Spa de La Mer — Local services in New York

Resume: avoid this place, if you don’t want to spend big $ on poor customer experience.

UPD. Director contacted me and listened carefully to my issues. She offered partial refund. I hope my feedback will help to improve the experience.

I should’ve trusted bad Yelp rating. But I thought… since Baccarat is a great hotel and LaMer is a great beauty brand, how bad can it get?! Well, it can get extremely disappointing experience with a check of $1,600.

It was impossible to make a booking properly. I was directed to different agents every time I had a question and they could barely wrap their minds around being able to schedule multiple services for 2 people simultaneously. I made my appointment around 2-3 weeks prior and yet I got a wrong service, even though it was approved on the phone multiple times.

It was my bachelorette day right prior to the wedding and mom and I booked 3 services each. Unfortunately, on the day of our evening plan was rescheduled to 1 hour prior to original time. I called spa to change one of the services for shorter time to be able to get free earlier and make it to our evening event. The last service was facial and I wanted to make it 60 minutes instead of 90 and explained the situation and my occasion. You would expect people to understand, right? Nope, not the case. Moreover, if you have any respect and understanding of customer service, you would congratulate a person and offer some perk. Do you think I got any of that? Obviously not. It’s so unfair, especially taking into account such a big celebration as wedding and that we’re spending $1,600 even after service shortening. Well, I got told multiple times that it’s impossible and doesn’t correspond to their policy (which I totally understand, but expected some understanding of the situation) and only after I raised my voice a person agreed and said that she’s not going to continue conversation with me and abruptly finished the call.

I got really upset and didn’t feel well anymore to go to the services. I spent time to decompress and mom and I still went. All the services were average and 1 of them was that wrong massage that I mentioned.

Once services finished, we had to use changing rooms (extremely small ones, btw) to prepare ourselves. Well, during that times cleaning lady came and obviously showed multiple times that we’re not welcome to stay for longer. Additionally, I thought I do something wrong with the shower, since water was barely warm. I got told that it’s as warm as it gets. Such a luxurious experience to shiver in shower after your massages and facials!

I was given a business card of Spa Director. But… surprise surprise! She’s never in the office or available on the phone. And my favorite part is the manager, who answered the phone. She disrespects me and raises her voice every...

I came in for a spa on January 1st and could not be more excited. I had gotten a massage at the Baccarat hotel previously and was super excited to get a facial following my NYE festivities. Unfortunately, I will never be coming back as the level of service I received from everyone I interacted with was suboptimal.

I booked a 60-minute facial and only received a 45-minute treatment. When I asked the facialist why it had only been 45 minutes, she directly lied to me and told me that it was 60 minutes to which I had receipts to prove that it was not. The facial started at 4:45 and ended at 5:30.

I kindly spoke to the front desk worker and informed her of the situation, mentioning that I understand that I arrived at 4:30 due to heavy NYC traffic congestion, but upon arrival she had made me wait an additional 10 minutes as she was checking in other guests and making me sign a lengthy form and I was hoping she could find a way to make me feel better about the situation, especially given the $285 facial price point. In my opinion, she could have quickly led me to the facial room and we could have dealt with the form after the experience, but I clearly don’t make the rules. The front desk worker once again lied to me and told that an initial email went out that said that I have to arrive 15 minutes before the service (I checked my emails and of the two forms of communication I received, that fine print did not exist) and there is nothing she can do because the facialist had another client and had to get the room ready quickly. The facialist was standing in the doorway listening to our conversation until 6 PM.

Finally, I tried again with the Spa director after spending some time at the pool and looking to checkout and was told the same lie about the 15 minute prior arrival email and then she had the audacity to read out the bill to me where (without my consent) had added a 20% service charge given my negative experience. I was initially inclined to lower the tip to 10%, but given the holidays gave them the full amount and proceeded with my day.

Absolutely incredibly unappealing experience and while this has been my favorite spa in NYC for the past 5 years and I could not wait to come back, I was treated to a terrible experience to start off my year. The staff has an incredibly high ego and would not budge or accommodate me the slightest bit.

Thank you so much to everyone involved and to anyone looking to book a facial there, I’d highly recommend checking out any of the other wonderful spas in the surrounding area and not wasting your time on...

While the actual services I received were as expected, enjoyed and provided me the deep relaxation I was seeking, the experience was ruined upon checkout. No where on their booking website is there a disclaimer or note that states customers cards are charged a “pre authorized hold” of the full service you were booked for ! Lo and behold, I was only after I called to confirm my appointment the day before. When I was told as I was about to hang up the phone, I said well is this covering the charge for tomorrow ? I was told yes. When I was asked why I needed to be charged the day prior, I wasn’t given a straight answer Other than it needs to happen to hold my appointment ( which isn’t true as I originally booked the appointment weeks in advance, for my birthday ). Fast forward to my experience there. The actual services provided were decent. Slightly overpriced. The facility is small and underwhelming in relation to the coveted Baccarat Hotel. The steam room was dirty and smelled moldy. The actual massage rooms had the typical setting one would expect to promote a relaxing experience, however was missing an aromatherapy element. Upon checkout I only anticipated paying the gratuity but was left with a full bill, again ! Unacceptable customer service. When I explained to the receptionist that I cannot agree to be billed almost $800 a second time, she called her supervisor over the phone. I had to come to a resolution with staff to revisit this second payment once my alleged hold is returned. The funds were taken away from me completely without any written notice. I felt like I was treated like a criminal and this act of pre authorizing my card was a selective discriminatory one. I know other people who have been and didn’t have their cards charged the full amount prior to their service, then again after the service. The alleged pre hold was explained to me by the supervisor as a way to prove the individual has the funds to cover the services as anyone could leave a dummy card on file. What does that have to do with booking a service and paying for it after It was received ? When I asked for this rule to be given to me in print, I was told I could not be given this literature as it does Not exist. I just had to take their word for it. Never again. I’ve gotten spas around the world and never have I ever been treated this way. What a way to ruin someone’s birthday...