Spa Zone

Allison L.

Local GuideGoogle Review

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Coming to Spa Zone can easily be a jarring experience, here's what to know... Before booking, it's incredibly important to understand what kind of massage you are signing up for as it's not always clear when you make an appointment and all massage advertising often uses ambiguous, nondescript imagery presenting a relaxing experience. Spa Zone offers traditional Chinese tui na acupressure massage. For anyone not familiar with this style, I highly recommend researching. Oftentimes people think they are walking into a Swedish massage parlor, which focuses on relaxation and costs much more than Chinese massage parlors' $50-60/hr price range. Tui na style massage is a blend of high pressure kneading, chiropractic maneuvers, and physical therapy to really loosen and stretch limbs, tendons, and release knots. It's much more focused on kneading out tension and improving circulation--and not always relaxing, but sometimes rather painful. Some notable pros about Spa Zone are that they are immaculately clean and the space is lovely. There are many rooms and they offer a wide variety of services for individuals and couples. The cost is affordable, about $55/hr for full body and if you book on Groupon it'll be slightly cheaper. They take pressure requests seriously and really focus on areas you need specialized attention. All of your knots will be undone by the end of the session. The pressure can be quite intense, so if you are wanting softer pressure be sure to let them know. There are also quite a lot of sensory changes, the coconut oil they use is quite cold, the hot stones are scalding--but really relax muscles, and the pressure throughout can be quite heavy handed in high tension areas. Because this is a Chinese run and operated institution, it absolutely helps to speak Mandarin and there will be less information lost in translation as a result. The service will also be friendlier and less transactional if you're able to communicate in Chinese. Bring cash because tipping is mandatory regardless of where you book. They expect a minimum of 20%, also because the base price is so inexpensive--they will insist on a tip and potentially charge your card extra if you do not. If you book via Groupon, you save about $5, but know that upon walk-in they will ask you to pay an additional amount for tax and afterwards you'll need to pay a tip on top of what you've paid on Groupon. For Groupon users, they will only accommodate you if you come before 5pm to not impede on their higher walk-in traffic hours, most of this is not indicated in the fine print. The manager will also encourage you to book directly through them instead of Groupon, they told me they mainly use the platform as a way to attract new clientele. Overall I had a good experience, and appreciated the deep tissue work, but there was a lot I didn't expect in terms of business practices. I can see this experience being quite jarring for people who walk in not knowing what they've signed up for, especially if they possibly face a cultural barrier as well.

Ange

Google Review

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I had an appointment yesterday at 4:00 p.m. for a full body massage, but I wasn't taken in until 4:20 p.m. and the massage itself didn't even start before 4:25 p.m. What was advertised as a full body massage was extremely disappointing. The therapist spent about 20 to 25 minutes massaging me through a towel and mostly stayed on my back. I even had to ask if the massage was supposed to be done through the towel because it felt very unusual and ineffective. By the time I turned over, she barely touched my head before the timer went off, and that was still about 10 minutes before the scheduled end of the session. Overall, the whole experience felt rushed, incomplete, and unprofessional. Definitely not worth the money and I would not recommend this place.