Koolau Nail Center

Always the best customer service and foot massage from Mari, Ann, and Heather! im always greeted with smiles and. warm and caring atmosphere. 2000% recommended

I made an appointment for today, I came in and I told them I made an appointment for 5pm and she asked me what I wanted to do, so I told her acrylic and she told me sorry, the lady who does it left… What’s the point of making an appointment, when you show up and they can’t do it?

Despite others’ poor reviews, this place is conveniently located for those in Koolau, and the women are polite and efficient. I had no complaints during my pedicure; they were polite, spoke pretty decent English, and were able to fit me in. They also didn’t speak other languages in front of me, which I appreciated. If you’re in need of a nail place or waxing services, I suggest you give them a try. :)

Heather is always ready to help me when I call. She gives very personal service and advice ! My toes are not easy to take care of, but she does a great job! Quiet, relaxing place!

I always come here for my mani and pedi. When they are busy and I’m limited on time and need to get it done, a few times I’ve went other places and ALWAYS regret! I’ve learned my lesson about taking chances at other place. Mari is awesome!!! Friendly, sweet and good at what she does. Owner is great with pedis and actually cares about customer satisfaction! I love going to Koolau Nails! I’m done going anywhere else! Even if I have to wait another day, I’ll wait for Mari. I’m done wasting my money at other nail salons. Koolau Nails is the best!

Sad that they don’t understand that we want a relaxing experience, not just the service. A worker was watching a soap opera (not in English) very loud from her cell phone during my pedi the same time the top 40 music was blasting in the room, I don’t know what was worse. And what happened to the massage in a pedi?

Have been getting my pedicure service there. I have no complaints. Service far exceeds the price charged. The owner is especially gracious. I especially appreciate the massage of my feet and calves. I return to Koolau Nail Center because they greet me, provide a decent pedicure and the massage is so good!

I have been going to this salon for 7 years. I am very particular about where I go and this place is great. The service is wonderful and the owner Hua and her daughter-​in-​law Mari are fantastic. I have always been treated politely and the service has been a-​one. Mari is excellent at doing nails. She has never done a less than perfect job. I will continue to go to Koolau Nails because of the fine service and the talent of the people who work there. Thank you Hua and Mari!

If I could give zero stars I would. BEWARE, and do not go here!
It used to be owned by a lovely couple named Paul and Cindy, but since since they left and changed owners several years back, it has gone downhill in such a bad bad way.
I stopped going for awhile, because the lady owner is very, very rude, !
Not kept up, their massage chairs breaking down, and so unsanitary and filthy!!!
I would notice residue dirt and hair still in the pedicure tub (Gross!!) and they have the oldest nail polish, nothing is up to date. Some of the technicians don’t even speak english, so you cant tell them what you like!
Since my favorite nail place by my work closed down, I thought I would give it a try again, since it is walking distance from my home.
The only good one their is the young girl Mari, which I always request, (and evidently everyone else) but when I would come the owner would always try to have the other girls do the work. It seemed like they never got work, and just sit around watching videos on their phone.
They used to play music and the TV to bide the time, but the owner is so cheap, she won’t pay for cable to have entertainment for the clients.
You will also notice if they are all busy and a walk-​in comes in, she will always say to them «only 10 minute wait, pick out a color» when you know you just sat down, and expect your full time!
One time, I had my hubby come in with me for a pedicure, and they finished him in 15 Minutes! So not worth the $ 35.
I also took a friend there, and she was unimpressed as well.
And there prices are a bit high.
Well the last time was the worst.
Mari was on vacation, so the owner had a friend come in to help. I had to ask her to rinse out the tub, it was still dirty. She started pulling at skin from my big toe, and it started to hurt. I told her, and she was rude, saying I had an ingrown nail she had to pull. And she pulled so hard, I screamed from her ripping it from the nail bed! I was so scared of her, I asked someone else to finish. My toe hurt for days. The owner blew it off by saying «But it wasn’t bleeding»…I was afraid to get some fungi infection from that. What I should have done, was get up and leave, never to come back again.
They don’t value their customers business, and by the lack of clients they have, they look like they are going out of business.
You are better off to drive a few miles more to the mall or any other nail place but this one. I wouldn’t even buy my worst enemy a gift certificate from here.
Horrible, dirty, outdated, expensive, terrible service and extremely rude!
Do not go here, you will thank me later.
Tip of the Day– Don’t set foot in this place.

