Speechless and perplexed, we got dressed and paid the white guy (of course) who owned the place. Mom tried to tell him that the experience was a bit lackluster, but he got defensive so she stopped and we left.
That's when we got home and looked the spa up online, only to discover that a worker at this Chinese "spa" was recently arrested for prostitution.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26875558/naples-police-arrest-spa-employee-for-prostitution#.VwmNnZMrJE4
Anyone can make a mistake, but buyer beware.
