The Spa At The Hotel Hershey — Hotel in Hershey

If I could give zero stars I would. I recently took a trip with my mother over this past weekend to Hotel Hershey for a spa weekend. Let me first say that the hotel aside from the spa was fine. The room was nice, food was good and generally speaking there were no issues there. The spa however is a nightmare that is still unfolding. We had a number of spa services but the one that ruined the trip and will be an ongoing matter was the relaxation swedish massage.

As someone who has back and neck issues and sees a MT/chiropractor regularly I got approval to get just this massage due to my conditions and to be cautious not to get any aggravation. During my massage the masseuse was extremely rough and only spoke of a few things being out of place. I was hesitant but entrusted he knew what he was doing. Once he went to my legs I had to stop him as the amount of pressure was excruciating. He acknowledged for a few minutes then went back to being extremely forceful on my arms like I had said nothing. As a smaller woman when asked how I was doing ( this was before he started on my legs) I said I am good I left the spa and wandered the hotel to try and enjoy the rest of our stay. I want to note as well that it was intimidating with how physical he was being after I asked him to be more gentle and then he went back to being aggressive again. It is a very vulnerable situation to be in with someone who you have paid good money and have inherent trust will do their job. In hindsight I wish I would have walked out and now I am paying the price for not doing so.

The next morning the horror began. The first thing I noticed was several bruises on my arms and legs where he had been too aggressive. Then a very odd bruise around my ribs. All the areas I have gotten treatment over the last 6 months were extremely sore and the "knots" he claimed he was working out felt like rocks.I complained to the spa as soon as I noticed the problem and they sent an email to a manager with no response despite saying they would get right back to me. I then walked down to the spa and spoke with the manager who did apologize and said nothing of this sort has ever happened before. He refunded my money and gave me his card to follow up if needed. He asked what I wanted to do and at that moment I simply wanted them to be aware and of course get a refund. The following day another manager called me who typically handles these issues checking in on me and said he would confirm the refund. The reason I didn't do anything further is while still in pain I wasn't sure how bad it was.

This morning I found out... I went to my chiropractor who revealed significant tissue bruising as well as a significant setback in my neck and back alignments. I now have weeks and dozens of more sessions to treat the mistakes and ignorance of a seasoned massage therapist who turned a relaxation massage into something I can call none other than nearly abusive with what the results are. Every protocol he needed to follow he did not. I have had deep tissue massages every month for a year and never had this issue. This is an expensive and highly recommended spa that did this. As my second time here - I will not be returning. I am hopeful Hotel Hershey will do right beyond just a massage refund because this is now going to cost me far more in terms of discomfort and treatments.

Outside of the massage the other few services I got were fine and I was pleased with. However the negative and ongoing discomfort I will have to deal are important to note here. If Hershey does indeed do right by me I will be true to my word and post an update but for now I highly recommend you find other accommodations. $2200 for 3 days is a joke when you get...

The atmosphere and all of the staff are lovely. There are a nice variety of locations to relax and enjoy the quietly piped-in music, there is a larger room where you can have quiet conversations with your party, a silent room if you want to sit and read or close your eyes or just meditate between treatments. The hot chocolate that is available in the lounge area is divine. The women's locker room is well-equipped with toiletry items and nicely decorated (although the lockers are very close together and when busy, there is not a lot of space to change, and there is really no place other than the bathrooms or one of the two showers to change privately).

But I'm giving it 3-stars because the differences in options provided to other members in my party and myself were stark. We booked standard massages- but one member of my party had a highly experienced and long-time massage therapist who was skilled in working the especially tight areas, picked up on body language, and offered a selection of scents. My massage therapist was less experienced, did not offer me any scents in my oils, and pinched my shoulders so tightly at the end of my massage that I walked out with more shoulder pain than what I went in with.

In addition, we paid for the lunch buffet - $30 per person for all you could eat. I thought I read the details carefully of what we would be getting. It sounded like it would be a robust salad bar, a wide variety of tapas selections, 2 platters of different food selections, soups, fresh rolls, plus a large selection of specialty desserts. There are no pictures of it available online, so in my head, I thought it would look like a lunch buffet you might find if you were to go to a small work conference at a hotel - a few hot choices, a salad bar, etc. NO - it was 2 cold plain platters of bland meat - either chicken or steak that was really meant to go on the salad. It was a giant bowl of spinach (no other greens), a small selection of salad toppings, roughly 3 tapas selections - grape leaves, a shellfish dish of some sort, and a rice dish, hard, dry rolls or hard dry sliced French bread, and 1 soup - cabbage soup, and neither of the 2 employees I spoke with knew what was in the soup. The dessert was some type of oreo chocolate pie, some Italian-style Christmas cookies that looked like the kind you buy at the grocery store, a selection of small truffles dusted with cocoa powder, and a white-chocolate cup that had chocolate mousse in it - roughly the size of a small shot glass.

We did not pile food on our plates, but rather took a few small items to try and after a few bites, just did not find them appealing. We got up and left. Our server caught us on the way out and felt bad. She suggested we talk to the staff at reception on our way out. We did, and the manager very kindly refunded us for our lunch. But she did not apologize for the lack of selection and actually justified it by saying it was the "typical lunch you would find at a spa" and that what was offered was exactly as described on the website. However, without pictures, I just don't think it lived up to what was described.

I've been to dozens of spas before some budget, some fancy and high-end (I would categorize the Hershey spa as high-end) and can say that food options have all varied, if food was made available, so I don't think there is a "typical" lunch. But at other high-end spas, if I paid $30 for a buffet lunch, I would certainly expect at least 1 hot item besides soup, fresh bread that wasn't dry and hard, a soup that was more widely appealing than cabbage soup, and possibly some way to make something more than just a cold salad, especially on a winter...

I visited the spa for my first time yesterday as part of a work outing. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I had never been to a professional spa before, but Hershey was pretty simple to figure out. There are always attendants around to show you where to go, which I was thankful for because the place is huge and a little like a maze. I appreciated that they come find you for your treatments so you have less chance of getting lost and missing appointments (which I definitely would have, if left to my own devices because I am directionally challenged lol).

As for the treatments themselves, I had the spa rain shower first, which was good. Bring a swimsuit for it, as an attendant is in the room with you, which I did not expect. You get in the shower which has faucets hitting you from all angles (nice), but then the attendant uses a pressure hose on your palms, bottoms of feet, back, etc. It does feel nice, but it also feels like you're in a biological decontamination unit (maybe that was just me - it made me laugh more than it made me uncomfortable).

Next, I had a sugar scrub. My attendant was nice and was comfortable to talk to - you're completely nude (sensitive areas are covered), but it is a little vulnerable if you're not used to it. My attendant was good at putting me at ease and being professional. The scrub was awesome, smelled good, and it was very relaxing.

I had a massage next - the man who did mine was very good, very professional, and made sure I was comfortable. The music was relaxing, and they allowed me to choose the scent I wanted. Pressure was always enough to feel good, never too much to be uncomfortable, and, as a woman, I felt very comfortable and safe with their male masseuse. It was the perfect amount of time, too.

The last treatment of the day was a manicure, which I think was my favorite part because my technician was awesome. She helped me pick a good color and didn't mess up any of my nails, which I've experienced from nail technicians in the past. She was also gentle around my cuticles. My nails look fabulous.

Lunch had a good variety, and the drinks were tasty (though not complimentary). We were all able to sit together and go back to the buffet as many times as we wanted. Check it more than once because they'll change out desserts and you don't want to miss any of those :)

Overall, I would definitely go again! It is definitely pricey, so I am glad work paid for it and not me, but it would be worth it to...