Sa Teresa Spa — Attraction in Santa Cruz

I’m not sure if this was an issue with training or with my individual masseuse, but I came out feeling like I got a beating. My masseuse was kind and quiet, and I genuinely wanted to like this salon because the people seemed kind, the pricing was very reasonable, and the environment generally cozy and well kept, but the treatment ended up being so unprofessional, even when it came to tipping, as if the most important thing was not the client’s experience but the payment in the end.

The massage itself was rough from the start with a lack of variation and attention to detail and body language. For the entire 90 minute session there were generally only two types of strokes for each section of the body, one of which was just repetitive circles of bone-on-bone. In addition, my palms and feet were legitimately punched, the hot stones were not first checked with me for temperature so I just got burned and then scraped due to the lack of oil and the fast and rough motions, and large parts of my body were sometimes left open to the cold. It’s also lucky that I’m flexible, but the speed and force with which my masseuse stretched out my legs multiple times would’ve injured a regular person. For the entire session, every 2-5 minutes I had to ask to go softer or expressed pain, but after 15-30 seconds of a slight change, the pressure went back up, as if there was only one template and/or the masseuse wasn’t paying any attention. I didn’t even have a place to throw away my used tissue that I needed mid-session. But to top it all off, when I left a tip that was polite but not enough to signify that I was satisfied with the treatment, rather than asking me what’s wrong, both the masseuse and manager asked me for a bigger tip to my face with obvious judgement and disappointment (they ended up asking me for the percentage I already left, but it didn’t change their demeanor when I pointed it out). It’s when all of these things add up that you no longer feel that you matter as a client. In the moment I didn’t fully realize how bad the treatment was and didn’t feel comfortable potentially starting a conflict (I still didn’t leave a bigger tip though), but by the time I got home I had pain and tension in at least 3 parts of my body that got worse today. Relaxation is false advertising at this point. I don’t want to hurt their business, but I hope this feedback helps them to improve...

I called ahead for an opening. They expressed a drop-in visit would be fine. That was nice. I arrived and tried to express my desire to resolve upper body muscle cramping. The problem was that English is not commonly used among the receptionist nor the help. I could not make my needs clear to anyone. All the communication I received was whether I wanted 1 hour or some other duration. I asked for a 30 minute upper body massage. That confused them. But they took me to a room. The lady tugged at my shirt to suggest I remove it. She left. When she came back, she seemed confused that my pants were still on. I was then subjected to half a pretty nice massage and half shiatsu torture. I played along, but I was not satisfied by the experience. The lady also tried boosting my time to an...

I went because of the reviews and honestly I feel that people rated it too high. It was definitely a weird experience. I walk in saying I want a one hr body massage and she tried to talk me up to 90min and I went with 75 min. I asked the lady for hard pressure and it was nearly any pressure, more on a rub side then a massage. I told her no feet and she said that it would be 10 dollars more. she said there was tension on one side and she didn't work on it. She also doesn't have her phone on silent and her texts kept going off.I was really excited about this place but was let down. And its a little pricey from what I'm us to. If you want a cheaper and better massage, I would suggest flying crane instead of this spot. Cheaper and they give a little more pressure...