Aura spa - U Street — Local services in Washington

I went in to Aura Spa for a massage. The actual service was OK - no particular complaints except perhaps better time management on the masseuse's part. The spa, however, seriously deteriorated my perception of the service and spa. As a first timer at this gym/spa, it wasn't clear where the spa was located within the building. The gym's front desk staff eventually attended to me to direct me to the spa. I entered an empty "waiting area," two chairs and a water cooler. I served myself some water and looked around, trying to find an attendant or some indication where to receive my service or check in. I walked back out to the gym again to make sure that I didn't need to check in anywhere since, after nearly 10 minutes, nobody had addressed me. Some gym/spa staff did enter and exit the spa, but none addressed me and I couldn't catch their attention when I tried. The gym cashier assured me that I was in fact in the right area. I went back into the spa and walked around a bit, inadvertently entering the sauna area, then decided to stay put and wait for the masseuse. She arrived about 5 minutes after the service was scheduled, even though they request that you arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled service time. The massage room was cold and damp, as some of the spa rooms are in the basement. There are LED plastic rope lights, which provides a very glaring, bright light, even with the other ambient lights turned off. The masseuse did offer a towel to cover my eyes so that the bright neon glow didn't disturb me. The ambient sound system wasn't working, so the massuese put on a Spotify playlist of relaxation music, then put her phone in a glass cup to amplify the music. I appreciated her improvisation, but it didn't quiet work to drown out the noise from the attached gym and hallway conversations. Otherwise, the massage went on without event. No warmed blankets, candles, or aromatherapy - but again, it's a spa in a gym, so I didn't know what to expect. When checking out, I had to pay, even though the massage was a gift and the gift giver's credit card was provided and charged on the online booking system. The 60 minute massage cost $110. When I reported my so-so experience to the gift giver, he contacted the spa to provide feedback about the service and ensure that he wouldn't be double charged, after the online payment and my in person payment. The spa manager was defensive and unhelpful. Even worse, she said that I had lied to the gift giver, that spa staff responded to me "literally 2 minutes after arriving" and that the spa does not have neon lights. OK - so I googled the name of the lights: correct, they are not neon, they are LED rope lights, ya know, the kind that junior high schoolers might use to wrap around their bunk beds. And sure, gym staff did respond to me within 2 minutes, when I left the spa and went up to the service desks.

All in all: It's a spa in a gym. it smells like a gym. It feels like a basement. The service is poor. Definitely not...

Have been going here consistently for 3 years. Michael, Ian, and Jazlyn are all amazing! I have had hit-and-miss experiences with some of the other practitioners, including one being somewhat rude when I asked for a specific massage technique (to use fingers to work out knots instead of elbows - ouch). I think part of the problem is that you can’t book a specific type of massage the way you do at other massage place (eg, Swedish, deep tissue, trigger point, etc), so you’re not really sure what you’re going to get until you try that provider (which might be a waste of money if you don’t like their therapeutic approach).

The real downfall of Aura though is the scheduling. The app/website is buggy, often requiring multiple password resets just to get into it… it’s also just a long list of massage time offerings making it annoying to weed through. You also can NEVER reach anyone by phone, so if you need to make an appointment change or get any other kind of information, it is impossible. Since the manager changed a few weeks ago, I haven’t been able to get email responses either. I will also echo another reviewer that it is impossible to tell how many massages you have used/have left if you buy a package unless you go back and count, keep track yourself, or ask every time you go. The admin challenges really detract from the calming/relaxing experience that a...

Excellent spa located within a gym. Easily accessible. Clean, good spa-like vibes and fully professional team. They do a good job of sending reminder and check-in texts. I would also like to recommend Jenna, specifically. Came to her with severe knots in my back built up over a long period. I went to her once and she spent 75 minutes focused on one area of my back (per my request). The knots were so bad I came back two weeks later to Jenna. She did not disappoint but my back was so bad I needed to come back for a third session two days later. Three sessions in three weeks is a testament to her amazing skill. She was able to successfully make the biggest difference after trying several other remedies. Can't say enough...