Soothe Zen Spa （舒舍） — Local services in New York

My friend & I (like many others) came to this spa after seeing it on tiktok. The day before our appointment we decided to look up reviews and saw that several new, negative reviews had been posted. I hope this review will help everyone else in making their decision.

We booked a 60 minute body massage & the scalp treatment. We came to the spa Sunday afternoon on Chinese New Year. They were not crowded at all and took us right at 1PM for our appointment.

We first did our massage. It seems like the two people they have to do the massages are only men. If I would have known this ahead of time (my mistake for not asking) I wouldn’t have booked the massage as I am just not as comfortable with a man. However, the massage was completely professional and after a few minutes my initial uncomfortable feeling went away. The massage was incredibly painful to say the least. They do very traditional Asian style massages that are hard, rough and not relaxing at all. My entire body was moving during the massage from the force being used. My friend and I both did state several times that we wanted light pressure but it went in one ear and out the other. There were a few moments of the massage that felt good but overall it was painful and not enjoyable. It’s been a few hours and I already have a bruise on my back. Both my friend and I are incredibly sore. If you are not interested in this style of massage, I would advise booking another spa. There is also no spa music playing and you can hear the person at the front desk and anyone who walks in or by. That didn’t bother me too much, especially for the price but this was not the relaxing massage we were hoping for.

The scalp treatment was great. It was very relaxing and included some light facial treatments as well. This treatment was done by a female with a much lighter touch but still very firm. You should still expect to experience some pain with this treatment but nothing like the body massage. They start out by steaming hour scalp while performing a hand and arm massage. My friend was never given the hand and arm massage but I was. Everything else you see in the tiktok is also performed. Keep in mind there is also no spa music playing and you can hear everyone in the hallway. Someone also entered our rooms during the treatment. The girl in the tiktok walked out with her hair nicely dried which I am assuming is due to the texture of her hair. I knew that my hair wouldn’t look like a blowout from a rough dry and that was ok with me (same for my friend). However, the women left both of our hair still very wet. When the treatment was over I used the blow dryer myself quickly to try and dry my hair a little better. That’s not really a huge deal to me but I would’ve appreciated it if she dried my hair a little more especially since it’s January.

Payment is cash only which we knew before going. The price you see is the price you pay. There’s no tax. They do however tell you what the “mandatory” tip is which for us was 25% per service. This wasn’t an issue for us as we planned to tip that regardless. It is awkward and very unprofessional though to have the front desk staff tell you what you “have” to tip. Keep in mind there are no policies stated anywhere on tipping and you don’t sign anything so really you can tip as you wish. The women who did our scalp treatments were hovering around us, waiting for their tip. I’m sure it would’ve been the same with the men who did our massages but they were in the process of massaging other people. This isn’t a deal breaker for us but like I said it’s uncomfortable and unprofessional. If they are going to require you to tip a certain percentage, that needs to be presented to clients and agreed upon before the service. Otherwise they just need to raise their prices.

We would go back for the scalp treatment as if was different, relaxing and priced right. We would never go back for the massages unless they implement different styles and women masseuses as they just usually have a more gentle touch. The...

