I try to visit all the spas in New York City especially if the ratings are high. So I then decided to pay a visit to Ascend in November 2010 since it had great reviews. First things I want to mention is that I always look for in a spas is the License of New York City stating what the workers are allow to do. It should always be in a building period, since it is the code of law. So when I visited Ascend Spa none of the licenses were in the room where the estheticians, the therapist or even the nail technicians perform. Trust me it wasn’t even in the front of the reception area. Then I asked one of the lady that was doing my nails if she had her license with her and she replied no she doesn’t have one. Second I had a massage with a lady name Sharon, she was overall nice but hey common, I came here to relax, not to hear this woman chatter throughout the whole massage. I also notice that on the massage tables they have 3 towels which is very confusing to the eye on how to drape yourself. The therapist do not know how to drape you in the professional way, instead I felt exposed. Besides that she was using a lotion that comes out from a plastic container that has a screw on lid. In my head I’m thinking how gross can that be, I wonder how many times she dipped her fingers into the container, and how many people’s residue I have on me. You should always you a pump for safety issues to help from spreading viruses or any other harmful diseases. After the massage I was getting dressed in the room where they had these white sliding doors with no locks and you can actually hear and see the other person in the other room in between the cracks of the doors and from the glimpse of my eye I saw another therapist just flipped the towels on the table after being used from a client before. I really think that this Spa does not know how important it is that people are coming to your center to feel clean and rejuvenated. Instead you are using leftover cream, dirty towels, the nail sanitizer box with the lamp is either out or broken where you keep all the tools( meaning it is not killing any bacteria.) I also have to state that when I was also drying my nails I saw Carmen the esthetician who did my facial after my massage, I saw her use a towel and to clean something off the sink and rinse the towel off without any soap then placing into the bowl that she uses for her facial. How did I know, lets just say I completed the spa package so I gotten a facial before my partner was in the room getting a facial by Carmen at the time I saw the towel incident. Then at the end of the services I had to pay up front with a lady name Tara, she was overall rude not client center and she charged me more than my service was. I don’t even think it was a mistake since the money was never refund. Overall this spa is a discrimination, it shouldn’t even be open due to lack of professionalism, cleanliness, and client center.
more