Review: Elmwood Spa

And here it is, our first spa review!

Spa: Elmwood Spa “Canada’s Favourite Urban Oasis”

Address: 18 Elm Street

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1G7
(East of Bay Street, South of Gerrard Street)

Website: http://www.elmwoodspa.com/

E-mail: spa@elmwoodspa.com

Phone Number: 416-977-6751

Toll-Free: 1-877-284-6348
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/elmwoodspa
Twitter: @elmwoodspa

Hours of Operation:

Monday to Thursday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday 10:30 am – 6:30 pm

Parking:  Close street, hotel, and underground parking – however, it IS located downtown, and parking is expensive. We took the subway (5 minute walk from Dundas station).

Service Received: 50 Minute Swedish Massage performed by a RMT.

Price of Service: $111.00 including HST (pricier than a massage in a clinic).

Cleanliness: Excellent. No complaints here.

Fun and Free Extras: Water therapy (a fancy name for a coed hot tub, pool, and sauna area – still amazing...and complimentary with any service over $99.00). There is also a female-only hot tub and sauna in the women’s change room – I’m assuming there’s one in the men’s too! Plastic bags and a bathing suit dryer are there for your wet bathing suit. That said, DON’T FORGET TO BRING A BATHING SUIT! Lockers, and amazing rain shower head showers as well!

Body Care: Fluffy Robes and Flip Flops, Elm Line Lotion & Shower gel, Disposable Razors and shaving cream, Fruit Infused Water and Tea, q-tips.

Hair Care: Salon grade (AG) shampoo and conditioner, blow dryer, curling iron, straightener, hair gel, hair spray.

      

For a little more LOL, nearby:

• Eaton Centre
• Queen Street shopping
• The spa has its own juice bar and restaurant (unfortunately we didn’t get to try these this time around)

The Review:

This swanky spa is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, just around the corner from the Eaton Centre. Its relaxing atmosphere, friendly concierge, and overall proximity to T’s condo made it an easy first choice to kick off this blog.

Both of us decided to go for the same service…our benefits were ending in December…so we figured, why not? A 50 minute Swedish massage was booked almost immediately.

However, since we booked our services separately we worried about their ability to accommodate us, at the same time, on the same floor. They originally booked both of us on separate floors so they could accommodate our time request. I was placed with a male RMT (This idea didn’t fly very well – I always just feel more comfortable with a girl, and plus, there was no way of finding out if he was hot first. How does one even ask that question?). By the time they made the confirmation call (3 days before), they had switched me to a female! (sigh of relief) And even upon arrival to the spa, they quickly switched T to the same floor as I was on, so we could enjoy our day at the spa! This won me MAJOR points with Elmwood.

T and I got there nice and early so we could take FULL advantage of the Water Therapies. Again, just a fancy name for sauna, pool, and hot tub – but free none the less...and AMAZING! What was more amazing, was their pile of disposable razors and shaving cream to clean up any problem areas before the pool or massage. If you are anything like me – this is a GEM of a find.

My massage was great – not amazing, but still GREAT! My RMT was a burly woman who did not shy away from working my tense muscles. It was fantastic. She constantly checked in to see how I was doing, if the pressure was okay, and NEVER had dry hands. Again – fantastic. And at the end of the massage, she asked if she could get me a tea! I, of course, said yes. Double fantastic.

Okay, so with everything fantastic…there must be a few downfalls. Here they are:

1. My only complaint from the massage was that she spoke to me...during the massage. I’m not sure where I stand on this yet, but currently, I feel that if I am going to relax – I’m not interested in making small talk. Rude? Maybe, but that’s how I feel.

2. When it came time to pay, the computers weren’t working and both T and I couldn’t get our receipts for our benefits. Upon asking how long it would take – they told us 3 – 5 BUSINESS DAYS. 3-5 business days to E-MAIL a receipt? REALLY!? I’m a working girl, yes, but I don’t have $111.00 just floating around on my VISA that I can sit 3-5 business days waiting for an e-mail to then wait another week for my reimbursement cheque. BOO!

 Overall, would I go back? Absolutely. Worth the money? Yes, given that you get an insurance receipt! I’d love to try some of the other services offered.

RATING: 3.5/4  

That's all for now! We'll be back soon with your next spa review!

Your Ladies of Leisure,

UPDATE: January 8th, 2013: Unfortunately, C and I have since decided to remove one half flower from Elmwood Spa... and here's the scoop on why!

As we mentioned, the receptionist said that we would have to wait 3-5 business days to get our massage receipts...okay, not that happy about it, but whatever. 3-5 business days later...nothing. 10 business days later? Still nothing. I mean, I know the holidays came up and all, but we visited Elmwood on December 16th! C then called Elmwood twice trying to get our receipts...and she wasn't able to. Finally, I sent Elmwood a fairly unhappy email on January 4th, 2013 because we STILL had not received our insurance receipts!! Really, really not okay.

I explained in my email why I was unhappy, that we were supposed to get our receipts within 3-5 business days...and it was now weeks later! I also talked about how Elmwood is one of my favourite places to go, and how I had been excited to take C there for our first blog review! And now...kind of soured. Not so excited anymore.

Response? Well, we got our receipts within hours of my email. Yes, I'm happy with the quick response...but in that email? Not even a single apology about the wait time!

 "Good day,

Please find attached your massage receipt as per your request.

Thank you for your patience. If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please kindly confirm you have received this receipt.

Have a great day."

Rude. Well, okay then Elmwood. I see how it is. Since we did like our actual services quite a bit, we're not removing a full flower.

RATING: 3/4 

Enjoy your day fellow Ladies of Leisure!