I would not recommend this place to anyone nor will I be back. The service is mediocre and the front desk is a scam. Many of the employees don’t speak much English which I don’t mind at all until it is used to lie or be shady. I paid for a service that I did not receive based on a chart that was written out falsely, although there are no timers for any of the services. I came here for my birthday and called ahead to confirm what I wanted. I told them I was running late for my 11am and would be in closer to 12pm which they said was fine. I arrived to the mall at 11:44am. When I got there I needed to stop at the atm to get cash, this took about 10 minutes because there was a line and I had to do 2 transactions. When I arrived at the spa they didn’t have someone ready so I went to the restroom while they found someone, another 8 or so minutes. I then got my services which were fine not great but not bad. I got a back detox followed by a massage and a scalp treatment. I kept getting phone calls for my birthday so it took me a while to get ready/undressed so another 5-10 mins between each service. Originally I asked for a 90 minute massage and foot reflexology but when I got into the room and realized how long I’d be there I asked for it to be shorter. The guy asked if I was getting 90 minutes and I said no I want to do 60 and feet, he said “okay 60 and not 90 correct?” I agreed and we started. The front desk person came in to let him know I also had feet or so she says and they had a few minutes exchange and I got my 60 minute massage and feet there was no timer and it felt quick but I didn’t mind, I spent another 10 minutes in the restroom and getting undressed for my final service. As the final was scalp and I have curly hair, I needed time to not only get dressed but to fix my hair before leaving and I took about 10-15 minutes in the room. I got to the front desk at 3:35pm to pay. I started my services around 12pm maybe a few minutes after, so 3.5 hours total. When I got to the front I was told I got a 90 minute massage and 30 mins foot which I was very surprised to hear since I was only in the room for 90 mins max not counting changing. I let the front desk know that I did not and she said she checked with the guy and he said he gave me 90 mins which was a lie and when I mentioned what I told him she said “did he understand you?” YES, YES HE DID bc he gave me a quicker rushed massage. I was done with all of my services in 3.5 hours even With all the restroom breaks, getting dressed and undressed in between services in different parts of the spa and waiting for the services to begin although my total time should have been 4 hours not including any of those delays. The front desk told me they wrote everything down lol as if that was law and they had me down as starting my treatments at 11:45am for my first 1 hour treatment, and that my massage ended at 2:45pm making it 2 hours and then my last treatment should have ended at 3:45pm. So even by there explanation the timing didn’t add up as I still would have been out of the room closer to 4pm. They insisted and instead of getting nasty I paid for the service that I did not receive and then was asked about tips for the 3 services, which I also paid. The service here is lackluster and shady. I will not be back and as someone who gets massages regularly I am asked where I go and I would not recommend this place to anyone looking. I also have time stamps for all of my services because I was on my phone in between services and...

We did the couple massage package. I booked an appointment online via the website on Google for a Sunday time, and I called in to confirm as well the day before just in case because weekends tend to be busy for everything. There was definitely a language barrier because upon arrival with my s/o, we found out that they had us down for “cupping”. When I KNOW I emphasized “couple massage package for the 3.5 hours” several times on the phone. So I felt the frustration that was about to happen at that moment because they had limited workers prepared and seemed busy. I feel like that was our cue that we should’ve just left at that point but obviously we did not. We started with the 1 hr massage, it was emphasized that it would be a “couple room” for us two exclusively, but it was two separate rooms and it was considered the “same room” because there was a sliding door between us that was open…(this was the idea for our hair/head massage too) lol despite that, it was not a peaceful massage because we were in the first two rooms that was closest to the front desk, where the left the business front door wide open, where you can hear everyone’s business and loud ass voices. Despite us clarifying the package and what could be expected, the front lady did not communicate well with my masseuse either, so they were having a disagreement pretty loud in front of us because my masseuse apparently was giving me extra massage services that was not included in the package lol. The ear treatment portion was replaced with an hour foot massage because the designated person that professionally does it was not there that day, which was fine, but just not peaceful because again, there was a lot of noise (the foot massage area was located behind the front desk). Our facials were delayed because the designated people were busy with other customers but it was sort’ve nice because we were able to actually share a room with the bed next to each other in a small space. We did our head/hair treatment after and it was sooo much more peaceful and quieter because we went to the rooms in the back BUT it felt so rushed because the front lady would come in and ask how much longer will our masseuses would take. So overall, yes $500 got us a lot of stuff done for two people compared to other luxurious places but you pay for what you get; the small space, the noise, chaos, mistranslations, the potential rush which did not allow the greatest experience :/

Additionally, you must tip $15-$20/per hour. In our case, each massage/treatment was handled by another masseuse, so we had to tip about 5 people different people which was an additional payment on top… so I don’t think it’s worth it to do a couple package here because I’d like to have my massages done peacefully. My boyfriend had a masseuse that was constantly talking to him throughout the massages so he didn’t feel relaxed either lol, he was pretty bruised up from the massages too. We will probably not be returning unless we’re both so tired that even a tornado can’t wake us up. I think there’s a lot of stuff that could be...