I’ve decided, with some trepidation, to pay a couple of hundred bucks to get a spa treatment before my surgery. Ivylad is all in favor of it, in fact very enthusiastic, although I still feel a bit guilty about spending so much money just to be “pampered.”
I’ve had massages, but never a whole day thing. Do I tip each person? Or is the amount due the amount due? What should I expect? (There’s a small part of me that feels like a poseur, as in “Get thee gone from our Hoi Polloi Spa, you’re not worthy to darken our doorsteps.”
Yikes! But, I want to feel pretty before I get this done, and I think a Spa Day might be kind of fun.
You tip each person - but usually at the end. There may or may not be tipping guidelines for each service if you bought a package, if there isn’t I usually tip 15-20% of the rack rate of the service.
Have a wonderful time. Its one of those gifts Brainiac4 occasionally gives me (birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas) that I enjoy and he finds really easy to buy. I usually don’t book them for myself, but if they are a gift, we both end up happy.
What I usually do, if I’m going to a new place, is ask either when I check in or when I make the appointment, how they handle tips. At one place I’ve been to, they hand you little envelopes at the end of the day, with the names of your people on them, so all you have to do is stuff cash in there. Other places, you can handle it with each person as you move on, or at the end of the day make the receptionist take care of it for you.
Don’t feel guilty about it. I’ve read your other thread, and I’m rooting for you. My mom went through some of the same issues (stage III-A breast cancer) nearly 10 years ago, and if a spa day would have made her happy, we’d have all made it happen.
What happens when you walk in? Do you change into a robe and they take you around, or you change in and out of your clothes as you go to each “station?” Or does each “station” come to you, ie, the massage lady leaves the room and the facial lady comes in?
This is the place I’m considering. Do the rates seem in line with most other spas?
I’ve been to a couple of spas and to my local one many times, and this is what happens:
they take you to your locker and show you the changing room and give you a key. You put your stuff in the locker, put on the disposable undies and bra if you want to, and the shower cap if you wish, and the sandals and robe. Lock up your stuff.
They will probably come and get you at that point, or you poke your head out to let them know you are ready. They will take you into different rooms for each treatment, since facials, massages, Vichy showers, and other things require different set-ups.
They will probably offer you water, tea or something. You might be asked if you wish to go into the sauna or the steam room before your treatments begin.
The estheticians may be several people, as not everyone is licensed to do everything. In this case, you will need to leave more than one tip in the little envelopes. It gets a bit confusing, since packages cost less than getting all the treatments separately, but you can figure out what is fair or deserved for each person that works on you.
You can also take a shower and wash your hair in most spas, and hang out in the relaxation room.
I look at it this way: it may be splurgey, but it’s better than going to the chiropractor, doctor, or physical therapist!
What vivalostwages said. You change, then go to the waiting room. If there’s a big chunk of time between appointments, they may suggest the sauna or steamroom (love me the sauna). But otherwise, it’s been my experience that when you’re done with one appointment, that person takes you back to the waiting room, where you can hang out and drink the weird cucumber/lemon water until someone else comes to get you.
The rates you’ve linked to seem more than reasonable to me; they’re a bit lower than what I’m used to, but LA is a spendy town and even in the burbs, they like to aspire to LA standards, in price if not in anything else.
One thing I’d suggest: if you’ve never had a certain thing done before (massage, or facial, or whatever), tell your person that. They can often ease any concern you may have, but if they don’t know you’re a newbie, they can’t.
Notably, I did not take my own advice for my first massage. I’m incrediby ticklish – when I was a baby, my dad could “tickle” me from across the room just by wiggling his fingers and saying, “I’m gonna tickle you!” – and I’m still really, really ticklish. So I didn’t warn the masseur, and the first time he touched my side I about jumped off the table.
I love going to the spa every so often (like 6-9 months) just to indulge. Those prices seem about on par with what I’ve paid and **vival ** pretty much explained the process.
I’ll admit the first time we went (hubby and I went together), it was kind of weird sitting without a bra on under a robe. At ours they said you could wear your panties, or a pair of shorts - whatever you felt comfortable in. Of course they said things like bras would ‘get in the way’ and if you ‘wanted your money’s worth.’ I mean, everyone there is probably wearing the same amount of clothes and it’s pretty private anyways.
