Tocaloma Spa & Salon — Attraction in Phoenix

I purchased a Groupon for $99 (all prices USD) for a mani-pedi at this spa, which included a day pass for the pool at the resort. I was really excited to find such a great deal and set up my spa day session as soon as I could. My nail appointment was for 1pm last Wed. The salon/spa advised me during scheduling that the resort pool opened at 9am, for which I could arrive early and enjoy my day pass prior to my nail appointment. They further advised me that they did not recommend swimming at the pool after getting my nails done. While I did not swim after, I did return to the pool area to relax in the sun until about 530pm, when the spa closed and required their pool key to be returned.

I arrived early the day of my appointment, retrieved the pool access key card from the spa personnel, and was able to enjoy the pool along with a few cool drinks at the pool bar prior to my appointment (drinks were not included in the Groupon and totaled about $45 for two cocktails). I selected a standard gel polish mani-pedi with no extra frills and already had gel polish on both my hands and feet. The appointment was pretty typical as far as nail appointments go. This salon/spa does not provide too many extra perks aside from a standard gel polish mani-pedi at any other spa. While they have the massage chair, used by most salons during a pedicure, and did offer me a warm towel for my neck and shoulders, they do not offer any drinks, like coffee/tea/wine during the nail appointment experience.

At the end of my appointment, the salon/spa billed me an additional $147 on top of the nearly $100 I already paid for the Groupon. The costs included: $25 per hands AND feet for gel removal, an additional $25 per hands and feet for the "gel upgrade" from a regular mani-pedi, and a $47 tip for my nail tech. While I had offered to tip my nail tech at the appointment completion, the spa decided upon and added this amount to my bill without my consent. I was never given the option to remove or change it at the appointment's conclusion.

By Sunday, the gel polish on one of my fingernails peeled completely off the nail, and the remaining nails are already peeling away as well. The spa used OPI gel polish, or at least the product was labeled that way. I have gotten my nails done regularly for quite some time and never experienced a gel mani-pedi of such short-lived, shoddy quality. Every other gel polish mani-pedi I have ever received, the quality of the product and the work done lasts for at least 60 days before chipping/peeling really become an issue.

The smaller salons I visit do a far better job of much higher quality and charge far better rates. A standard gel polish mani-pedi typically costs around $80-100 (without the tip or any other additional upgrades). They do not typically lure their customers in with an apparent "great deal" on a Groupon, then nickle and dime their customers until the total cost for a basic gel polish mani-pedi is approximately $250. On the surface, the Groupon seemed to be a great deal, but I will need to go get my nails redone at a different nail salon this week to correct the really poor quality job that was done by Tocaloma Spa last Wed.

I am more than a little disappointed in this entire experience. My advice would be to spend your money at a smaller nail salon/spa, where the techs perform at a much higher standard, do a far better job, are much more grateful for your patronage, and charge far more reasonable rates. Do not waste your money on the Tocaloma Spa...

My entire experience was a 10 out of 10 DO NOT RECOMMEND and if giving 0 stars was a thing… I absolutely would because ITS GIVINGGG 1950’s, but like in Mississippi. Despite the drab, depressing and dated exterior, I gave this ‘spa’ a chance. I even had high hopes after checking in because the initial (yes, the INITIAL) receptionist was delightful. I arrived 25 mins prior to my scheduled appointment. I was escorted to a single use restroom and given instruction to change and leave my belongings in one of the open lockers. I wanna pause here and mention that it was at this moment that I realized that I had made a terrible TERRIBLE mistake. I should have taken heed to the fact that their website had no pictures, but here I was… ignoring the red flags. After changing into what quite possibly be the worlds most uncomfortable robe, I waited in the “waiting area” (if we’re being creative and calling it that) for about 45 mins before hearing the massage therapist scheduled to work with me verbally and intensely state how she refused to work with me because she was “uncomfortable”. She then began speaking about how she was not comfortable giving me a scalp and foot massage, despite this being my scheduled service. Naturally, hearing this, I was perplexed. Because yes this rhetoric made me extremely uncomfortable as the only black woman in the establishment; however, I was more so appalled at the audacity of this woman. Like… this isn’t the place to be refusing to service anyone because quite frankly this place is disgusting. So the nerve… but I digress. 30 mins after my scheduled appointment, the same high pitched voice that had so much to say about not wanting or feeling comfortable working with me came around the corner to tell me that she was ready for me. I should have taken this as my second cue to GET OUT, but clearly I ignore red flags and was dead set on getting a massage, so I stayed. After disrobing and settling into the massage bed, the massage therapist (who shall remain unnamed because 1. I don’t remember her name and 2. She’s not worth giving notoriety to) began making unwarranted remarks about how ‘different’ and ‘unique’ my hair is then began to question my economic status by stating “oh, you must live in like south Phoenix” and “you can’t be from around here”. Asking questions like “how many kids do you have?”… assuming I have children, which I do not. There were several micro aggressions and ignorant remarks that I became noticeably quiet, resulting in my service being cut by 30 mins…. Which is even more outlandish because for real… who goes to get a massage and requests the massage therapist to talk to them? Im here to relax, not make a friend. So not only did my service not begin on time, I did not get to enjoy the entire session. Once the therapist decided to end the session, I changed back into my clothes and proceeded to exit. As I was waiting to pay, someone else came from behind a random door like a genie and made passive aggressive comments about my sneaker choice. This was quite honestly the most passive aggressive racist experience I’ve ever had. Most definitely a waste of money and not worth the argument to fight with such ignorant and uninformed people. I definitely will not be back and will be sure to spread the word on how people of color are treated in this spa. Still on the hunt for an inclusive spa that is welcoming to all people, not just those who make them...

I would not recommend this spa. My husband and I did not receive services and this review is based on our experience.

For some context, my husband and I stayed on the hotel property for our wedding anniversary staycation and were looking forward to a romantic weekend. My husband, earlier in the week, had called the spa and specifically asked to schedule a couples massage. Great, they got us in for an appointment on a weekend morning. A day before, they called to confirm. I can admit this is where we may have went wrong, but we missed the call and it slipped our minds to call back to confirm in the preparations for the weekend. However, they had asked for a card to have on file to secure the appointment (which my husband provided). So we show up to the spa a few minutes prior to the appointment time and the lobby was full. We give our names at check in and then they list off two individual services they had written down for us that was NOT a couples massage. We were puzzled and said no, we specifically scheduled a couples massage. We got a rather lackluster “sorry” and the lady said she would see if we could be accommodated. I kid you not, within 15 seconds she came back saying they did not have room and could not accommodate a couples massage, saying they had a “full house” for the weekend. To her credit, she offered individual massages, but as we specifically scheduled the couples massage, this was not acceptable. They said they’d put us to “the top of the waitlist” but did not anticipate any openings. The spa did nothing else to offer services or amends to make it right and we left really disappointed. Throughout this whole time, I found the desk staff rather apathetic. We later found out there was a wedding on property over the weekend. I’m not sure where the disconnect was. Did whomever that scheduled the appointment purposely schedule it wrong hoping we would still pay for services? Did they give our appointment away because they didn’t have “confirmation” we would be there? I don’t know, but either way we won’t...