I'm VERY picky about my massages. Very. I will critique your nail length and the quality of your conversation, I am that bad. So, believe me when I say, I am in LOVE with this place.
Great location, but still out of the way. Any noise was covered up by well-chosen music (if I have to hear the sounds of one more whale family, I may lose it). Their music was soothing, without being annoying. The oils used may have had a subtle scent, if any scent at all. That's important to me, because I may choose to eat lunch at my desk and use my time to get a massage, and I don't need to come back smelling like I just rolled around in the garden.
But here's the thing that made me a believer in Zest: they absolutely respect your requests. Often, people look at me and see a small woman, so they don't want to do a deep tissue massage. That leaves me bored and annoyed and waiting for the massage to begin, just as it comes to an end. The therapist there said, "you're signed up for a deep tissue; you're ok with that?" I said, "yes," she said, "Ok, let me know if it's too much pressure, and we'll adjust accordingly."
And O...M....G.... NOT TOO MUCH PRESSURE. JUST PERFECT!!!!!!!! Started out with moderate pressure, and I assume she watched my body language, and eventually was hitting the perfect line between kicking my stress in the butt, and not going so deep as to cause injury. There were two times on my lower body that she went a little harder than I would have liked. I asked her to ease up, and she did, immediately. The massage was WONDERFUL. I would ask her to focus on one area over another, and she just hit it perfectly, each time. The one thing I didn't love, was that she did put pressure on my neck a couple of times, by accident. I asked her to please ease up on that part, and she totally worked with me.
Before leaving, she also informed me of the importance of drinking a lot of water to help my body after such an intense session. Not every therapist will tell you that, which is what moved them from 4 to 5 stars. It COULD be cheaper, but it's good value for your money.
tl;dr: if you're going any place else, you're basically living your life wrong. read more