Even Keel Wellness Spa — Attraction in Annapolis

Decent service but for a high price and run by rigid and inflexible staff. I was visiting in Annapolis from Tokyo and was extremely jet-lagged, stressed, and tired. I sought a relaxing massage to get my mind off things so I booked a 90 minute massage within 24 hours of the service time.

Unfortunately I had an urgent situation which required me to cut the massage a little short. I don’t like to pay for services not rendered as a matter of principle (may come from living in Asia where they are more reasoned and practical about such things), so I requested to just make it 60 minutes instead. Considering that sometimes in life shit happens, I expected they would accommodate. Not a big deal right? Apparently it was! The staff at Even Keel had no willingness to accommodate except offering that I could come in earlier (not possible due to said situation) and blamed “policy” — said they were the enforces of the owner’s policy, but did not write the policy and refused to put me in touch with the owners who authored the policies which irked me even further. They finally promised me a callback from the owners, but that of course never happened. They charged me the full amount, despite cutting it short, and had the gusto to ask me for a tip after.

The massage was fine — above average I would say — but based on how they treated me as a customer, this was two stars at best and they’ve lost my business forever. I hope it was worth the extra $30 or so bucks they got out of me! Situations like this are never about the money — it was the principle of the thing. These folks do not understand the power of word of mouth and the negative goodwill that they create through their poor handling of such situations, so I hope this review demonstrates why it’s important to be understanding with customers (especially in the service industry).

Had this interaction with the staff not happened, I’d have maybe given it a 4-star rating. Anything you do with these folks, consider it binding, non-negotiable, and non-refundable. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand people that operate and think that way. There’s another 3-star comment in here saying basically the same thing, so it’s clearly a pattern and not an isolated incident....

I had a previous massage several months ago that was wonderful (I unfortunately don’t remember which massage therapist I saw.) This recent time, I saw Aleasha for MLD and she was absolutely horrible. I had a recent lipo / fat transfer to my breasts, and my surgeon, Dr. Bednar, as well as the MLD specialist that they have on staff at the surgery center told me that for best retention, I should have no lymphatic drainage from my naval to my collarbones. Aleasha repeatedly told me that I was wrong and that my doctor didn’t know what he was doing (he is very widely regarded as the expert in this type of surgery, having done it almost exclusively for 25 years and has worked with MLD specialists the entire time), wanted me to get him on the phone so she could explain to him, and spent the entire massage repeatedly telling me that me and my doctor were wrong, as well as sharing details about her other patients (which made me very uncomfortable, I’m sure she’ll mention me to her other patients), and telling me all the times that she was right and doctors were wrong. Regardless of even the content of what she was saying, she spent the entire time talking very loudly about herself (often not even massaging me while doing so), which made it impossible to relax. She came off as incredibly smug and egotistical and I felt like I was paying to sit there and listen to her talk about how great she was. The entire experience made me incredibly uncomfortable and I was desperate to leave. I booked an hour long appointment and she told me I only needed thirty minutes and she’d give me a thirty minute credit for a second appointment (which is fine) but I’d absolutely rather lose the money than have to be around her again. I have had a great experience at Even Keel previously and believe all of the other staff are lovely, but I don’t even want to return to this spa because of how awful my experience with...

I’ve gotten two facials at Even Keel Annapolis. One amazing and one traumatic experience.

First facial with Renee - absolutely amazing. Renee was gentle, soft spoken, quiet and gave me the most relaxing facial experience.

Second facial with Samantha - the most condescending, disrespectful, and belittling experience. She spent more time talking/lecturing me than on the actual facial. I told her multiple times that I just came to relax/get some peace. She had no self awareness. After the facial, I tried to give her feedback but was silenced with disgusting facial expressions and interruptions. When I tried to speak over her she said I was making HER uncomfortable.

Even after leaving in tears I decided to reach out to the owner before writing a review. She had “heard about this very unfortunate situation and was shocked to hear about it”

I asked her to call me said she was “out with bronchitis(no voice), bedridden and potentially going to the hospital” but if I “felt the need to talk about it again she could have someone else reach out to me” This was 6 days ago and I haven’t heard from anyone.

How can a business owner hear that a customer had such a horrible experience and felt that the esthetician was racist but not call to make sure they were okay? How can a business owner act like the customer is an inconvenience? I hope she’s feeling better but if I were in her shoes I would have my partner/s handle the situation if I didn’t have the physical capacity to do so myself.

My gut tells me this isn’t the first the master esthetician aka top producer has treated someone this way and the owner clearly condones this type of behavior.

I do believe other wonderful people like Renee and Bonnie work here/you can have a great experience as I did the first time. But if you want to feel heard and respected I would go elsewhere especially if...