Quapaw Baths & Spa — Attraction in Hot Springs

My experience here was not the best to say the least. Giving them 2 stars just for the clean facilities. Their personnel clearly needs some retraining and recalibration. They need to fix their reservation process/policies. They require reservations but yet they do not allow the reservations online 🤷‍♀️

It’s almost impossible for someone out of town to do a reservation with them.

We went there as soon as it opened and asked what reservation did they have available. The employee at the front door stated that they didn’t not have anything left for couples. We were being flexible and we told her that we would okay doing private baths or massages as long as they had availability. She then directed us at their reception desk.

The employee at the reception desk stated that they only have a 4:30 PM appointment for couples private baths but no appointments left for massages so we signed up for the private baths.

We asked to pay for the communal pools and enter there maybe after lunch spend around 2 hours then do the private baths.

The employee did not let us pay for that, stated we can do it later when we come back.

We came back around 3 pm to try to do the pools, this time another employee at the front door told us they were full and their wait list was full too, but since we had a reservation already made at 4:30 to ahead and go at the reception desk and ask if she has any lockers. According to her if there are still lockers available we can still go to the pools. So we did what we were told; upon asking for lockers at the reception desk to access the pools. The person there stated that they still have lockers available but she would not let us use them because we do not have a massage booked🤷‍♀️

That really upset us, it would’ve been much easier to say sorry we are full goodbye vs well we are kind of full but if we have lockers we are not really full. Well guess what we do have lockers but I am not gonna let you use them because you didn’t book a massage (not because we didn’t want too).

It almost ruined our time there, they really need some retraining in customer service badly.

Definitely not coming back there again. I would suggest anyone to read these reviews before going there. In a way thank you for such a bad experience that I went to the next bath house and had a great time there.

Additionally, the communal pool that they made such a big fuss over are full of chlorine, and that’s all you can smell as soon as you open their front door.

The next door bath house offers a traditional experience at much cheaper price, with no added chemicals. Need I add that their customer service was much...

Oh I loved this place and will be back with girlfriends hopefully to do the public baths or individual baths with massages! Husband and I went 5/8/23, the Monday after the Kentucky Derby and before Mothers Day weekend... town was on the quiet side (off peak season still). We got there around 10:15am just after they opened at 10am. We got directed to the gift shop as the two at reception were busy on the phone. They were able to set us up with an appointment for 11am that had a 10:30am check in for a private couple microsilk bath. We choose to select it ($60 plus tax) without the aromatherapy (an additional $6 plus tax). We checked in back at reception and were directed to the cafe to wait. At the cafe, I purchased a freshly squeezed lemonade ($5 plus tax) and there was the option to add frozen strawberries no additional cost, yum! There were 2 other couples that also did the same but no others so it was not crowded. Hindsight there were more than 6 couple rooms so the majority weren't used... not sure how many rooms they have open during noon peak season though. Most people were friendly- I say that because everyone I have met in Hot Springs has been so friendly but the majority of the visitors seemed to be from out of town/ tourists. The bath was already preset at 104 degrees but the attendant told us we could add cold or hot water to our liking. The attendants kept the floors as dry as they could and bath is set on a timer once you turn on the jets. Heads up the microsilk only has the central side jets functioning to create the micro bubblesand therefore the traditional jacuzzi jets located on your back are not turned on... if you want those get the traditional bath ($50 plus tax). A cup of water is provided should you get thirsty during... we forgot they were there as the bath lasts only 20 min. There are towels for you to try off and a bell to call an attendant if assistance was needed but we didn't use it. Afterwards, there are seats outside the private baths in a central room which is where all us couples say for a few minutes to cool down, cups of cucumber water were providedas well as a cold face total that was scented with peppermint which we both loved. There are mini envelopes of you want to leave behind cash tips for the attendants. Great way to start the day! Total visit time 1 hour 20 min. To finish cooling down, we went to the building next door to walk thru the baths museum in the Forsayth bath house (no longer a functioning bath house) they have a great...

Okay, as far as prices to get in the actual Hot Spring water, the private couples bath here is a good deal. The 20 minutes feels like a long time and they didn’t rush us getting in or out.

But the booking process is a nightmare. I tried calling. On the phone you’ll eventually get a message that says they recommend you book two or three weeks out. That seems insane to me. We had no idea we’d be going to Hot Springs that far in advance and keeping an appointment that far in advance is for the dentist, not a spa.

Some kind of online booking or even just a person who has the job of phones and only phones would go a long long long way. I did eventually get our bath but I’m not sure if it was from leaving a message on the phone or the one I left online. I got a call from them and was lucky to answer it. They had one time for us on friday and a few on saturday. We took the friday 5pm. They told us to try and be there by 4:30.

We showed up about 15 mins before our appt., so 4:45. We rushed to get there since we were worried they would give away our spot or something. Once we were there and checked in, everything was great. We had a fantastic bath, the water was amazing and they gave us some to drink. Cool down was nice. I do wish they gave robes to everyone and not just spa services — seemed a bit confusing. Dressing afterwards was definitely a bit of a pain — we undressed in the private bath and then they just stuck us in a different empty bathroom to get dressed after the cooldown.

I would’ve gone again but when we tried to get a saturday time we couldn’t. The public pool was full too. As was the waitlist. The whole process is just too confusing but the water itself is so so good. Our skin was happy afterwards.

Personally I think this place needs to figure out their logistics a bit better. It feels like they’ve got their workers doing too many different jobs. Hire some people who only need to focus on one thing and this would go from a stressful experience to a five...