Woodhouse Spa - Buckhead — Local services in Atlanta

Updated Review:

I appreciate the GM's response, but I feel it's important to provide an honest follow-up. While it's noted that Champagne and Mimosas are typically served in an 8oz flute, what I received was a 4oz pour in a small, oval-shaped stemless glass. I also witnessed a guest who wasn’t offered anything to drink; she voiced her concern first to a young lady with curly hair, and after being ignored, repeated herself to another staff member — a brunette with full eyebrows — as I was entering the locker room with my Mimosa in hand. Additionally, there were no Petit Fours available, despite this being part of the expected experience.

While I respect that you're a mother of four, I’m unclear how that detail pertains to the customer experience — but I digress.

Regarding the 20% service fee (or gratuity), as a business owner myself and frequent recipient of various services, I believe transparency is crucial. Guests should be clearly informed of any service charges — both verbally and in writing — just as most reputable establishments do. Customers should also have the autonomy to decide whether a gratuity or service fee is appropriate and how much it should be. If you're committed to fairly compensating your staff, consider adjusting internal wages accordingly rather than relying on hidden fees.

Charging a 20% fee without clearly notifying guests feels deceptive and frankly, greedy. Especially when this appears to be a recurring concern echoed by many other reviewers. This information should be boldly displayed: in your physical space, on your website, during booking, in confirmation communications — everywhere.

When gratuity is automatically applied, it can diminish the motivation for exceptional service. I, and likely many others, am more than willing to tip generously when the service genuinely warrants it. But this must be our choice — not a hidden obligation. —— On everything I love… I’m extremely disappointed with the manner in which my Mother’s Day surprise from my daughters turned out! Bottom line, the ambiance is really nice, the lockers located in the locker room are too close together, there was only one 4 oz glass of mimosa provided, I felt somewhat rushed and when I note “somewhat rushed” it’s simply because the masseuse acted as if she wasn’t rushing me but she was, the massage was more of a rub down at best… The bathtub experience was beautiful and the sauna was nice… However, the AUTOMATIC GRATUITY OF 20% that was charged to my daughters account was UNPROFESSIONAL! GREEDY! DISHONEST! UNDESERVING! And outright DISTASTEFUL! My daughter’s are both young and students! They planned this beautiful day, SURPRISED me, SAVED their MONEY! Strategically orchestrated for me to have a wonderful day because Mother’s Day is a difficult day for me considering my BEAUTIFUL MOTHER made her transition…… The fact that my daughter has now REALIZED being OVERCHARGED 20% EXTRA in addition to what she and her younger sister ALREADY paid without NOTICE is OUTRIGHT, disgusting and I’ll never return to this location nor will I recommend Woodhouse Spa to anyone. I’m going to PRAY about this because my DAUGHTERS deserve a REFUND! No EXCEPTIONS! You shouldn’t FORCE ANYONE OR DICTATE THE AMOUNT OF GRATUITY ONE SHOULD PAY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T know how their experience was and more importantly their FINANCIAL situation; my daughter paid more and than what she should have! The service was subpar, the ambience was pleasant, the RIP OFF is UNACCEPTABLE! Stand clear! Don’t patronize this...

I was wary of Woodhouse before making an appointment because of the poor Google reviews. A lot of reviews complain about "unfair" policies around service time or being rushed during their service. Folks, when you go to a spa, there's a reason they tell you to arrive well in advance of your appointment. It's a busy spa and they need to keep to the schedule; you'd be posting poor reviews if your appointment started late because someone else ate into your appt time. That being said, my experience still netted a 3-star review but for different reasons (3 stars is generous...it's probably closer to 2 but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt).

Booking -- I received a gift card from a colleague over the holidays and I booked my facial thru the website. The fine print states that your card will not be charged at the time of booking...but it also says that even if you're using a gc, they will charge an initial deposit and then you can request that credited back at the time of service. Obviously, the language is clunky and unclear but when I brought it to their attention, they said they would speak with their supervisor to amend it and they did refund my initial deposit, which I appreciate.