I’ve been here a couple of times and it’s always been a little awkward, but they do good work most times. The first time I came in to get a gel manicure, my technician was talking on the phone the entire time, but she did a good job.
This time I got a gel manicure and regular pedicure. The massage chairs are old, but they’re really good. She barely massaged my legs. She squirted a little of the green gel on to my legs and that’s it. I think you have to pay extra for a leg massage that? I wasn’t sure since they have papers everywhere talking about extra add ons… She was really good at getting at my cuticles and fixing my nails though.
I wasn’t too happy about my manicure though. She did a good job cleaning up my nails, but I didn’t realize till it was done though that on a couple of my nails that she didn’t cover my entire nail with the polish. If you look at the side you can see my natural nail. Also it wasn’t the cleanest manicure, but the side stuff will come off soon enough.
The atmosphere was a little awkward too though. When I came in, there was no one in there so two of three girls there were laying on the waxing beds while another was relaxing in a sofa chair. Also there was no music or tv on like there was usually was so it was just very quiet. During my appointment, a girl kept on exiting in and out of the salon. Also the owner, I think she is at least, was still laying on the waxing bed while talking to the technician who was doing my nails and sometimes coming over and showing her things. Their stations also don’t seemed to be cleaned too often either, which is a concern.
Overall, it’s an okay salon. I think it’s nice that they do have a stamp card for returning customers. It is also a convenient place to go to if you live in the Temple Valley area and just want to get your nails done.

I really want to give this place a good rating because this place would be a wonderful place to get my nails serviced, it is close to my home. but whenever I go there I feel like my service is not as great as some nail salons that are further away. The message they give is very short, and my polish ends up chipping off before a week. :*(

After a long walk up and down and through the Valley of the Temples, I thought it would be nice to soak our feet before embarking on our trip back to our hotel. The ladies were more than happy to accept walk-​ins.
The ladies here are really nice, but fancy nail spa this isn’t. This nail shop is a far cry from some of the fancy pedi-​spas I’ve visited; I felt like I was in a dorm room rather than a place of business.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not girly enough to need first class service when it comes to personal care. But when I do go out for the occasional pampering, I’d like to at least be able to enjoy my surroundings while somebody grinds the calluses off my feet.
My man and I both got a pedi: clip, file, and a short massage; however, I didn’t get any lotion to rehydrate my feet after all was said and done. Plus, my polish change wasn’t executed very well; it looked like it had begun to bubble long before we left, and they didn’t offer to fix it. Though that could have been the cheap polish’s fault and not any fault of the tech.
There are probably better nail spas elsewhere, but this was the only one we found immediate to our situation.

Pedicure turned out great; they are very talented with flower designs. Not too happy about the french manicure I got… only lasted a few hours before it started chipping. I wouldn’t have cared as much if I didn’t drop all of that money. I paid 67 for a french mani/​pedi & an eyebrow wax. I’m from NJ and I would usually pay around 40 for all of that AND they lasted longer. Guess I’m just used to being spoiled!

The foot massage and face massage (note: not a fancy facial. It’s a face massage… pressure points and all the stuff!)are the best! This is not a fancy salon, but the ladies who work here are very nice and efficient. The lady who does face massage has such a strong fingers and knows where the pressure points on my face are. 30 min for $ 35 is well worth the money. I’ll go back for the face massage alone.

If you live over in Temple Valley this is a very convenient place… but seriously take the extra few minutes and drive somewhere else. They are a rip off. Terrible customer service. They don’t properly sanitize their equipment. The files they use should be new EVERY TIME! Everything should be washed and sanitized after they use it on one customer. They also literally charge you for every little thing. I was getting my nails filled and they charge me to file them down– umm hello?! Isn’t that part of cleaning them up!

Was in the neighborhood and dropped by to be pleasantly surprised. Great job and value. Happy feet!

I decided to try this place based on the previous review and my boyfriend’s sister’s recommendation. Maybe they were just having an off day or this is not a great place for first timers, but I thought they were just okay. I made an appointment with them for my mom & me for 3 pm but when we got there, we ended up having to wait for about 30 minutes. The women are friendly, but I guess they were also too efficient – once they took me & my mom, they left me no time to ask them about their special services like the solar gel, so I ended up just getting a regular manicure. Their color selections were a bit limited… my nails turned out a bit more red than purple because the bottle was deceiving… but that’s not a big deal. The girl shaped my nails nicely, but she seemed a bit rushed when it came to painting them – each finger on my right hand had polish on the skin because she didn’t clean it off (and it’s not like she didn’t have the time since there was no one else waiting and my mom’s pedicure hadn’t finished yet). Also, when it came to drying them, she claimed my nails were dry enough, but when I CAREFULLY reached in my purse for my wallet, some polish came off on one of my left fingers. The woman working on my mom came over and helped get my wallet for me, but it seemed a bit strange for me to have to have someone reaching into my bag and my wallet since the girl who was before us also had a manicure, but she was able to get her money out just fine. Anyway, their pedicures seem good for the price and my mom was happy with hers. However, I think I might try one or two other nail salons first before I come back here again.

This is probably the best nail salon (of this type) that I have been too. I am a bit finicky when it comes to my nails and let me tell you this place delivers. First, the women in there are really friendly. They are not pushy. They do not speak Vietnamese in front of you so you have to wonder if they are talking about your atrocious feet or what they will be serving for dinner. They keep it real… and in English. They do beautiful designs especially with rhinestones. The vertical rows that they do are gorgeous! They take their time and their work is quality. They take appointments and more importantly they honor them. If you make an appointment they take YOU and not the person who walked in 3 minutes before you with credit card in hand. I go every month or so and they even remember my NAME! Their solar nails are not super thick and they last!!! Their eyebrow waxing is great. Seriously if you want a clean and friendly place to get your pedi on this is the place to go.