Haile Village Spa & Salon

Great experience with a very friendly and professional staff. Walked out feeling like I was floating! Much needed and appreciated. Thank you

New to the area. Read some «so-​so» reviews on here. Made appointment with Rhea and I’m so GLAD I did! Great customer service from check in to check out. Rhea Took the time to listen to me. I’m not high maintenance, and wasn’t quite sure exactly what I wanted… But not quite ready to say «surprise me.» My before and after photos are stunning. I am so happy with the cut and style with color and highlights that I received. My grow-​out line will be minimal and will be a wonderful low maintenance cup for me. Thank you so much! I highly recommend the salon! A little pricey, but nothing more than expected for a salon of this caliber in this area.

I don’t often write reviews, but I just have to rave about this salon! The ambiance and service are amazing, and Russell is incredible.
I was looking for a great stylist in Gainesville several years ago when I wanted to get highlights and chose him based on his reviews. I haven’t seen anyone but him since! He’s been at Haile Village Spa & Salon for a couple years now, and I couldn’t be happier with the location. I’ve never had anything but a wonderful experience there.

Never a Dull Hairstyle! I literally trust Russell so much that I say «Make it work!» And he never disappoints me. Perfectionist is a term well deserved in this profession, and Russell has it.
The Haile team is ALL focused on service and making a stress free pleasurable «hairapy session». Thank you!

I recently visited Gainesville to have a spa day with a girl friend and Haile Village was the recommended business to get the job done. While my friend recieved a massage, she booked Emily for my facial treatment, whom she swore was «glorious» in the past.
Emily was my specialist for an acne facial and I was incredibly surprised with the amazing results. She was kind and courteous and answered all my tedious skin care questions. While I’ve had good facials in Tampa, it’s worth the drive to personally have Emily conduct my facials for the same price.
Next spa day, I know where I’m going.

Definitely the worst hair experience of my life, so bad that the woman scheduled to get her hair done after me saw my hair and cancelled her appointment and walked out. Another woman said «Not to make you feel worse, but it really is the worst hair cut mess I have ever seen». For context, I am extremely easy to please when it comes to hair in general and have never left a salon displeased before. When I arrived home my family and friends were appalled. One side of my hair was a full inch longer than the other, there were literally chunks cut out so jaggedly on the shorter side that it looked like a child had done it. I did take photos and will try to attach them here.
More than the obviously terrible cut, was the way that the salon handled the situation. Not that I plan to ever step foot into the place again, but I would have appreciated an apology, a follow-​up phone call, or at least an offer to pay to have it fixed somewhere else.
I have scheduled an appointment at another more reputable salon to have it fixed but they said that the only way to fix it is to cut it significantly shorter, which is quite upsetting since the only thing I asked was that my hair still fit back so that I can tie it back for work/​exercise.

When they first changed ownership (from Escape to Haile Village Spa), I was pulled in by the Groupons to give it a shot. I had two separate experiences that were not very good. The negative aspects involved scheduling issues and attitude at the front desk. I also hated the short robes that others have mentioned. The most important thing, however, was that once I got past that, the treatments were fabulous, I had a facial, massage and pedicure and I really loved the employees that did them.
I was drawn in again by another Groupon and frankly, my friend who had joined me on one of my previous bad experienced was surprised I was going back. But we had tried other places in between and the services still weren’t nearly as good. I was willing to deal with the negative here.
I was soooo pleasantly surprised to find that the management had changed. They got rid of the two people with attitudes and everyone there was so kind and apologetic about my previous experiences. Plus, the robes are longer! Once again, I received some amazing spa services. I think they are the best in town.
So if you went here shortly after they first opened and had a negative experience, I suggest you give it a try again. Things have changed for the better! If you haven’t tried it, then you definitely should!

Russell Owen Wells has been taking care of me for several years. He is a fantastic stylist, so I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that he is the only person who touches my hair. Russell has recently moved to Haile Village Spa and Salon, so I had my first appointment to get a trim there a few weeks ago.
When I got to the salon, Russell was finishing up his last client. Nicole, the Salon Manager, asked me if I wanted a drink and gave me a tour of the facilities. She was incredibly courteous and the spa was absolutely beautiful.
Overall, my experience was very enjoyable. I look forward to going back next month!
If you are looking for a stylist who gives you lots of personal attention and works very hard to ensure that your cut and color are right for you, definitely check Russell out. He is incredibly thoughtful and talented!