Ambience -- I found the front desk to be professional & pleasant upon my arrival and they gave me a tour of the spa. This location has the general layout and spa vibes you would expect, although the quiet room wasn't exactly "quiet." Not the end of the world, just an annoyance that's really commentary on the clientele vs. the staff. The lockers, restrooms, shower, and sinks are in one big room. While nicely appointed, it's a laid out awkwardly and doesn't give you much room to change without bumping into your locker neighbor.

Service -- This is where things fell short. While my service provider had a nice personality, the facial itself was a massive disappointment. I understand this isn't a med spa so there are limits to what the esthetician is able to do, but it felt like my service provider was either very new to her profession or was woefully unskilled at her craft. I got a basic deep cleanse facial with added glycolic peel + hydro jelly mask. There was limited, if any, facial massage when applying the products, the extractions were extremely light (especially when this was supposed to be a deep cleanse), and while we waited for each of the 2 masks to set, she just massaged my shoulders...twice...and not well. I woke up with a migraine & stiff neck today. Anywhere else I've gone, they'll move to your hands/arms or feet for the 2nd massage set?? It was weird, to say the least. Also -- I didn't realize it until I got home, but I walked out of Woodhouse with BLUE jelly mask all over my neck, snarled in my hairline, IN and around my ears, and on my face. I was mortified because I popped into Le Bon Nosh for a coffee on my way home, so this explains the weird look I got from the cashier.

I've had many, many facials over the years -- everywhere from basic no-frills places, mid-grade spas, to high-end luxury establishments, and this facial would fall at the bottom of that entire stack. And yet, they tout themselves as a luxury establishment with a luxury pricetag.

To sum it up, Woodhouse is fine if you are looking for a spa vibe, sitting in a robe drinking mimosas in a quiet room. And for some people, that's all they want. Just know that you are paying for the physical space and environment, not an excellent spa treatment. If you're looking for a good facial with a good provider, this is...

I came to Woodhouse Spa on the recommendation of a friend. I'm a small business owner and I brought my Operations Manager for a spa afternoon during our annual operations retreat. We scheduled massages and pedicures and added lunch since we'd be arriving around 1:30pm.

Our services were good (Michael - Pedicure and LeSheur - Massage were GREAT) but communication about the lunch we ordered was not strong. We arrived at 1:15 for our 1:30 appointment and the services were set up with the pedicures first at 1:30 and the massages afterwards. We went through both services, stopped by the quiet room for some water, got changed back into our regular clothes and then came to the desk to check out. Since we hadn't been offered our lunch at all by the time we got to the desk about a quarter to 4, we asked for it to be taken off the bill. The first associate we spoke to apologized that we hadn't gotten it and said that it'd be taken off. Then someone else came up from the back and said that she'd just set it up somewhere in the back for us and kept repeating this as we shared that we had to get going. Eventually she asked if we'd like it packed up to go. Given that that was the first time it was offered to us, we were already changed to go, we had a schedule to keep, and we'd been there for nearly 3.5 hours already by that point, I again declined and said we'd just like it taken off the bill. This associate insisted that it was already made and set up and that taking it off the bill would not be a possibility. We finally consented to wait for it to be packed up to take it with us. During this discussion at the desk, one associate clearly wanted to give us a discount, another clearly did not.

While we waited, I realized that I left my lip gloss in the women's dressing room and went to grab it. I saw those same two associates disagreeing in the hallway about whether or not we should be given a discount for how the experience of our lunch played out.

Given the amount spent and the luxury experience that Woodhouse Spas promote, I was disappointed by how our visit ended. Our check out experience left a VERY bad taste in my mouth. The fact that none of the associates in the building seemed to have the authority to remove the lunch from our bill, the fact that the associates disagreed openly about how to handle our case, the fact that there was not discussion with us when we arrived about when we wanted our lunch during our service..... it all felt messy and disorganized at best....