Monterey Day Spa — Local services in Monterey

I made an appointment spur of the moment on their website yesterday for today for a prenatal massage, and boy, am I glad I did. I was worried there would be an issue with the appointment since I made it online and sometimes online scheduling can fail. Plus, I didn't call to confirm that they had me on the books, so I was really taking a chance. But, I showed up and they were expecting me at my appointed time. The environment once you enter the little spa is immediately calming. The only thing that was perhaps a bit disruptive was when the receptionist picked up phone calls, or was talking to the massage therapists. But, that didn't really bother me enough to affect my review. Just mentioning it since it did stick out in contrast to the environment in general. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming which is always a good sign when you enter a business based in hospitality of a sort. My masseuse was Analy. She has a very gentle and kind demeanor. She made sure I was as comfortable as I could get given my condition. The massage was great and I could tell she knew what she was doing. I'm sure if I had asked for any changes in pressure she would have obliged immediately, but it was perfect. I actually snoozed during the massage, I was so relaxed. What really won me over was that she didn't chat me to death throughout the massage, something I was worried about before going in (bad prior experiences elsewhere). The room was big and beautiful and set up in such a way that I could have fallen asleep immediately just from peaceful it felt. They seem to offer a wide variety of services (facials, pedicures, manicures, couple massages, etc.), which I can hopefully take advantage of soon. I look forward to booking my next massage appointment with Analy at the...

When I travel, I like to enjoy a spa day toward the end of my trip. This would've been a meh experience, however, the ending really made it poor. I booked a package with a body scrub and massage along with a spa pedicure. The robe that was left for me to put on after my scrub so I could walk to the shower had a sleeve inside out. Even though my appointment was at their opening time, their was a basket FULL of used tissues in the bathroom/shower room. The shower wasn't started for me so I had to wait for the water to heat up.

I returned for my massage which was ok. After the massage, I was given a spa gift of the dry brush she used on me and two plastic condiment cups filled with body scrub for me to take. What am I supposed to do with two flimsy salad dressing type cups of body scrub? They aren't sealed. I certainly can't put them in my suitcase.

I was then told thanks and to have a good day. I had to go back to the counter and interrupt two employees conversation to tell them I had booked another treatment.

My final straw was when another employee interrupted my pedicure to ask if the woman doing it wanted anything from Starbucks. Are you kidding me? I knew I should've waited until I got to San Francisco to go to a spa.

The massage part of the Spa Pedicure involved zero pressure and really was just a woman running lotion on my legs. There's no dryer so I was stuck just sitting there while this other woman walked up and asked me to...

My wife and I booked a sweetheart package for a 30-minute soak and a 80-minute Swedish massage, which we upgraded to a deep tissue massage a few days ahead.

Ambiance: The venue is small, cozy, and definitely relaxing. Everything from the decoration, atmosphere, music, etc. is great and on point for a spa.

Staff: Super friendly, respectful, kind, and welcoming. Even when they were running slightly late with our appointment (bathtub wasn’t filling fast enough) they were nice about it and made sure that we received the full service time.

Bathtub soak: Perfect. My wife and I loved this, especially the bathtub jets. The tub was clean and incredibly relaxing.

Massage: Unfortunately, this was our least favorite part. My wife and I both enjoy deep tissue massages, but our massages weren’t deep tissue at all. We think there was a miscommunication with the staff because we definitely got a Swedish massage instead. We should have spoken up earlier in the beginning of the massage and mentioned it at the counter, but we thought that maybe they were just starting off and going to apply firmer pressure down the road. We also didn’t look at the electronic receipt until we got home and realized we were charged for a deep tissue massage instead of a Swedish.

Not sure if we want to go back. All things considered, it was a good experience, but we’ll probably get our...