Yaya massage & spa — Attraction in Honolulu

My wife and I recently booked and paid for separate massages online at the same time at Yaya. On their online site you can book with specific massage specialists. Based upon several good reviews we selected Lucy and Judy. They appeared (online) available at the time requested.

We arrived about 10+ minutes early. We said we had reserved and paid online. The person greeting us said they had no way to know about online reservations so she took pictures of our email bookings from our phones. WTH

After removing shoes we were taken to massage rooms. Then I was told Lucy was not available. My masseuse was Cindy.

Cindy gave a good Swedish style massage, frequently asked if pressure was okay...She spent more time on my feet as requested. The music being played was soft and comfortable but same song played the entire time.

My wife's massage however was a disaster. Her masseuse did not say who she was. When asked part way into a very poor massage she said her name was Amanda, not Judy as requested. Amanda did not seem to have much if any training or experience. Pressure and coverage were wildly inconsistent and choppy. Massage on one side was very different than the other. She said the music too loud and repetitive. She had a hard time getting Amanda to understand her request to turn down and change the music. Ended up turning it off.

Frankly, I can't understand how Yaya takes online reservations that the location has no record of. And, you don't get the masseuse you requested. Plus at least one masseuse does not have proper training or simply doesn't care. I debated whether to give less than 3 stars but Cindy was a...

I thought based upon the reviews this would be an incredible place to go as well as an incredible massage. I have to agree with the one review I read. The place smelled, not in a pleasant way. Only the receptionist spoke adequate english. I signed up for a deep massage with Judy. While not painful I have never experienced a massage where I felt someone's long nails and I have had many massages even at inexpensive places. The massage was haphazard. My left side of my back got most of the attention with barely any to my right side on my body. The deep massage was done with feet, knees, mostly elbows and occasionally thumbs (which is what I expect more of with a deep massage). My face was massaged with oil which was nice but then she rubbed into my hair. When I went to check out, they insisted that they credit what I paid for with my credit card to book online and pay cash. For some reason they didn't want me to just pay for the reminder of the massage with my credit card. Payment was an extremely uncomfortable experience and confusing. I will be watching my charges carefully after that. I honestly question if over 400 reviews which are 5 star reviews are legitimate. I will not return and I recommend others to find another inexpensive massage elsewhere. When trying to find Yaya, I stumbled on Waikiki massage which looked a lot nicer (in the...

The great reviews made us being excited to try this place during our visit. However from the moment I stepped in to when we left we were quite disappointed. Our expectation was a nice relaxing Hawaiian massage, but we experienced completely opposite. First of all, I am glad I went there with my husband. It is a place you should not go alone. They have the door locked and open it for the customers. It is such a tiny place with a couple of rooms. Second, we experienced language barrier as the person who greeted us didn’t know any English. She had to rely on her translator to figure out our simple question.

Finally when the massage started, it was such a forceful rushed and random massage that could be done by anyone with no massage experience. We ended up having a rushed Chinese massage, which we always avoid.

We have tried many massage places as we take massage on a regular basis, but at this place we experienced one of the worst massages.

I feel my money got wasted. I don’t recommend this...