Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa — Attraction in Alafaya

I think I will be switching away from this Hand and Stone location. I have been coming here for 3 years, and while not everything has been perfect I have continued my membership and never really complained. But after my massage today, I feel like I must say something. First off, nobody told me about the new mask on policy while laying down on your stomach. I was aware that you must wear it while laying face up, but no one informed me of the new policy. I have no problem with following new procedures because of Covid, but it kind of feels unfair when my girlfriend who got a massage was allowed to “pull her mask down” as told from the massage therapist. I was told I had to have mine completely covering or otherwise have my face in a towel. I had mine tightly on my face, which made the metal nose clamp shove into my nose and caught a pretty unpleasant feeling. I wish I would have been informed of the other option to “pull the mask down”. Honestly I just wish I would have been informed about the new policy change, the lack of communication is pretty bad. My second, and BIGGEST COMPLAINT, was the broken neck cradle on the massage bed they put me on. I paid $120 (2 months of my membership) for a CBD and Hot Stone Massage, and I got put on a bed that had a broken neck cradle. The cradle does not latch onto the bed, it simply just slides off. When the massage therapist would apply pressure, my neck would slide down. I constantly was fighting to keep my neck held in place so I could actually enjoy the massage. She tried putting the neck cradle in a upward position, it still was sliding. She tried putting it in a downward position, it was still sliding. I was going in to get this massage because of my neck pain, but it caused more if anything. After maybe 20 minutes and 4 readjustments, the massage therapist offered to get another neck cradle. I asked if the new one would work better and actually snap into place, and she said we will see. She left the room while I waited for a new neck cradle, and when she brought the new one it was just as bad as the first. She told me that the company had ordered a new bed, and others had complained about this specific bed because of the broken neck cradle. I can’t fathom the reasoning this company has for continuing to use a broken bed. It’s unprofessional and is unfair to the consumer who is stuck paying full price. In total I used 4 packages of my membership (2 for me and 2 for my girlfriend) which is roughly a total of $240 plus a $10 transfer fee. Because of my inconvenience of having a broken neck cradle, I was offered a free transfer fee (a $10 value). It just seems wrong in my opinion, like something is shady about the business practices. Before you book a massage with this location, make sure to check that the BED IS NOT BROKEN!

TLDR - They do not inform you of any new policy changes before you arrive for the massage and they put me in a BED WITH A BROKEN NECK CRADLE, which caused more neck pain than the massage...

I recently visited Hand and Stone for a massage, which was a birthday gift from my husband. Unfortunately, the experience was far from relaxing due to the unprofessional behavior of the front desk staff.

While sitting in the lobby, trying to get into a calm headspace for my massage, the front desk staff engaged in loud, personal conversations. They discussed frustrations over pay disparities between salaried and hourly employees, and made insinuations about a colleague who, despite not being present, was about to take two weeks off and always seemed to have holidays off. There were even implications about her relationship with a member of management. On top of that, the conversation shifted to arrests and other personal issues. One employee mentioned having a warrant for underage drinking, and talked about being in a psych hold, where her underwear was searched. Two other employees then chimed in with their own stories about prior arrests, before the first employee started talking about boyfriend issues. I took a video of some of the conversation that I will be sending to corporate.

This was all shared loudly in the lobby, making it impossible to focus on relaxing before my appointment.

As I finished my massage, another concerning situation unfolded. A therapist burst through the door, visibly upset, because an elderly client in her room needed help undressing and might have gotten a serious injury during her massage, potentially a broken bone. Instead of responding appropriately, one of the front desk employees laughed and continued to use her phone during this exchange. The therapist, clearly distressed, shouted, “This isn’t funny! You can’t do this anymore!” The lack of professionalism and urgency shown by the front desk during this situation was shocking.

During this experience, the staff member checking me out tried to explain the membership options, which I couldn’t hear and was, regardless. distracted by what I was witnessing. Based on the unprofessional conduct I observed, I would absolutely not recommend...

I am beyond upset with this office and how they are running this business. My boyfriend and I booked a couple's massage for 9pm on a Friday night last weekend. The day of the appointment, we got a call to confirm our appointment and everything seemed fine. My boyfriend and I were so excited for our massage together but while we are signing in, the receptionist then proceeds to tell us that there are no rooms available for us and we would have to wait 30 minutes. The office closed at 10, so there was no way we were going to get our massage in time that night. We had set all of our plans to the side and specifically booked this massage the day before our anniversary. When we were informed of the information, we asked the receptionist to speak to a manager. She then went to the back to speak to him, and when she returned, she told us that he was willing to offer us an "add on". That's not what we wanted, we came to get our massage together, not to come back and get a free add on. The receptionist then went back to tell the manager and when she returned again this time, she said there was nothing else he could do, so we asked to speak to him. She then mentioned that he was NOT actually there, and that she was texting him because "he was in a loud environment and could not talk at the time". If this is your Manager on duty, I think that is very irresponsible. It is absurd that the management willingly knows that people schedule time out of their day to come get treated, and did not take care of this situation or show any remorse or sense of urgency. By the time she let us know, it was already almost 9:30pm and due to the offices poor planning and lack of communication, we ended up walking out of their office with no massage. Very disappointing. The receptionist was kind, and I could tell she was doing all that she was capable of. She told me I could come back to speak to the spa manager, "Bri". I had came to the office twice after this to tell her about this situation and still have been unable...