08/23/09

Very Bad Experience - Please read before you decide to go

by bbgunz19

My boyfriend and I came here for the couple's Spa treatment. Unfortunately, if you are looking for a nice spa with good treatment, I would not recommend this place. Let me explain why:

1) From all my experiences going to spas, it is generally understood that a female customer will have a male masseuse and a male customer will have a female masseuse unless requested otherwise. When I booked my appointment a week advance, I made it clear that I would want a male masseuse and my boyfriend, a female masseuse. We ended up changing our pushing our appointment back an hour later that day - when we arrived and were ready, they only had two male masseuse. My boyfriend is not homophobic in any way, but the point of a spa is to be in a complete state of both physical and mental relaxation; I requested in advance a female masseuse for him because I knew a male masseuse might make him uncomfortable given that we would be receiving full body massages. Obviously, if you are not fully relaxed and comfortable at a spa, it will not be an enjoyable experience. At this point, it was too late to change (we were already in our robes and in our rooms ready to go) and my boyfriend had no choice but to receive his massage. Because the masseuse was a male, my boyfriend did not receive a true full body massage because it would be too awkward. Beauty Jewel Spa a) forgot to take into account that we specifically requested opposite-sex masseuse' for each of us and b) did not inform us ahead of time that they would not have our request fulfilled.

2) When we got to the spa, we were informed that the air conditioning had just broke; they reassured us that the actual therapy rooms would be comfortably cool. Unfortunately, this was not the case. They tried to keep the rooms cool with a loud, noisy, and old floor fan but given the lack of air circulations in the room and the fact that our treatment included hot stone massages, the eventual heat of the room became quite unbearable. It was very stuffy and hard to breathe. However, the worst part was that it was so hot, that my boyfriend's masseuse started to actually sweat on him during the treatment. Let me repeat what I just said, it was so hot that my boyfriend’s masseuse started sweating directly onto him. The masseuse was oblivious to this and my boyfriend had to tell him. This is not only unsanitary, but simply disgusting. Who wants someone else's sweat dripping onto them while you are receiving a massage?

The skills of the actual masseuse were good enough, and the conditions of this situation are obviously not in their control. However, given the amount of money it costs to receive spa treatment, our conditions and service was both unacceptable and ridiculous. They should have told us in advance that the conditions of the spa would be so hot and uncomfortable, or at least not have misled us to believe that it wouldn't. The employees of the place were very nice and that is always appreciated, but they did not conduct their business in a very professional and competent manner. I would never really have anything bad to say about a place like this, as I am a frequent customer of such spas, but given our situation, you could probably see why we were so upset.

I don't doubt that other customers may have had a good experience here, but they really dropped the ball with our appointment. I would not have been so upset if they had just informed us of the situation of both the masseuse and the air conditioning before we went. For this reason, I would strongly recommend that prospective spa-goers choose another place to avoid a terrible experience.

• Pros: Friendly
• Cons: Misleading information, A/C was broken, incompetent

07/31/09

Small, but nice and comfortable establishment

by feyisa

So I came here for my birthday. I got the combo pack where I selected 4 treatments for $200. It was great. Ida worked on my body and she was great. Very pleasant, not too chatty and made me feel extremely comfortable. The body scrub left me soft and I fell asleep twice during my massage, except when I felt her elbow working out those knots in my back! It was great overall and well needed.

The choc wrap was nice (dont know if I'd it again) and the facial was good too. My lady wasnt too pushy on products but let me know they were "extremely expensive but worth it." needless to say, I didn't buy any products.

Everything had gone perfect until now its time to pay....Since this was a birthday treat to myself, I still had some other things planned. So I got up front, she totaled me up and asked how much of a tip i'd like to leave, i started calculating on my phone and she kept hinting "our girls work very hard here", "they come to work for appointments and each of them live atleast an hour away", "just figure it like each girl gave you $100 worth of work", "we are a small salon and our girls are hand picked", i mean she just kept going ON and ON and ON. To myself I'm like what is it with the sob stories?? she's really harassing me for these tips.

The cake topper... So after indicating how much i wanted and spent close to $250 including tax and tips, she basically told me my tip was too small by saying "ohhh, the girls will think you dont like them".... and she proceeded to wait like maybe i'll feel bad and change my mind. ( i also think gratuity was included in the tax as well, but whatever) So i kindly but firmly told her that the girls were great, but i also have a budget i'm working with and that I was satisfied with the tip I'd left. I guess she figured that since i had treated myself that I'd come prepared to tip everyone enough to pay their rent.

Anyway, that's the only thing that kept me from giving the place 5 stars. But, I'll definitely be back for some body treatments, not to big on the facial (i feel like i can do most of what she did myself). And I think next time I'll just ask for one person to do all my treatments, that way I wont be harassed about a not leaving enough or leaving a huge tip big enough to split for multiple people at the end.

ps-I heard about getting chocolate, but I didn't get any chocolate, but that red wine was GREAT!

• Pros: Nice girls, felt totally comfortable, good body work
• Cons: Harassment for tips, tips and more tips.

07/12/09

Great spa

by JackieDspa

My experience from the booking online through treatment to leaving the salon was great! There was an error with my online booking and within an hour I received, two calls one advising of error and its correction and the other to book my appointment.

The salon was clean, quiet and comfortable with a soothing atmosphere. Olga, the receptionist was very pleasant and welcoming. I was served a glass of wine, a port my favorite !!! The aesthetician Nina was very professional giving me full explanation and information throughout each stage of my body wrap and facial treatments. There was no pressure to purchase products or get additional services. She recommended another treatment for me that was more suitable to my body needs. I have been to several spas in Manhattan and Brooklyn and I highly recommend this one. When I got home my husband noticed how great and beautiful I looked !!! Now that warrants a high recommendation!!

The price and service is very good especially the specials. I am glad that I found Beauty Jewel spa this is certainly a gem to keep, as I’ll definitely be back.

I only have to one comment ….. Keep up the great work Beauty Jewel spa!!!

• Pros: convenient location, specials available
• Cons: no full length mirror in changing room, no vichey shower