Avant-Garde Salon & Spa — Attraction in Coral Gables

I was looking for a salon to remove my hair extensions, a Botox hair treatment and a Long Bob cut in order to remove my damaged and weak ends. I called this salon twice just to reconfirm prices for my services. I thought the prices that were given to me were expensive, but decided to go anyway based on the high reviews I consulted first with stylist Jorge, who was supposed to remove my extensions and cut my hair (probably the only decent interaction while there). During this time, Daniel (a different stylist) came up to me and told me he would be doing the Botox and left. He didn’t say hi, didn’t introduce himself, didn’t look at my hair or ask me any questions regarding why I wanted the Botox, just stated the fact and left. After Jorge removed my extensions, he showed me pricing for everything before cutting my hair. It was all double from what I had been told. $450 for hair Botox! (and I have thin above the shoulder length hair) I was originally told $250 on the phone (which is still quite expensive). $160 to remove extensions when I was told it was just an extra $20 or so and $175 just for a haircut (this one is the only price that matched). After I said that those weren’t the prices given to me, the person who gave me the prices (who’s in the front) started arguing with me and saying she said $250 and up ($250 to $450 is a pretty big up) I’m pretty detailed and wrote down the prices but didn’t want to expend any energy arguing with her and it’s not my style to do this as a customer as I’m a pretty grounded and calm person. I think my silence at this point spoke volumes. Then, they asked me to pick up my things from Jorge’s station and took to me to Rafael’s station because apparently, he would be doing the Botox now. He didn’t introduce himself either so I just asked him price, he said $350 (again, not $250) Not the friendliest person either and at this point, I didn’t feel comfortable with the situation or welcomed at this salon, so I felt it was best to just leave with my wet, frizzy, uncut hair. I didn’t expend any energy arguing or being nasty. Even though I was very upset, I stayed calm and even tipped Jorge for his time during my hair consult. All I knew is that I just wanted out of that pretentious, unprofessional place. I had the same stylist for over 10 years in Miami but he moved which is why I was stuck looking for a new salon. Prior to that my stylist was in Manhattan, NY where I lived prior to Miami and she was wonderful too. I’ve been getting balayage since 2009 and Botox since 2017 so I’m not as stranger to these services or prices. If I could leave 0 Stars for this review, I would. Having been to really great salons with wonderful, talented and friendly stylists in the past, this place...

I had the most amazing highlights and balayage done by Anthony! I was previously on the hunt for the best balayage I could find, as I had so many inconsistent experiences with other top salons that would do either great work, then the next time be careless and do terrible work, and even severely damaged my hair and I lost all my length. We all know it can be very scary to blindly search for a dream hair stylist because it can go so badly, so I did SO much due diligence through reviews and pictures, even their instagrams... to finally see consistency in matching what I wanted for myself. I saw the most perfect, beautiful blonde highlights, blending, placement, and tone pictures....constantly coming from reviews about Anthony! I decided I was ready to take my leap of faith and called the Avant Garde salon and was able to schedule an appointment with him. Honestly the ease of the scheduling and their professionalism was a breathe of fresh air as some of the most high end stylists in this area are so difficult to get responses from or book in a reasonable time frame.

Anthony was more than I could have hoped for, not only was his skill level and artistry level beyond exceptional, his personality and care is off the charts. He put a lot of time and energy into studying the pictures and knowing exactly what I wanted, and making sure he delivered it. He even noted how my curls forms and did highlights tailoring to them too. He is the opposite of that "uncaring, snobby, rushing, gossipy, I'll do it how I feel like it" stylist that sometimes we can dread being in their chair, and feel nervous about what results you end up with. He makes it all pleasant and caring, while giving the best results you can find in the industry. Trust me I've looked! Honestly other salons charge over $700 for the results I saw him give, because of the level of skill and the time he puts into it. So he is a real gem. I'm literally writing this review over 6 months after our appointment because I never write reviews, I forget...I'm terrible! But I HAD to finally do this one, and now I can ALSO validate that because his coloring was so amazingly blended, it's looking just as fantastic growing out and looking natural 6 months later, I still get tons of compliments on it!

Thank you Anthony!...

My name is Marisol, I am from NJ visiting my mom who lives here in Miami. Before, I arrived to Miami I has had a hair cut in Jersey however, I wasn't happy something was missing, therefore, I was looking for best hair salon in Miami and Avant- Garde Salon Spa located on Coral Gables pop on my page, without any hesitation, I reached out to Avant Garde, Without any hesitation, I reached yesterday, Wednesday, June 8th to Avant Garde, the owner assistant Maryline understood my needs, she offered me a same day appointment with Jorge. Avant-garde Salon and Spa its a full of positive energy, friendly, beautiful welcome greet to a customer. My special thank you to Maryline has a beautiful personality with excellent customer service, the owner lovely person at least but not last my hairstylist Jorge, professional, oriented, he looks at my hair and knows exactly what hair was needed to be done, he did such amazing beautiful job, I left very happy; Jorge, thank you so much for everything you do; You're a truly TALENTED and Dedicated stylist, and I did enjoy my appointment. You have exceed my expectations, you're very communicative if I have to fly from NJ to Miami to see Jorge, I definitely will. I really recommend Avant Garde Salon & Spa located in a very secluded location at Coral Gables beautiful staffs, (starting from the owner, the front desk, hairstylist, all the way back to the person who wash the hair) all of them attentive, professional, excellent customer...