Avalon Day Spa — Local services in Spring Valley

I feel like I’m not the only one leaving the specific points of feedback that I’m about to make, but I believe in giving honest feedback on ways small businesses like this can improve.

We came to this location after booking a Groupon for a 60 Minute Couple’s massage. The voucher was discounted more than usual due to a sale, and seeing the many positive reviews on Groupon, I decided to roll the dice.

For the price, I got a good Thai massage, but this is not at all like seeing a professional massage therapist, so bear that in mind. My girlfriend, who is accustomed to these did not enjoy her experience. She said she felt worse after.

The front desk service is really good. The girl who hosted us did an excellent job of explaining what we needed to do, and gave us a grace period for being a tad late. This was after I’d requested a change to my appointment the night before via text, and was graciously moved on short notice. That said, the intake forms leave something to be desired. Maybe some descriptions of what to expect when specifying how hard you want the massage to be would be good. It also seemed like this form was not fully taken into consideration. My girlfriend’s neck injury was indicated on the intake form, but not really paid any mind to.

The location is sketchy. I think they did a decent job with the interior, but wow the parking lot. Just not a good first impression. You guys probably need to hire someone to clean your parking lot regularly. See photos.

Expectation setting was inconsistent. Again, the front desk lady did a good job. The two therapists that came into the room did not introduce themselves, did not ask questions before starting, and didn’t ask many during either. It would probably be good to start off reviewing the intake form with the clients and set some general expectations for the experience instead of just jumping right into it.

The experience was very mixed in this case. As previously stated, my girlfriend is used to getting professional massages and did not enjoy this experience at all. The table was very hard. Pillows were not supportive, caused her neck to hurt (“Being pushed into the table like that was choking me. It didn’t feel like a massage, i was just being pushed into the table the whole time.”)

Also, she had a male masseuse and therefore would not be able to feasibly get the same experience as me, a 5’11” male with a smaller female masseuse. She literally climbed on top of me as one would expect from a Thai massage in order to pull my joints and get a deeper massage.

TLDR; couples massage: She did not get a good Thai massage, and also didn’t know what to even expect because no one really spoke with her first. He had gotten them before and had a good therapist and therefore a different experience. Front desk is accommodating. And is really the star of the show. Therapists aren’t bad, but could be a lot better and more consistent. Location needs tidying and could be cleaner inside as well...

Only giving 1 star to leave a review. I called in to ask about their schedule to make sure I could get a couples massage scheduled for my cousin and I while visiting. They were wide open everyday ! Should of known then it was a terrible idea. The receptionist said not to buy the groupon and they would honor it in the spa. It was in a weird location, bit didn't look unclean or anything. Our therapists did not speak English and I'm pretty sure didn't understand anything we said to them. We bith requested deep tissue, I was asked 1 time if pressure needed adjusted I asked for a little more and nothing changed, while we are face down they are chatting away and giggling in their language, squirted tons of oil straight onto my back-not relaxing at all- therapist had long nails scratching me, and terrible breath. While face down they leave the room completely , leaving the door wide open and us clueless to what is going on!?they vome back with hot stones which felt ok but my therapist kept hitting them together and being too rough with them on my scalp, stones on scalp is not relaxing. Shiatus (the hitting with the fists) was done and definitely not the right way or even asked for. Feet were completely skipped over, no oil on my arms and hand ??they were dipping out of the same jar of oil! That is disgusting!I didnt have it in me to ruin the session for my cousin so I just beared thru it hoping it would get less weird. I myself am obviously a Massage Therapist and almost everything they did was so odd to me. I had my hair in a pony tail and pins too, she "massaged" my scalp and just ripped them all out..she tried to crack my neck but I told her no finally, totally out of her scope of practice, she ended the massage with shiatsu on the legs, as someone who was walking the strip allday I would have loved my legs to actually be massaged not slapped carelessly and half ass stretched, lastly she picks both feet up and high as Id let her--very confusing when you have no instructions as to whats going on-- and then she just drops them??? They leave the room without saying anything that was the end. My therapist waited WITH HER HAND OUT at the desk for Im guessing her tip, I asked her how long she has been doing massage and she just said yes and giggled? The receptionist replied with " i think theyve both been doing it a year, how will you be paying your tip?" I told her I was covering my tip and both massages on my card, she said they preferred cash and I told her that was all I had, I could not bring myself not to tip the woman since it was such a cheap deal for the massages there is no way she makes a fair wage and could of been the whole reason for her being so careless , maybe a bad day, no idea, weirdest/worst experience EVER. I hope no first time massage client goes here and thinks this place is legit. I hope they get with...

I initially gave this place a great review as I’ve had multiple great experiences there however yesterday was really the worst experience I’ve ever had in all my years of getting massages and it has tainted my views on getting massages ever again. I expressed to the lady at the front desk (who was very lovely and is always lovely) that I wanted someone who would go deep as people always look at my small frame and don’t apply enough pressure. My boyfriend and I entered the room and a man approached me and a woman approached him. The woman said hello to him while the man did not acknowledge me at all. He proceeded to throw the towel on the stool which missed and landed on the floor, after telling him it fell on the floor he again didn’t acknowledge me(even though he understood English as he spoke once during the massage)and proceed to to put the towel from the floor on my head and started the massage. During the massage it felt like he didn’t want to be there and like an inexperienced person was simply rubbing my body, he lowered the sheets and proceeded to spray/squirt the oil STRAIGHT FROM THE BOTTLE on my back as if he was about to cook fried rice, he did this twice and my back felt oily and nasty. His pressure was the softest I ever felt and he was constantly on my spine. I asked him to increase the pressure and he did nothing so I asked him to end the massage. He stormed out angrily and another masseuse came in and finished the job. She still applied pressure to my spine which was weird and no attention was given to my neck which I specifically asked for. She also proceeded to massage my legs though we only requested upper body and when I told her I was sore from the gym, she slapped them at the end and said “hope you come back”. I woke up this morning and my spine is still hurting, If it continues, more action will have to be taken. I really liked this place and even recommended it to people but now I’ll...