Ascend Wellness & Medical Spa — Attraction in New York

I’m extremely disappointed with my recent visit to this spa—unfortunately, it was my second and final visit.

Massage Experience I booked a lymphatic massage, yet the therapist gave me a deep tissue massage instead, leaving my back sore and uncomfortable.

For clarity, a lymphatic massage is a gentle, rhythmic massage designed to encourage the natural drainage of the lymphatic system, reducing swelling, improving circulation, and promoting detoxification. It is not meant to be deep or aggressive, making the therapist’s approach completely inappropriate.

I specifically requested focus on my lower back, feet, and glutes due to recent CrossFit workouts, but these areas were largely ignored. My feet weren’t massaged at all, despite it being a key request.

Facial Experience The facial was equally frustrating. The aesthetician appeared anxious and inattentive, applying treatments without explaining what she was doing. She also attempted to upsell products rather than focus on my treatment.

The extractions process was nerve-wracking—at one point, her tool slipped and hit me on the head. Instead of apologizing or expressing concern, she simply pulled it from my hair and kept struggling with the light and steamer, which she adjusted multiple times without success. The constant movement of the table and malfunctioning equipment made the experience even more uncomfortable.

Sanitation & Safety Concerns What’s even more alarming is the lack of proper sanitation. I noticed that the aesthetician used a single bowl of water to clean and rinse her tools, repeatedly dipping them without changing the water. There was no sink in the room, raising serious hygiene concerns.

Additionally, the spa table malfunctioned while I was getting dressed, nearly collapsing—an unacceptable safety issue.

Final Moments & Overall Atmosphere At the end of the facial, she abruptly applied a warm, odd-tasting lip balm without explanation, tapping it onto my lips before immediately walking out of the room. She didn’t check in on my comfort or satisfaction, which made the experience feel impersonal and rushed.

To make matters worse, the spa was noisy—I could clearly hear the front desk staff and the aesthetician loudly talking over the spa music, even though I was in the last room. This completely disrupted what should have been a relaxing environment.

While my first visit was pleasant, this experience was a major disappointment. The lack of attention to detail, poor customer care, sanitation concerns, and failure to fulfill service requests make me question the spa’s professionalism. I will not be returning and would advise others to...

I've been to Ascend a couple of times before I had my daughter when I lived in Kew Gardens. And then I believe once after, so probably 3 times previously prior to my visit today. My last visit was at least 7 years ago. I loved it so much back then, I even referred a few people.

For today's visit, my wife pre-booked a 90 min swedish massage for me with aromatherapy add on with Victoria. I was 4 minutes late (but called ahead of course), and was taken in almost immediately by Victoria. The room was fine, relaxing music and the linens were amazing. My only issues with Victoria was: she asked my problem areas and one was my neck/shoulders. I feel like she did not focus on that part but rather more on my arms. Then mid way through she asked for a few min to step away. When she came back she continued right away but ended the massage at the 90 min mark exactly so I did not receive 90 minutes of actual service. I expected because I was late to be docked that time but not anything else. I mean, it's not cheap. The pressure of her massage though was good in general. When Victoria told me she was finished, I said she never did the aromatherapy add on portion to the massage to which she she said she "forgot" and would advise the front desk. Upon leaving I stopped at the front desk and Patrick & Rita (who are truly lovely people don't get me wrong) did not mention anything about the aromatherapy add on not being done. So either Victoria never told them or they were not going to say anything. So I told them myself and it took some time (maybe 10-15 min) for them to figure out the best way to go about the refund - initially they wanted to leave it as a credit on my account but what I didn't want to tell them in that moment was that Victoria's lack of attention to what I booked and then her non chalant "I forgot" response did leave a sour taste in my mouth and I am likely not returning, thus not needing a credit. But they were able to accommodate the refund and apologized many times for the issue.

What I think really could have saved this is if Victoria advised them while I was still undressed on the table (as thats when I had advised her about the mishap) and they could have given me an extra 10 min with the...

My friend recommended this place and I had very high hopes for it. But my 100min Ascension massage session with Joe on 12 November turned out to be the worst massage session in my life, and I have been regularly going to massage sessions before moving to New York on weekly basis for over a year plus I have completed 60+ hours of basic massage training in the past. Not only did I leave feeling no more relaxed or less tense compared to before I came there, I have been experiencing pains in my knees after the session. Although I requested intense pressure, it was mild at best, plus the therapist wasted a good third of the time walking around the room between every other move. He didn’t really thoroughly massage any part of the body, and almost ignored one of the three problem zones I mentioned in the questionnaire I filled in and then discussed with him before the session. And, the cherry on top, it was impossible to relax because he clearly had a running nose and kept making slurping sounds non-stop throughout the whole session. Which is particularly questionable, given that this parlor insists on strict anti-Covid measures including wearing a mask pretty much the whole time (you wear a mask during the massage when lying face up, and when you are face down, there is a fabric filter attached to the hole for your face in the table), yet they allow a person who clearly has a cold to work massage sessions. I was so disappointed after this pathetic excuse of a massage session for $220, I almost cried. I am never going back and do not recommend this place. Or at least highly recommend not booking sessions with Joe. The fact that he was the only one with a free slot during the weekend should have been a red flag but I was naive enough to ignore this. I don’t know why the quality of the massage was so low, to be fair the therapist seemed to care about what he was doing and seemed competent, but the session proved to be absolutely inefficient and I left feeling that I just wasted $200+ and 2 hours of my...