ARONA SPA — Local services in Tokyo

TL;DR - ARONA Spa is an incredible place to unwind and relax. They offer several services conveyed on their website, for which the prices are reasonable, if not cheaper than one would expect. Despite this, the staff are genuinely skilled professionals that make your comfortability a priority, and they can communicate effectively in both Japanese and English. I highly recommend anyone in the Tokyo area to check out ARONA Spa for a day of relaxation.

Review - Speaking as a foreign visitor, I cannot emphasize enough just how beneficial ARONA Spa was to my overall health and well-being while traveling. After traveling around Japan for a little over a week, having walked 10k+ steps per day and retaining residual feelings of jet lag, I was in need for a break.

I thought of searching for a massage therapist, since the process of getting a massage is familiar to me, but I’ll admit that I was a bit apprehensive to even begin the search, as I’ve heard/seen that some places in Japan offer “adult” services as part of the treatment, which I wasn’t in the market for. Luckily, I stumbled upon ARONA Spa, who emphasized that they do not offer such services. ARONA Spa is, instead, a legitimate place of business specializing in relaxing and healing the body through massage and stretching techniques.

Additionally, ARONA Spa had already received close to 1,500 positive reviews when I found them, and the website included an English menu—both of which were reassuring to me. Similarly, making a reservation online was straightforward and easy.

Hence, I made a reservation for an oil massage for one time slot, and my partner made the same reservation for the next. The instructions on the website clearly indicate that each person must make their own reservation, but preparations for a pair room may be made via phone call. We were not confident enough in our Japanese proficiency to make the phone call, and we did not yet know how well the staff spoke English, so we settled for adjacent time slots, instead. However, on our arrival, the staff quickly made arrangements for a pair room! This already pointed to fantastic service to come.

Our massage began with an initial foot bath/massage. Personally, this was a good “warm up” to ease the initial tension I had about the experience. The staff were kind and conversational, so I felt at ease almost immediately. (Note: Here, you also choose an essential oil mixture to be dispensed throughout your treatment).

I don’t have much to say about the oil massage treatment itself other than it was incredibly relaxing and a great experience. So much so that I returned for another oil massage the next day, and the day after that, as well. That should speak for itself!

Altogether, I highly recommend visiting ARONA Spa to anyone in the Tokyo area. I visited the Shibuya location, but there are others in Shinjuku and Omotesando, as well. If I ever return to Japan, I will certainly come back to ARONA Spa for a relaxing break.

Additional Notes: The staff offers a set of clothing to change into for those receiving treatment. As such, I don’t think it matters too much what you wear to the appointment, but I could be wrong about this. The staff will offer a hot towel after oil massages to wipe off any excess oil before getting dressed in your original attire again. The staff offers water and tea before and after each treatment. Walk-ins are available, but I’m not sure how lucky one may be in receiving service with it; our treatments were all reservations made online through their website, and we never had even one issue. Our masseuses were Marina-san, Eri-san, and Mami-san. All were, of course, exceptional; however, I can personally attest that Marina-san is brilliantly skilled, and is an exceptionally kind and friendly person. Eri-san and Mami-san both treated my partner, so I cannot comment extensively on them, but my partner did, indeed, leave both sessions feeling more than satisfied.

To the staff, thank...

This place is on the 5th floor as building next to the mega donki. You'll likely need to reserve in advance. The mobile site is more optimized for viewing than their desktop website. If on desktop, reservation button is in the very top right.

With all said, the menu is fairly well translated if compared to other massage location with websites. I went for a 2 hour oil massage after 4 weeks of minimum of 25k steps everyday so my feet were a bit sore to say the least. Sleeping on stiff airbnb mattress didn't help either so I was looking for a massage to relieve some of the tension that's been built up.

English skills are too my surprise very passable. I have been to other places in tokyo and Osaka that have advertised english proficiency only to arrive to rely on Google translate. The instructions are very clear on what to do which I'd imagine any first time goers will appreciate to avoid any awkwardness or uncertainty.

Anyways, the process is straightforward. Book what you want online. Leave your credit card info online as you will be charge for no show or last minute cancels. Arrive to the location. Shoes off. Put on a slipper. Fill out some form agreeing that this is not a medical procedure and is for leisure and relaxation only waiver. You will be charged here. So the credit card provided online is only for cancelation or no show it seems. Also, circle where you would like focus on. Go into your designated private room to change. Put your stuff in a basket and cover it with a towel like cover. Once change, go out for a food bath. Foot bath is over, return to your assigned private room. Strip down to the disposable underwear (if you are doing oil massage) and sit on the table with the towel covering you face up. Massage happens for the time duration of whatever you purchased. Once over, get dressed and have a drink of your choice and leave.

The person giving me a massage was Kaede. The right amount of pressure was applied especially in areas I felt strained. There were periodic ask on if the pressure was okay when massaging new sections of the body which was appreciated.

All in all. It's very english and tourist...

While I rarely write any kind of negative review, I feel I have to give my opinion about my experience here.

First off, my husband and I walked in to book for the following day. We chose the oil- lymphatic drainage massage 90 min which ran about 150 each- plus 10 percent for massages after 10 pm (not sure why they charge extra for this). So- not cheap. Especially compared to the prices of massages we have had in other countries. The lady at the front was very pleasant and we paid upfront. She gave us a card with our time and that we prepaid.

The actual space is clean, inviting, looks very zen. Lovely little intimate space on the 5th floor, with foot baths, wicker chairs, little statues- very nice. We couldn’t wait to return.

The next day we came back and we were so excited for this massage. With the high ratings on google,I had high expectations for quality. I have to be honest when I say it was one of the worst massages I ever received. It just didn’t make sense. It wasn’t technical, it just seemed like the therapists weren’t trained and were making things up as they went.

My husband compared the technique of his therapist to “a dog trying to escape a hot car” constant pawing with random jabs here and there to his glutes. His therapist also left the room 4-5 times to take calls at the reception (?) as she also works the front desk(?)

Overall, the ladies are so nice and wonderful, so polite and I feel awful to report back my disappointment about their massage techniques but this was not lymphatic drainage, not even close! The English/Japanese barrier was real so we couldn’t really communicate this to them either.

Hope this helps anyone thinking of coming here, you will most likely be disappointed if you’re looking for a...