Emily’s Salon & Spa

I actually got a really nice manicure at the salon yesterday. I stopped in spur of the moment while the salon was empty and was taken right away. They did a great job and the woman who took care of me was lovely. The manicurists do tend to speak only Korean to each other while the services are taking place, but I believe that is their comfort zone — and I can live with it. I was into chilling and zoning out… So no conversation necessary! I will be back for a manicure again…

They will turn you down just because they don’t think what you need is worth their time. They close at 7:30, sometimes 8. I came to this spa at 5:30 one day and upon arrival there were only two people waiting before me. They asked me what I needed, to which I replied just a manicure. They told me sorry they don’t have time. I really think it’s just because they don’t want to spend 15 minutes for a job that only earns them $ 15.
I looked through other reviews and some people experienced similar problems. Never going to come back here.

I really wanna give them zero stars if I can. I live right across the street from the store, and I’d never ever go there again, the service is beyond terrible. I chose two polish colors and wanna see which one looks better on my nails, and the lady refused to do that cuz“I’m very busy”, even there were literally just 2 customers in the salon, including me. Oh and they only accept tips in cash for some reason, so the lady literally said” go to the ATM and GET THE CASH FOR ME NOW!” Seriously guys if u wanna be treated as a human being don’t come to this shop!!! It’s really unfortunate they have a pretty nice shop and a nice location. SHAME

A group of us went to get mani pedis on Saturday morning for a baby shower. there was no one else in the salon the entire time, yet from the second we walked into the place they were rushing all of us. These were also the rudest people I have ever met. I’ve been getting my nails done in NY for 20+ years and have never been treated so badly. I almost felt like it was a movie! The lady doing my nails kept yanking my hands and saying «relax!!» And when doing my feet was pushing and throwing them in and out of the water with a vengeance.
They didn’t do a bad job on the nails, but I would never go back. Just not worth spending your time with such rude people who have no idea of customer service, let alone common decency.

Overpriced and unpleasant.
I went once for waxing. It went fine but without removing the wax leftovers well — so you look like you have spots all over you after you put your clothes back on, and it’s not easy to clean. Also, they want to charge $ 5 extra for feet top when you do the legs… I’ve never seen this anywhere. Half arm stops right at the elbow, which looks really weird — never had that elsewhere either, they always finish the 1 inch above the elbow, which is where the hair then stops.
I went a second time, and this is what deserves a 1-​star review instead of 2-​stars. I had a gift massage, and the good surprise that there was availability as walk-​in the day I tried. However, the massage was a bad experience. It hurt half of the time, I think it was obvious my body was getting tense and I was cringing but I never had any question from the lady to check how I was doing, if it was too strong or whatever.
I don’t like to interrupt with comments so I just waited for it to be finished… Only nice thing was a warm thing placed on my back, but unfortunately not placed very gently. Then, when I left, I felt obliged to leave a tip (despite not being very happy with the massage), so I did… and then this rude lady said «it’s minimum 20% tip». I could not find the right words at this moment… I only said it was weird to ask (and I threw 2 more $, which I deeply regret). Seriously,
— it’s a gift, so I’m not even supposed to know how much it cost
— there is NO way it is ok to ask for a minimum tip
Long story short? I will never walk into this place again, which is sad, since I live across the street.

Went in on a Sunday evening with my four year old. My daughter had her hands and toe nails painted and I got a green tea pedicure and wax service. We were promptly served and they treated my daughter with kindness and did a fantastic job with my pedicure. In all the pedicures I’ve received, the technician gave me one of the best massages, callous removals and polish change. I’ve come here for a manicure not too long ago and they also did a great job.

Wasn’t really happy with the manicure, plus it was for my wedding day! They tried to fix one nail by putting extra polish on for three more times! and when I got home it was a mess. Had to go back to fix it on my wedding morning: S …6 days after I had it done, my nails look like I would do my manicure myself at home. Disappointing. I guess their nail polish is not good quality: S

They do not allow children or breastfeeding women. I cannot support this business. On the flip side Nail Snob on Vernon is great — you’ll have much better service, slightly better prices, and a beautiful mani-​pedi.

Overpriced ($ 30 for just a pedicure, with not much scrubbing or massage), but my nails looks great, it’s super clean, and it’s so convenient. The lady who did my nails was really nice and responsive. Tips are just cash.

This nail salon is the least customer friendly salon I’ve ever been to. They blamed me for ruining my nail when my credit card accidentally hit the drying polish and refused to fix. They don’t take reservations, and are overpriced. I wish I had something nice to say. (This is for Emily salon on 47^th Ave and Center Blvd.)

Super expensive and not customer service friendly. Unfortunate since its location is extremely convenient.

This place is as bad as everyone says. Exorbitant prices, bad attitudes and services. Avoid at all costs. Even if you’re feeling lazy. Make the walk to Vernon.

Review for 476 47^th Road Emily location. I walked away with a fantastic manicure. The location was and is ideal for those that live on north side of Center Blvd. interior is bright, very clean and the staff is warm and welcome! A nice experience and I look fwd to going back.

