Able Nail Spa — Local services in New York

Seek elsewhere if you’re looking for consistency of your mani/pedi’s, attention to detail, and/or a semi relaxing environment.

Today was it for me for this salon. I’ve come here probably around 10-15 times over the last four years out of pure convenience bc I live nearby.

Today’s experience: I asked the pedicure technician to only file my toenails (not clip them). I repeated it several times and she nodded and said yes. I also let her know there was one particular nail I only wanted painted (don’t cut cuticles or clean out using the finer point tool). What’s the first thing she did? Pulled out the clippers and went directly to the toe I said specifically to not do. A few moments later she again tried to go at the nail I asked her to only file/paint. This resulted in her not doing anything to my nails except a light file on each nail. Didn’t cut a cuticle or clean up any other nail despite me asking and encouraging her to do so multiple times. She simply rubbed lotion on my legs for 2 mins, barely removed the dry skin from my heels, and then painted the nails. The worst $36 I’ve ever spent at a nail salon.

Overall Cleanliness: the sterilized equipment in the pouches is the only thing fully clean here.

Quality: average to below average. It’s truly just hit or miss and mostly a miss. I’ve had probably two good manicures that I’ve gone home with that I liked and are well done. Aside from that, little attention to detail. Of note - They never let your gel soak long enough to remove the polish without removing about 1/2 the thickness of your nail by scraping it off.

Overall vibe: when it’s busy in here, it’s not a relaxing environment at all. Often the main woman is loudly talking/shouting at people or talking on the phone. Today it was quiet but I generally come out thinking that was more stressful...

I have been here a couple times since it’s in my neighborhood and has decent online reviews. However, my recent experience was horrible. I had gel mani and regular pedicure. The guy cut my big toe and was bleeding, did not even apologize. Gel manicure is supposed to last 2 weeks at the very least. My thumb already chipped a couple hours after. Mind you, the thumb. I came back and the same guy fixed it. He removed the entire polish and redo everything for that one nail. Fast forward 3 days, I noticed my left index, non dominant hand, started chirping. The day after it was the right index. So the next day I called and asked how long should I expect your gel mani to last. Staff on the phone said 2 weeks. I voiced my concern and told me to come by they will fix it. So I went there. The woman said maybe I used my hands too much. Girl, my mani could last for a month without chipping if not for the growth i’m not gonna redo it. Now here comes the “fix”. My nails all chipped and cracked and you know what she did? Wiped with alcohol, applied a layer of the polish, another layer of top coat, then left me with the light, went to another customer and never checked on me again. I just sat there until I got tired and asked if I could leave then. I did not take photos of the before and not sure if this captures the cracks that still exist coz got an old phone. And oh, some nails have bubbles or whatever that impurities trapped between layers...

I visited this nail salon on off hours (during the day) and received lovely service. Maybe it’s just a NYC thing, but I made an appointment for 5:15 pm online on a week day, and it was quite a bad experience. I waited 45 minutes to be seen and then was essentially punished for not having told them I had other polish on my hands. No one asked when I came in because they were so busy, and they just told me to sit down. The manager specifically was (and I don’t say this lightly) mean and condescending to me, someone who was paying for her services. I kept flinching because she was using a device I had not seen before and it hurt. She told me, very sharply, to stop moving and that she wasn’t going to hurt me (even though she did). The entire time she acted like she resented me for being there, as if it was my fault they were overbooked! I’ve never seen such a thing in my life. I, for one, go to the nail salon to relax and take care of myself, not to be demeaned and frankly disrespected. I would like to give them another chance one day since I live in the area, but for now I will be staying away. I hope this offers some constructive feedback to you in how you treat your customers...