As far as tipping, I’ve asked them to do it at the front desk. They’ve broken down each of the services and I’d say, ‘15% for the facial, 20% for the massage’ and then they’d total it all up for me. I suck at math on a normal basis, let alone after I feel all gooey and destressed!
If you’re talking massage, then bras really do get in the way. I can work around it if I really have to, but I’d vastly prefer not to. Even little old ladies get asked, once they’re lying down and modestly draped, if they’d mind if I unhooked it. If they say no, then so be it, but there’s no way to get a good satisfying full gliding stroke from your lower back to your neck if there’s a poly/cotton speedbump in the way.
Every good spa has a selection of trashy magazines in their waiting room - its usually softly lit, quiet music, maybe a fountain - and all the “Ten Ways To Please Him You’ve Never Tried Before!” and “Is Brad Mad at Angelina?” magazines you care to read. If you want something more intellectually stimulating, you may want to bring your own choice of reading material.
Haha. She did say she was going to a Hoi Polloi Spa. What else would the common (wo)man read?
I have nothing to add, other than I’ve never been to a day spa, although I have had a pedicure. For what it’s worth, Ivylass, I don’t think you should feel guilty about treating yourself to some expensive pampering. As long as you and Ivylad have decided that you’re worth it, you’re worth it.
I can’t think of a better way to treat yourself before your surgery. Enjoy your day!
I think I’m going to do the “Artemis,” which includes the mani, the pedi, the massage, and the facial. I’m a bit concerned that the spa also offers “ear-candling,” :rolleyes: which makes me wonder if they’re into the whole negative-ion-ancient-Japanese-secret-detoxification holistic crap.
I get my trashy magazine fix at the salon or spa, dentist office - I won’t allow myself to be caught dead with a copy of People or Cosmo outside that sort of venue, but its a guilty pleasure there.
While ear candling is crap, it also feels good, and people will pay for it. It’s like a hot stone massage, but in your ear. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You’re not going there for them to treat your medical conditions, you’re going there so they can make you feel good. They can think whatever they want to think about “toxins” or “ancient remedies”, won’t change that being rubbed with oil (and even hot stones and being wrapped in herbs or doused in mud or melted chocolate) *feels *good.
There is something sensual about it, isn’t there? I’ve made salt and sugar scrubs and there’s something about rubbing the abrasive into my hands, then the smooth glide of the oil, that just makes me go “mmmmmmmmmmmm.”
Well, Ivylad, bless his heart, went ahead and paid for my visit to the spa on Saturday, probably because I was wavering. I’m getting a facial, a mani, and a pedi. They don’t do massages on people with cancer because it can cause the cancer to spread.
Yeah, that’s what I thought. I think it more likely massage therapists don’t like to do massages on people with health problems without a doctor’s prescription. Ivylad has difficulty getting massages because of his back issues.
The prices at that spa are similar to those at the place I’ve gone here in Houston. They always will be wary of doing anything that might exacerbate a medical condition (or appear to, or inspire someone to sue).
They do flaky stuff like ear candling because it’s trendy and people want them to do it. My spa offers foot detox and that kind of thing, but I don’t really expect them to be scientists. Hell, if someone wants to pay me several hundred dollars to give them a relaxing foot bath, I’ll do it!
At my spa, they give you a comfy robe and slippers, and also a terrycloth wrap with elastic and snaps around the top. You put it on and it’s like wearing a little minidress under the robe. If they give you one of those, twist it so that the open seam is to the side to avoid the appearance of flashing people. I…learned this by trial and error.
Looking again at that menu, the spa package called “The Passage of Venus” sounds extra naughty. I don’t think I could request it wihout giggling.
I go to the spa a lot- about once a month at least part of the year. Mostly for facials and massage. My facialist goes all out- hand and foot parafin treatment, the facial itself includes chest and shoulders, and she gives a fantastic head/neck/shoulder massage as well, plus a quick massage of the hands and feet.
I am old-school Euro when it comes to the spa- I go nekkid and would never wear a suit. Most younger girls today wear their bikinis in the spa areas but I assume they take them off for treatments.
I pay at the front desk at the end of my day, and they take care of getting tips to each person. If someone did a particularly good job, I make a point of letting the salon know.
I always go in early to relax, have a snack, sit in the jacuzzi and have a steam. My spa has a full-on salon area so you can get all prettied-up before you go back out into the world, too.
