Spa Adolphus — Local services in Dallas

My wife and I take one vacation a year on our anniversary and we have chosen to stay at the Adolphus for the past 4 years. The hotel is amazing and we absolutely love it. We decided this year to try the spa for the first time as we normally go to he The Joule for our massage needs when in Dallas. I made reservations over the phone for a 50 minute couples massage and added a facial for both of us a couple days before our appointment. Upon arrival everything was great. The person at the front desk showed us to our changing rooms and we met up shortly after in the waiting area and sipped on fruit water while we waited.

The two ladies performing our facials met us in the waiting area and escorted us to the room. The were both very nice and spent the first ten minutes explaining what they were going to do and attempting to upsell us on multiple add ons. We both added a scalp massage. The lady performing my facial massaged my face for about 30 seconds before applying some lotion. 5 minutes went by while she was off in the corner doing something else. She came back and massaged my scalp for about 20 seconds and went back over in the corner for another few minutes. I kept thinking she was getting ready to start and then she said ok that's it. I was very confused. She worked on me for less than a minute in the 30 minutes we were in there. I told myself to hold all the complaints until after my massage as I didn't want to be worked up and ruin my massage.

We were returned to the waiting room and my wife complained as well about the extremely short scalp massage. Her facial was good and included multiple different liquids being applied. I told her not to worry about my issues or her short scalp massage as we would get it fixed after our massage. We waited about 5 minutes and the ladies performing our massage came in and discussed our intentions before escorting us to the massage room.

When the massage started I heard what sounded like my masseuse putting on latex gloves. I thought "no way!" .. theres no way I'm about to get a massage from someone wearing gloves. We get massages all the time .. this is a first. I'm not a dirty person so I don't know what this is about. Sure enough she is wearing gloves! She proceeded to give me a sub par light pressure massage while raking latex gloves across my skin though I asked for a harder pressure at least 10 times during the massage. For 50 minutes I was counting the seconds until it ended as it was uncomfortable and miserable. I would have complained much sooner but I didn't want to ruin my wife's massage.

When it was over I rushed to get dressed and headed to desk let them know my displeasure. It must be noted that my wife said her massage was decent (7/10). I let the receptionist know that my massage was the worst ever done by a person with medical gloves on and she proceeded to say it was "standard practice" for some masseuses to wear gloves. I told she was lying and this is not by any means standard practice. I let her know also that my facial was a joke and the lady worked on me for less than a minute while my wife's facial was hands on for 30. She said that was normal as well. I asked for the manager and she had already gone home for the day. Then came the bill.. $1200!!!! I said there is no way I'm paying $1200 for a medical glove massage and 50 second facial.. but they had already run my card. Ok well no tip then but too late they already added 22%. I went down to the front desk but the hotel manager said the spa is separate from the hotel and he couldn't help.

I went back the next day twice but the manager was not available either time and we had to leave.. I sent an email and left a voicemail after leaving the hotel and no one ever got back to me. Don't waste your time here. This place is a joke. Go to the Joule or the Crescent. They had many opportunities to make it right but...

I never leave reviews unless they are positive, but my experience here left me feeling I wasted so much money. I have been to other spas in the area and feel that what the Adolphus Spa offers is extremely lack luster not worth the price tag. This, however, is not the only reason why I am leaving a 1-star review.

When I first walked in, I was greeted by a woman who was very kind however, I could tell there was something off and after a few exchanges, she had shared with me some devastating personal news she was going through. Of course, my heart hurt for her but the first thought in my mind was, why is she working if she is going through something so awful? Selfishly, (I hate to add this part) I am also there to de-stress with a massage, and it left me feeling just terrible for her thus causing myself even more stress because I wanted to take time and empathize with her for what she was going through but was also about to have my appointment start. She then gave me a tour of the spa and I noticed in the changing rooms there is no toiletries, feminine products, or even a blow dryer to use after you shower. Even most gyms would have some sort of toiletries for guests to use without having to ask. She also asked me if I wanted shower shoes or if I wanted to wear my own and to me, it doesn't need to be a question, just ask for my size when I check in and give them to me before going into the changing room? She said she would leave them outside the door and to me, feels very off. I then go into the waiting room where it just looks like an outdated hotel lobby seating area, before going into my massage.

The masseuse came and got me, and she was nice but I was disappointed in the massage rooms with how outdated they were and mine even had a lot of light, so it was really hard to relax. The massage itself was just fine and why I added some stars because at least the service I went in for left me feeling relaxed by the end.

Once it was time to check out and leave, it seemed as though the front desk worker was having a hard time getting my partial gift card to go through and eventually asked me to get behind the computer, go through her email and try and get the payment link open myself. It was extremely awkward and unprofessional. $233 later, I left and just did not feel like the quality I got was remotely worth the cost. I think they need to seriously update their spa, offer more amenities (Like the Joule spa for example) and offer better training for staff if they are going to charge what they do. I hate that I am leaving this review, but the experience overall was really rough, and I think its worth noting for...

It's unfortunate to post this bad of a review but I'm hopeful it will lead to some changes or at least help hotel guests and locals opt for other options in the city. I do typically go to the Joule but they were fully booked this weekend so I thought I would give the Adolphus a try.

The good thing was all of the staff was incredibly friendly and check-in was really easy.

The rest of it was a bit odd. They only have a few changing areas and they're all in an awkward hallway. There's also only a few lockers for your items, so the entire area felt very cramped outside of the relaxation lounge. The relaxation lounge was also overcrowded. There wasn't much seating available to accommodate the volume of guests.

My technician was very nice, but it was an unpleasant 50 minute massage. It wasn't full body - he didn't massage my arms at all and only did some pressure point work on my shoulder blades. I added 2 enhancements: CBD oil and a scalp massage. The CBD oil was nice but the scalp massage was underwhelming for the added cost. No product was used and it felt like he just sort of rubbed my head.

The worst part was the location of the service room. It was right next to their salon and I couldn't focus at all the entire service because I was flooded with carryover noise from the salon - could literally follow their entire conversation. It actually felt like my massage bed was somehow planted inside of the salon. It makes total sense the salon would be loud, but it makes no sense to have a massage service room next door. I even had to ask the technician to turn up the volume of the sound machine to try to relax but it didn't really help. The last weird thing was the room set up was bizarre - the lighting was all the way up and not dimmed and there were 2 massage tables. During my service, someone other than my technician entered the room which was a little unnerving. I've not ever had that happen.

The Adolphus is such a nice property so I assumed it would have a comparable experience to the Joule. But the Joule's amenities and services are demonstrably better. Would recommend going down the block to find some true zen.

I did add an extra star because when I brought up my concerns with the front desk, they did apologize and offer 20% off service. But it still feels incredible overpriced for the product. In comparison, you can pay the exact same amount at the Joule for the same service with full amenities including a sauna, steam...