$ 30 for a pretty terrible pedicure and I didn’t even tip yet! Trying to charge me extra for top coat or just to scrub my feet… that’s what a pedicure is supposed to be no? I do a better job myself at home for free and the lady took a giant chunk of skin out of my two and it bled, I’m now limping and not even an apology… don’t bother.
Please just walk to Duane Reade and buy a file and polish for $ 9 and stay home and watch Netflix.

I think this will be pretty self explanatory.
It was $ 31.40 for a half-​assed pedicure. My nails were unevenly filed. I didn’t really get a full on scrub treatment. Leg message was maybe 34 seconds (for both.)
They’re simply capitalizing off their immediate clientele, but I shall be seeking refuge in my Manhattan-​nation.

Only went in for a shoulder massage.
It was good. The masseuse hit the right muscles and knots. The pressure could have been a bit more, but this isn’t a dedicated massage place so it was acceptable, especially since it’s down the street if you’re in the only populated part of Long Island City.
Would go again some time.

Because I am so lazy I routinely paid twice as much for gel manicures as in the city. That’s lazy!!! ! And generally, they did a good job. Until they didn’t. Within 2 days, 2 of the gels peeled halfway off. So I went in to get them repaired. That started a fight. Rather than just repairing them, they badgered me as to who had done them. I told them who and she denied it. Now they’re all yelling at each other. How is this helping my situation? Who the hell cares who did them? Just fix it! Nope. They just kept arguing amongst themselves. When they finally get over it, they decide the best way to fix this is to start over. This time they apply 3 layers. It takes over an hour and looks terrible. And costs me another $ 50.
I know I should have spoken up, but I’ve seen the way these ladies fight and I did not want to go there. Instead I went to Snob.

Emily’s is a Rip Off!!! Stay Away!
Not once have i had a good experience here with anything. I went here for haircut once, they used razor on my hair, didn’t even spend more than 30 min on my hair and charged me 80 dollars. It took months before I could go fix my hair again.
I have been here couple of times for mani pedi cause of convenience, but its a big time rip off. They charge you 50 dollars for basic manicure pedicure and do a very lousy job.
This employee started cutting my cuticles and it was hurting me. I told her to be gentle, she totally ignored me and started chatting and giggling with her fellow coworker in Korean. Next thing I know I have a cut in my finger and its bleeding. I don’t understand why the person couldn’t concentrate on my nails and not on her conversation when she is providing me the service that I am paying for. I have had bleeding cuticles everytime i have been here for mani-​pedi, the polish chips off within a day or two and the employees are super rude.
I will not recommend this place to anyone.

As many other reviewers have mentioned, I have been going to both Emily Salons for years due to the convenience. A short while ago, a place called SNOB opened in the neighborhood, and I thought: finally! some competition for Emily’s…or so I thought. Both Emily Spas give much better (and quicker!) manis/​pedis than Snob and that hair salon on Jackson Ave, and both Emily salons are immaculate and neat. But yes, the prices are simply unwarranted.
I would like to specifically address the reviewer who wrote: «Yes the prices are „city prices“ but I would imagine so is the rent in that building. But no one ever thinks of that…»
FYI: The owner of (the original) Emily Spa in the Citylights building were given an amazing deal on their rent because the Citylights building itself had a special arrangement with the City when it was built in 1997. I cannot give exact numbers, but I assure you, the Emily Spa in Citylights pays LESS monthly rent for that large salon than I do for my nearby studio apartment. This is a FACT. So, it can be deduced that the prices are ridiculously high for the area due to no other reason than greed. That’s probably how they were able to afford to open their sister salon in a newer building on Center Blvd.
One thing that you should be able to tolerate if you go to Emily’s is the rude yelling back and forth in Korean. I know that this can be common at nail salons, but it really is annoying: for instance, a woman will be giving you a manicure, looking down at your hands, and suddenly start yelling. Meanwhile, little do you know, she’s having a conversation with one of her coworkers halfway across the salon! Okay– I realize that this might be a cultural thing, but please– if a person is going to pay an exorbitant amount for a manicure, the least you can do is offer a peaceful, relaxing ambiance!
After living a few years in the neighborhood, I am still on the fence with this place; high quality, quick mani/​pedis, but for a hefty price in a sometimes unpleasant environment.

The husband and in are in town visiting my sister when we passed by Emily Spa on an evening walk and decided to get pedicures together. It’s something we like to do.
First of all. We really enjoyed the attention we got for our legs and feet. The massages were great and they did some awesome work get’n the dead skin and calluses off.
The spa pedicure really isn’t all that pricey for the amount of time they take on your lower appendages.
The fact that they are Korean doesn’t bother me one bit but mostly because I’m half and I speak it and well. They are all nice here. So the reviewer that complained about the Korean speaking workers will run into the same thing with the west coast Vietnamese speaking workers and anywhere else there may be foreign people. Plus they speak English. So her review is null in my opinion.
They definitely suffered a little from super storm sandy and had some minor damage. I saw pictures of where the water level was around here and I’m sure glad Emily Spa got going again. They did a great job putting everything back together with the exception of the massage chairs that aren’t working.
My husband sat beside me moaning while he was getting his leg and foot massaged so I definitely know he was happy. Ha!
I even started a little coughing fit and they got me some candy. I suppose they could’ve looked at me crazy but they were so accommodating.
I know we’ll definitely be back when we’re in town again. We totally enjoyed our spa pedicures.