Spa Kyoto — Local services in Village of Four Seasons

I should have known from the initial booking phone call that this would be a lackluster experience (caller seemed confused/new to the position). Upon arrival, we were greeted and given a menu to choose an entree from. Several of the items were crossed off which looked very unprofessional, and there was not a variety of items to choose from. We were then escorted to the area of the coed whirlpool, and we were hurriedly told what areas my husband and I could access. We had never been to this spa, and would have appreciated more of an explanation, other than just pointing from a stationary spot. We didn't get a true handle on what we had available to us. We got undressed in our respective bathrooms and met back at the whirlpool. We had no clue what we really could access, so we sat in the meditation room until our massage time. There was a pool she pointed out, but we peeked outside and it looked deserted...there was nobody (clients/staff) outside, and it appeared the door was locked, and we weren't sure if we could get back in. So we returned inside. We got bored in the meditation room, so we continued to the area behind the reception desk, and sat down for some water and fruit. I accidentally bumped the table and several fruit flies flew around that were on the artificial flower arrangement (right next to the orange slices). We were called in for our massage, but first had a foot soak (which was literally a bowl of saltwater w/two drops of an essential oil blend). We were left to soak. After, we received our massages, which were supposed to be Swedish massages, but were more aesthetic...as they didn't provide any pressure/tissue massage. After the massage, we sat in the chairs we received the salt soak in, and were served our entree (not impressed) with a plastic-wrapped bowl of fruit, as well as wine in a plastic glass. We were not sure if we were supposed to stay there or leave, so we just left. The massage therapists were nice. Afterwards, we each went in our respective steam rooms and met back at the co-ed whirlpool. The facility is dated and there are missing tiles in a few areas of the whirlpool and steam room. When we left, we approached the front desk to pay for our massage. I presented a 10% off coupon (you can receive on the website if you sign up for their mailing list), and she shook her head and just handed me a charge slip I needed to sign, which INCLUDED a gratuity. I asked her about the coupon, and she looked at it, then stated she couldn't apply it because it was already a "package deal" (at NO place on the coupon does it state it cannot be used on a package). I still have no clue if it could have been used, but maybe she didn't feel like re-printing the charge slip?. We were never informed the gratuity was automatically added....not sure if this happens to everyone? Or just us? But I cannot recall anything stating there was an automatic gratuity. We would obviously have tipped well for our services, but as you're getting rushed through paying your bill, I don't know what percentage we were charged (it doesn't state on the receipt, either). I still have no clue if we were charged appropriately. Definitely a waste of $350+ dollars. We will not...

Sorely disappointed by my visit to this spa. Scheduled service was at 10:30am. By 10:50am, when I was still waiting to be called back for my service, I decided to let the front desk ladies know I was still waiting and asked that they maybe check to see what’s going on. I was told “not to worry, your service will still be the full duration, regardless of when it starts.” I waited patiently until about 11:10am when one of the front desk ladies finally told me that my massage therapist had actually not shown up for work that day. They asked if I could wait until 12:30pm for my service to begin, which I declined and said 11:30am would the latest I could wait. They assured me they could make it happen. By 11:45, when I was STILL waiting, I finally decided enough was enough. I cancelled my service appointment, got dressed and left facility.

Now I try to be as understanding as possible, because let’s face it, we are all human. However, I do think it’s in very poor taste to give a customer repeated false promises on things you can’t be certain of. I also think it’s in very poor taste to not have some sort of continuation control set up for circumstances like this. Having backup staff on call or in house is going to be instrumental in ensuring an event like this does not happen again.

Ultimately, I was a customer who had traveled from out of town to visit this spa. It was a day trip for me. Time and money went into even arriving at the front door of Spa Shiki. All to no avail.

The front desk ladies tried to smooth things over with a ton of apologies, free samples and a gift certificate. Unfortunately, I will not be returning to this Spa. Not until a plan of action is in place to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.

Customers beware. Even if your appointment was confirmed via phone call the night before, there are literally no guarantees that you’ll even be seen for your appointment when...

My mother and I visited Spa Shiki 2 years ago and received 5 star service. We returned again today with my sister in law, the massages were great... but the rest of the service was not near worth the price tag. We had time between or services so we wanted lunch, waited but no one came to help us. Then we went up to the desk and they said it would be an hour wait for $20 chicken wraps ... we didn’t want to wait an hour so we settled for a protein smoothie. The smoothies were tasty but not filling. The worst part was our pedicures. The lady that did my mother was extremely rude, telling her that her nails were brittle. UNPROFESSIONAL, especially to the person paying. The one helping me was digging her nails into my toes while over filing and the one helping my sister in law just stopped massaging her to wait for our ladies to catch up. When we previously visited we received warm, weighted wraps and music and the massages during our pedicures were extensive. We were highly disappointed with this service. We planned on tipping but reducing the tip for the service we did not enjoy, but the gratuity was INCLUDED at 15%. Gratuity is not a requirement and should be based on the service you received. We will be going elsewhere on our next visit...