Utopia Hair Professionals Day Spa

First time customer… won’t be back and it’s not because of my haircut. I’ll just start from the beginning.
I called Utopia around 12:15 and asked if it would be possible to get in that afternoon (I knew it was last minute and chances may be slim, but hey, I was off the rest of the day). The woman on the phone was pleasant and said sure, what do you want done? Just a simple cut. When did I want to come in? After 2. We landed on 2:30 with Nina. Great!
I arrived at 2:20 and was met at the reception desk by a young woman with bleach blonde hair. She was nice, she crossed me off the list and told me I could wait in the waiting area on the salon side. I asked to use the restroom, she pointed me to the back. It was clean, the whole salon seemed relatively clean. I remember noting that as I waited. And waited. And waited.
I’m not a complainer and worked in the service industry for years… I’m probably the hardest customer to piss off. As I was sitting there waiting (35 minutes) I watched if I’m counting right 5 other stylists notice me and ignore me, by the time I was hitting the 30 minute mark, no one had clients, none them cared enough to go check the book and see who I might have been here to see? Maybe ch check in with the person you keep stepping out of the break room to look at? No, it’s cool, I’ll just sit here in awkward silence being ignored by everyone.
Finally, Nina came over and apologized for the mix up (apologized like 4 – 5 times), eh, ok we can start fresh… I had already noticed the lack of teamwork in this place. Nina would have known I was there if blondie from the reception desk had walked over and politely told her that her 2:30 had arrived… nah, she had a big ‘ol drink she needed to hang out in the barber shop and work on. Nina was great! She had a bubbly, funny personality and was easy to get along with. I like my hair.
We moved over to do my eyebrows. I loved the chocolate wax and my skin is sensitive, so I appreciated that it didn’t leave me red as long. While Nina was doing my eyebrows (my eyes were closed) I hear an older woman say with a snarky tone «you’re behind all day aren’t you?» The older woman moved over towards the washing station. «Your 3:30 and 4 are here and it’s 3:45» with another snarky chuckle. Is she the manager or something? Nina asked her, «Can you do me a favor?» Huge sigh. Nina says «Nevermind» and gets quiet. «What? What? I can’t hear you? You just stopped talking». Nina then went ahead, «if you have a minute, can you do me a favor?» The woman quickly snapped, «I don’t have time to take one, I have a client coming.» «No, I just wondered if you could check the schedule, I believe one of them is here at the wrong time.»
I was so uncomfortable. I even said, «well you’re almost done with me.» This other woman had turned the whole experience into a disaster. She was rude, acted superior (as if she were the manager), and lacked teamwork. When we walked over to pay she was sitting behind the reception desk and informed Nina that she had blocked off the rest of her open appointments, again with lots of snarky attitude. I payed, used the ATM (the only way to tip is with cash). She had to break the $ 20 for me — sorry for the inconvenience.
In summation, I won’t be back, not because of Nina, but because of the lack of teamwork and (not sure if she’s the manager) older rude stylist.
Nina, you don’t have to put up with someone treating you like that in front of a client… talk to the owner about it or find yourself a salon where teamwork and respect are priorities. You could always call Tabatha’s Salon Takeover!

I’ve been going to Utopia for the last 7 years, they never disappoint me. After 20 years with the same hair, I decided to change it up. Even the newest stylist knew exactly what I wanted and made it work! I love my new style!!!
Utopia is the best place in Syracuse for men’s haircuts, hands down!
They only charge $ 14 for the haircut, where they could charge 4x’s that much for the quality they give.
The stylists here deserve big tips, they are awesome!!!

Everyone is so nice & so friendly! I had my hair cut by Nina & she was *amazing*!! I’m so happy to find a great local salon that isn’t stuck up & doesn’t charge insane prices. They have a new regular customer now!

This place was recommended to my wife and me. Overall we have been very happy. There have been a couple hiccups, but nothing that has made us leave. It took us a while to find the right fit here in town. We floated around different places for probably 6 years once moving to this area before sticking with this one (and we looked all over Syracuse). We have also brought in several new customers. They provide great services and at good prices.
They have both a barber shop and a beauty salon so the whole family can go here. The beauty salon is your traditional hair, nails, spa services, etc. They do require appointments. The barber shop in the front has 6 chairs and is first come first served like most barber shops. They have both men and women «barbers» and I have seen both genders as clients. Depending on the day/​time though they may only have 2 people working or could have all 6. Over time I have learned when to go since sometimes you could have to wait a bit, but now I know how to go and almost walk right to the chair. Obviously some folks are better than others so you will learn who to go to and who not to go to; however, for the most part I have been very happy with all. They can handle everything from the buzz cut to the extremely fancy guy hair. :-)
I like the little touches here. The barber shop offers cuts, shaves, etc. like you would expect. Also, they take their time when doing your cut to get it right and then if you like they will use a straight razor and hot shaving foam to do nice tight detailing on your cut so that the edges are very clean. It’s a great detail and makes the cut look great!