Advanced Massage Therapy — Local services in Winnipeg

My wife and I have been going to Advanced Massage for over 7 years now. We have had many great therapists over this time, and between the Grant & Corydon locations, we each have a few therapists that we see regularly at any given time. Most often, we both get 1 hour treatments. However, over the past year or two, we've both noticed that every 2nd or 3rd visit, we are being cut short of time by either 5 or 10 minutes. It is understandable if we show up right at our start times and lose 5 minutes due to prepping in the room or such (because that is on us), or the very odd occasion that therapists are pressed into time traps for whatever reason, but it seems that it has become a constant. Additionally, for all the years we had been attending, I had not been receiving any of the free visits because I did not own a smart phone for collecting via the app. By the time I did get a smart phone, I was close to having enough visits collected, and was told that this system is no longer valid, and that their current system would know how many visits I was collecting towards free visits. My wife had inquired a few years back about allowing me to take her smartphone to collect on my visits, and was told that we can't do that. We've developed some good relations over the years with a few of the past therapists, even to the point of temporarily lending some household items to a great therapist's family (which he is a great therapist, a good guy, and was the only time I ever got a free visit, which was out of his appreciation). It's unfortunate that it has come to the point where my wife and I feel that we are being taken for granted as long time regulars, while we've been very understanding of losing 5 mins here and there when schedules are tight. It's very upsetting that we have to look for a new place when we have been with Advanced...

I went here for 1 hour deep tissue massage. I've had back problems since I was young and I saw a massage therapist regularly when I was 13 - 14. I was hoping for my pain to be validated and to receive a massage similar to what my old one did, but unfortunately that is not what happened. I asked for more pressure because I could take it/that's what I need, but I was told I was being "warmed up". This did not build up to the pressure I needed. I was also generally unhappy with the techniques used overall.

The "therapist" also asked what my old name was when I told her I was transgender (extremely rude), and also referred to me as 'girl' at the end of our session, and her sloppy correction of "guy, girl - whatever, you get it!" was deeply offensive to me. When I disclosed I was waiting for surgery before moving to Europe, she asked for what, and I had to disclose my double mastectomy. I acted like everything was okay for survival, because in my experience, challenging or calling out these types of people does not end well. I just wanted to get out of there wirh no further issues.

I will not be returning. But if you're not transgender and looking for RELAXATION and not actual therapy, then I guess this place would be suitable for you, but to me, it was a total waste of my time and money. The difference in my muscles barely lasted til the end of the day. It was done at 1:30 - 2:30; I was sore again by 10PM, and the next morning, my pain level was back where it originally was.

Not recommended for the serious lack of professionalism regarding transgender people and not giving me what I needed (deeper pressure) despite asking...

I recently had a massage with Brenda and my experience was unlike any other I’ve had at this location. The massage was anything but relaxing - she took it upon herself to play her own music and use colour changing light bulbs in the room. I requested she work on my back as it’s been quite tight but the massage felt chaotic and she was switching back and fourth over different areas of my body (there were several points where I could feel her nails poke me). She asked if I would like my head included in the massage and I said no, and this was not respected. There were also several points where I asked her to use less pressure and she made comments implying that I should be able to tolerate the pressure. She then started massaging my jaw and the side of my face (with peppermint oil) so I asked her to stop because I did not want oil on my face and she responded with “ok!” And abruptly ended my massage and told me there’s a light switch by the door if I need it to change and proceeded to promptly leave the room- not using any towels to wipe the excess oil off my face and neck. I left feeling more sore than I did when I came in. I will note that the receptionist working was extremely kind, receptive and understanding! I typically have great experiences here and I intend to re book with another massage therapist but I felt obligated to leave a review so this particular massage therapist...