I'm torn between rating the Spa at the Rustic Inn 3 stars vs. 4 stars. I booked an appointment for both a massage and a facial in the morning and the appointment was in the afternoon. I had been on a long drive, so I was in desperate need of some relaxation.
I was staying at the Rustic Inn, so I was able to walk from my cabin to the spa fairly quickly. Although, the walkways and driveways were rather slushy, so it wasn't an easy walk.
I was greeted at the door of the spa and shown the way to the dressing room. I was told to select a locker and put on a robe and slipper and then go to the waiting area. Unfortunately, our of the 5 or 6 lockers, only 1 had a robe available. Apparently the staff had been too busy to restock the dressing room throughout the day.
After I changed, I used the washroom in the dressing room. It's a separate little room with a full door, so when you close the door, it's pitch black inside if you don't turn on the light. Unfortunately, the light was burnt out, so I did have to use it in the pitch black, which was interesting to say the least.
I didn't have to wait long in the waiting area, and one of the staff members provided me with water while I waited. Once they were ready, I was escorted into one room for my massage. I had booked a 65 minute massage and specifically asked for it to be relaxing. The therapist did a great job, I was very happy with my massage.
When I was finished my massage, I had to wait for the aesthetician to finish with a previous client before I could go in for my facial. Oddly, each therapist at the spa seems to have to write up their own receipts, so the massage therapist provided me with a receipt to sign immediately after my massage. Apparently the spa requires them to include a 20% tip on each receipt, which did NOT impress me. I hate businesses who automatically include gratuities on their receipts. In fact, having a gratuity added to my bill automatically makes me feel like NOT paying a gratuity. It's so presumptuous. Tips are not a required part of the payment. They're given for excellent service. If your service is excellent, you will likely always get a good tip. But to automatically assume you're owed a tip is ridiculous.
I then went in for my facial. The aesthetician was very nice and provided me with a great dinner restaurant recommendation. In general, she was very nice and sweet, but she actually provided me with skin care advice that was outright wrong. I was disappointed that she didn't seem to know the facts about something she does for a living, but admittedly, I didn't point out her mistakes.
Again, when I finished my facial, the therapist had a receipt for me to sign and included the 20% gratuity. And again, I was unimpressed.
The building where the spa is located is quite large, but the rooms I used were only in the basement. There were a lot of other rooms in the building, but I wasn't told what they were for or if I was allowed to access them. Another reviewer mentioned they were allowed to use the hot tub as a spa guest, but no one told me this was possible.
I've been to a lot of spas in a lot of cities in the US and Canada. From a service perspective, this spa was 4 out of 5. From a facilities perspective, this spa was maybe a 3 out of 5. From a price perspective, this spa was a 2 out of 5 -- they were exceptionally expensive for services that are not exceptional. I've been to much better spas at a much lower cost. But I've also been to much worse spas. So I would consider this one average in the grand scheme of things. read more
