Panda Massage — Local services in San Luis Obispo

UPDATE I was contacted immediately by the owner, Emma after my less than ideal massage experience. She was extremely apologetic, welcoming, and understanding. She offered me another massage, free of cost, to make up for my experience this week. I have not gotten the massage yet, but felt it was worth mentioning that this place has wonderful customer service and clearly takes their business seriously!

Previous Review Below

An OK massage place! Be prepared for noise, and to be essentially harassed for a tip at the end. I won’t be returning, but maybe you will!

I called to book a 90-minute deep tissue massage, however they did not ask my name or really even care to confirm my visit time, so I thought ok fine, I’ll just show up and hope for the best! Once I arrived I was kindly greeted, asked about my preferences and led into a nice, but somewhat “central” massage room.

I am VERY used to receiving massages, but somehow this whole operation seemed a little rushed. Once I was on the massage table, my masseuse was very kind, asking questions to ensure I was comfortable, and provided a very nice massage session.

However, these massage rooms are barely “rooms”, and you can hear every patron entering, leaving, paying, talking, and even the music from the neighboring restaurants in the shopping center.

My masseuse did his best to create a relaxing environment, utilizing a space heater and creating some white noise, but it was ultimately overshadowed by the staff having to speak from room-to-room to eachother mid-session, to ensure other patrons needs were being met.

That being said, it was a nice massage. I was relaxed and felt great, until it came time to check-out…

My 90-minute massage was fair, and cost $92, as advertised. Upon trying to leave a cash tip (I thought $10 would suffice) after paying by card. I was basically told that my tip amount was insufficient and that I would need to swipe my card again.

Feeling bad, I did, only for the masseuse to FILL OUT HIS OWN determined tip on the iPad—an extra $15. I was honestly so taken aback that I didn’t truly realize how violating it was until I left the building.

It made the whole experience feel very scam-like, and unfortunately I don't plan to return, but if anyone reading this does want to give Panda Massage a try, do NOT let yourself be conned into tipping more than you feel...

I've been there twice in the last week - first with Eva and then with Emma, A one hour full body each time. I was really pleasantly surprised that Eva was quite intuitive, not too singularly finger- trigger-painful, she used her forearms and was communicative; asking me if it was too soft or too firm and she adjusted. She focused on the areas where I asked her too. It wasn't a canned, methodical, somewhat painful massage that is typical of the Chinese style. Ok, there were moments that I cringed but as soon as I asked her to be more gentle, she was.

The next time, with Emma, she was a bit more rushed and going through the motions at the start, was interrupted 4 times, and it could've gone in the wrong direction. Traditional routine and out you go. But I was in real pain and I spoke up and she adjusted her pressure and focus and gave extra attention to the specific part of my body that I asked her too. While it was uncomfortable at times, I know my myofascial tissue loosened through it and she did definitely try to follow my lead and was kind and invested in my benefit. I will definitely go here again. Just be vocal with them about what you need out of...

Very affordable massage. I really like the good job they do. They tend to use a very deep pressure, but you can ask for softer. There are a lot of options. I've done the foot massage and the full body massage, details below: If you want to keep your clothes on, go for the foot massage (several options for how long). The foot massage starts out laying on your back with your feet soaking in warm water. You get a massage of other parts of your body while your feet soak. Then they dry and massage your feet and legs. Then you lay on your front and they massage your back too! Wear bottoms that you can roll up past your knees. If you like a more traditional massage where you take your clothes off, lay under a sheet and get massaged with oil, they have that too. Those massages are in private rooms. I particularly like how they put a towel over your hair so it doesn't get all oily and they use a hot towel to wipe your body down to get off excess oil. I can get a massage in the morning and not look/feel...