Kanna Spa — Attraction in San Mateo

A truly miserable 10th anniversary experience.

My partner and I had a great morning together then went to Kanna Spa for some self care time. We arrived 12 minutes late because I had gotten something stuck in my eye as we left the house. Their receptionist called us 7 minutes after our appointment time to see if we were coming which seemed a little aggressive - at least wait 10min?

They were a little slow to get us started and we weren’t on the table until 12:55 for a 12:30 appt. I told my masseuse to be very careful of my lower right back because I’d slipped on the stairs and she assured me she wouldn’t touch it. I elected the full body massage option and she told us we’d “have to be fast” to make our sauna time, which they had apparently booked with zero transition time from a 60 minute massage. If it takes you 15 min to get people set up with forms and on the table, tell me how 45 min later you will have someone in a 30min sauna appointment without screwing timing over on one of them?

I told her we only wanted a 15min sauna anyway but they wouldn’t let us book it (my doctor has me on a detox program and suggested infrared sauna treatments, but scale up sauna time slowly so you don’t feel sick).

We were on the table from 12:55-1:31. For a 60min massage! My masseuse did not ask my pressure preference and kept trying to do targeted deep tissue with zero warm up. She pressed insanely hard on my sinuses because I told her I was having sinus pain which made everything hurt so much more. I have never seen a massage therapist - and I’ve had plenty of craniosacral done - so cavalierly jam their thumbs into very delicate bone structures. It threw my jaw out of alignment and now I have a headache and will have to go to the cranial chiropractor which is expensive and sucks.

She did touch my lower back with medium firm pressure which freaking hurt, after promising not to. Here’s a tip, if you have to tell your client 10+ times to relax, breathe, and not be tense, you’re probably doing something wrong. Go with the flow of the body, not against it!!

My partner elected for a $10 scalp massage addition which lasted less than 60s which is insane. What, you give scalp massages worth $600 an hour? Doesn’t sound like it.

She left cold wet towels on my legs under blankets at the end - which came 25min too soon for what we booked - then schlepped us outside in half towels and through a badly lit hallway to the sauna room. The sauna appointment was weird - they have us one half cup of cold water and two hot cups of tea in a 100+ degree infrared sauna. And turned out all the lights entirely without checking if we wanted to sit in the hot dark for thirty minutes. I had to go find the light myself. We quickly realized they must want the lights out because their sauna room is a high traffic area where all their staff constantly runs in and out. Literally FOUR employees walked in on us AS WE CHANGED. And none of them were remotely apologetic.

We’ve had a really truly difficult year and this was supposed to be a respite on our 10th anniversary and now I’m crying and my jaw hurts. So if you want an appointment worth literally negative value that transforms a good day into a bad one, book an appointment. I wouldn’t even send my enemies here.

I will stick with individual therapists like Trava Faust and Tess Bradley nearby who actually know what they’re doing. Next anniversary we’ll just get facials - literally...

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Kanna Spa! I called to schedule some indulgent pampering for my birthday. My desire was a 120 minute deep tissue massage with 30 minute scalp/jaw/neck add on. I called only a day or 2 before my birthday, understanding it was super short notice and I might not get an appointment. I was told there was only a 120 minute slot available, but given that it was my birthday, they really wanted to accommodate me amd would inquire if the massage therapist would mind extending her hours. Such a gracious request! I gave them a call back shortly to move my appointment to a few days later because I didn't want anyone to have to extend their hours. Communication throughout the booking process was clear, professional, informative, and thoughtful. On the morning of my appointment, I got a text from Tiffany stating that my scheduled therapist was suffering with food poisoning! She extended the offer of rescheduling for later in the day. She communicated that this would a male therapist and inquired if I would be ok with this. I didn't mind, but appreciated the information regarding that change. She also graciously offered a couple of complimentary add ons for any inconvenience caused. I gladly accepted! Upon arrival, street parking was easy to find right in front. The space was clean and calming. I was greeted very kindly by Jenny, and shortly stepped into the infared sauna, in which I had a beautiful meditative session as I loosened up for my massage. Ural performed my 120 minute deep tissue massage and I definitely put his skill to work! I am a larger human with deep body tension. Ural had great technique and was inquisitive about pressure and how I was feeling and responsive to any request I made. I blissfully fell asleep at one point. Thennnnn, Tiffany came in for the grand finale scalp/jaw/neck massage. Honeyyyyy, let me tell you. I am no stranger to quality massages. I have experienced them across the country and world. This was theeeee best neck massage I have ever received. Heavenly. She has magical hands and I walked out with none of my chronic pain or scalp tension. I was at least an inch taller too after that spinal work! I will definitely be back, and I'm not even that local! I'm about 30-40 minutes away in Oakland, with plenty of access to other massage spots, but I will no doubt travel for this...

Lindsay at the front desk was so accommodating and nice! Making an appointment over the phone was easy. Day of comes and was told to come 15 minutes early as I was a new client well I came 15 mins early and the door was locked. Odd since I knew there was an appointment before mine. I walked around the back because maybe there was another entrance. There wasn't, I come back and call the spa. Lady picks up and says she will text them but also tells me my appointment isn't for another hour which was incorrect and kept trying to fight me on it. Finally she apologizes and was like oh I was looking at the wrong thing you are correct. Not a great start for me. Finally Lindsay comes out from another suite to let us in. Things go good until we get out of the sauna, we were told there would be cold towels there were not. Then its time for the massage. Jose was super knowledgable and gave me a lot of tips and tricks, my body felt greay but my mind was not relaxed after that massage as he talked the entire time. Well I had paid for cupping and never recieved that service during the massage. I had to say something to Linsday where she goes to ask Jose about this. Jose comes and tells me my only options were to do it right now or they will comp it next time. At this point in time I did not really wanna come back here. I agreed to get the cupping done right then as I had never done it before and wanted to experience it. Well the cupping was amazing! My favorite part of the day. I was so relaxed after it was done like a million times more then that massage realxed me. I would do cupping again. Also in our package we got 10 mins on the vibration plate. Ladies if anyone ever puts an intensity of 1 on that thing for you just bump it up. You should never be at a 1 beginner or not. Its supposed to feel like your legs are itchy because its moving all that stagnant fluid around. They ended up comping us the vibration plate $15 for the inconviences we endured of me not getting cupping done during my massage. Honestly it wasn't the greatest first experience and because of that I am hesistant to...