I also purchased a Groupon (his and hers massages and facial/​back «facial»). My boyfriend lives out of town and the receptionist was very helpful to schedule treatment times late on a Sunday afternoon to accommodate my Valentine’s surprise.
Warning: don’t read these reviews RIGHT before you go in. I did, and it nearly ruined my experience anticipating something terrible. Also, don’t use their Unilocal listed address for directions as the street number is not 520. But if you’re familiar with the Village, it is easy to find.
I agree with one thing mentioned in an earlier review: the robe is SHORT! I had a choice of super short or gargantuan. I went kimono style with the latter. Compared to other spas, the dressing room was a little small, and I didn’t see any water for the K Cup in the waiting room. But that’s where the bad things end.
My boyfriend and I each enjoyed our treatments. They were timed well, and both Gina and Carl were very accommodating (I’m rocking an air cast). As I’ve never had a hot stone treatment, I would have enjoyed an explanation but maybe there’s a «limited talking» policy. Carl was super fast to react when stones were too warm, or slipped. Due to the cast, my hips have been sore but not since massage!
Gina was very sweet and soothing. Also, not a lot of talking but she addressed the dry skin I complained about and there’s a noticeable difference within 2 days.
I’ll let my boyfriend add his own review, should he choose too, but after our treatments I shared the earlier reviews with him and he agreed that our experience was definitely higher than a 1 star. For the price (with Groupon), we definitely approve!

I purchased a $ 140 groupon for a massage, facial, and mani/​pedi. I was so excited but the entire experience turned out to be a huge MESS. The front desk girl was rude and rushed me into the changing room, rushing through the locker combination thing and tossed a gigantic robe at me after i asked for a longer one (im 5’4 and pretty petite, but their robes were soo short, barely covered my butt! and honestly janky). This is not the way you want to start your day of relaxation. Also, no intake form… dont you want to know if I’m allergic to something?
Though my massage and facial were not bad (the facial was actually great, the French woman is really good and super sweet, forgot her name), however, the mani/​pedi was absolutely abominable and it ruined my entire day. My nails were super uneven, and there was a huge space between my cuticle and the paint. It looked like my manicure was like 2 weeks old and I literally just got it? Awful. It also took over an hour. She was definitely new at this, nervous, and NOT great. Surprisingly, the pedicure was 10x worse. She barely buffed my feet (there was still dead skin like hanging off, gross) and each of my toenails was a different length. Then she scrubbed the hell out of my legs with some crappy salt scrub –so painful! who does that? youre supposed to lightly graze the skin. it turned my skin raw and bright red. and it burned like hell. this definitely could have been because i shaved a couple days previous, but with this kind of vigorous motion with salt pellets, anyone would be raw. at this point i couldnt stand it anymore and decided to leave.
i thought the front desk would be helpful, after i asked them what they could do they tried to charge me for the upgraded nail polish i got. even though my groupon included a pedicure i didnt get. the two front desk people talked amongst themselves (in front of me) about rescheduling. i waited until the pedicurist left and frankly told them that i would not be back, that this was not a good experience and that i did not see it getting better even if my legs were raw and burning. i was near tears honestly, i was so disappointed in the day. to this they answered «good.» How about graciously apologizing and trying to fix the situation rather than trying to blame this on groupon? or trying to charge me? wtf?! they are obviously not interested in keeping customers.
And seriously, either train your staff or keep your junior employees away from customers. bottom line: HORRIBLE, NOT worth it, put your money elsewhere. SERIOUSLY!
UPDATE: In regards to that defensive response, theory and practice are two very different things. The issues that were addressed are completely irrelevant, e.g. I was NOT given intake forms, i was NOT offered a beverage and was rushed, the half-​done, crappy pedicure you yourself described as «everything was done besides the polish” – there was no shaping or buffing left, and regardless of the time a spa-​pedicure takes, it usually doesnt involve getting left in an empty room while your pedicurist goes and chats with other staff, wherein you can hear every word. so incredibly unprofessional. I am not one to complain about these things, sometimes you have to chalk it up to a crappy salon, but the way i was treated here, it has to be said.