I booked a massage here, and had a particularly useful experience from the standpoint of learning How Not to Give a Massage. Here's what I encountered:
1. The tea out front (which was billed as a refreshing, delightful hot mint tea) was cold, with only questionably clean cups available.
2. There was paper on the massage bed under me rather than a sheet.
3. The therapist had a cold, which made things particularly awkward - should I stay and have a massage that could lead to my getting sick ,or should I rather bluntly state that I don't want a massage from someone who is sick?
4. At no point before or during the massage did she talk to me about what parts of my body she should focus on, or how deep pressure I preferred. This was particularly problematic because I'd specifically booked a massage because certain of my neck muscles were sore and tight. After receiving the lightest massage imaginable on my legs, I specifically asked her to use deep pressure on my back. She laughed ... and then didn't. Even more mindblowingly, she never massaged my upper back and neck. I'd assumed that was coming at the end of the massage, which is fairly standard, so I never got to ask her about it - and then she just announced she was done, without ever having reached the muscles I most needed her to focus on. (As I said, I'd have brought it up sooner if I hadn't believed that she was going to reach this area at the end.)
5. The massage room was located directly underneath the gym's treadmills, so overhead pounding could be heard during the massage.
They do have a student discount of 15 percent, which was appreciated - but honestly, I'd rather have paid full price for a massage which had any effect at all. For the first time in six years of monthly massages, I didn't leave a tip. I'm furious. read more