Lao Yu’s Body Spa

Reliably great massages from relaxation to focused deep tissue. Affordable value for student budget to get rid of all those aches and pains of sitting over books all day. Been there at least 7 times over past 2 years and have always been happy with service: clean/​friendly/​accommodating/​easy booking.

Gotta be careful of this place. From a stressful week I went to treat myself with a foot rub. Sign outside says $ 30 for 60 min but my brainfog had me forget and I asked for a half hour and unlike most places that’ll say «it’s a better deal if you get the xyz» I got short changed with «$ 25 for 30 min”(def smart on their end – less work, more money). Massage was good, music relaxing, part of massage was painful (& like others comment, it’s hard to communicate to ask for less pressure), lastly it wasn’t a full 30min (not cool given the higher price paid). I went back in to inquire and they directed me to the price sign. My bad, I’ll admit my rough week fog-​brain is responsible for not being more savvy and I didn’t see the price guide walking in. The guy just seemed to be like «:) here’s why, come back next time and get the hr» But no customer retainment concession extended. Given the plethora of these massage shops, I’ll pass on the return visit.

So this was my first time coming in here after walking by it countless times before. I got the 60min foot massage with Tony and holy baby Jesus was it good! This man is strong and isn’t afraid to get in there. I’d say he spent 30 min per leg — 15min intensely at each foot and 15 min at the upper and lower leg which was heavenly. He also finished it up with 5 min extra of hip and low back stretching and a scalp rub which felt invigorating. I’m so ready to put on my heels and head out for the night! Thanks Tony!
2^nd best part — it was only $ 30!

This place is fantastic! No frills but a great deep tissue, trigger point massage that is the good kind of pain to get all of your kinks out from slaving away at the computer all week.

James is awesome! went for a 30 min massage and felt amazing after. Definitely coming back.

Might have been the best massage ive ever had. Good balance of tough and soft. Pushed right where the tension is. The place is clean. They take credit card. To thise who say they dont speak english, well get over it, they speak it enough and 1/​this is ny! 2/​$ 45 an hour is really good cheap for massage, not a shrink!!!
Ill definitly go back!

I went here to get a massage once and it was pretty good. I really liked that they use warm towels at the end of the massage — very comforting. However I would suggest that they hire a customer service person who can speak English or at least understand English. I’ve canceled appointments a few times just because the person on the other end of the phone could not understand what I was saying.

Enter at your own risk. No English. Good luck getting what you’d like. Bathroom had bucket of dirty water. Ugh. Waste of time. Painful at times.

To say they are magical healers may sound like an exaggeration… but it’s not. If you are hurting, go see them, they will fix you right up. I have gone there multiple times and each time I go I wonder why I don’t go more often. It’s really only because it’s not near where I work or live– but they are worth the journey. I usually find myself going there when I am bad off– when I have so much stress that my back is full of knots like a cobblestone street.
The amazing thing about them is that you really don’t have to tell them where it hurts. They can tell. It’s part of their magical-​ness. They do an initial warm up rub down where I assume they are assessing all of your ailments and the best course of action, and then they go to work. I always find myself in awe thinking, how did they know that that’s what is bothering me? How did they know how to fix it?
So go to Lao Yu’s, and tip them generously, they deserve it.

I don’t know why I keep coming here. Oh right, its super close. Its like a bad relationship… it hurts so bad but when it feels good…
The place is above Juke Bar and houses several stall like rooms that remind me of my worst nightmare when I was dreaming about how convertible rooms look on my housing search. These stalls are just big enough to house a massage table. The table is sturdy. They provide coverage and a towel just long enough for my parts… although I can never cover myself up properly.
I initially randomly noticed this place and went in for a $ 45 dollar hour massage. It was partially painful but not as bad as the subsequent times. I think I’ve spent a few trips in this place trying to give it a chance but every time I seem to get the crazy lady that will press on your parts so hard if you were less hard of heart like me you’d be screaming mercy. Sometimes I do tell her to stop and she keeps on pushing as if she has only one level of pressure; dislocation of your shoulder/​breaking of your back. I more often leave here feeling like I’m bruised all over.
I think I appreciate a strong massage over a wimpy one overall but I think this time is my last visit to this place. As convenient as it is for me I think there is no benefit to being tortured more of the 60 minutes than relaxed. I spend most of my time laying there wondering when my muscles won’t be burning under those strong forearms. They also like to use their elbows waaay too frequently and they use little to no lotion for the actual contact massage.

Solid full body massage! The back rub and leg massaging were really soothing. I felt very much healed after 1 hour. Thank you very much Kevin!
This will be my to-​go massage spot from now on!

Great massage at a great price. Also, the place is very clean and neat. Will definitely go back.

This place is the real deal!!! I’ve been both here and to their other shop on 1^st Avenue near 10^th Street both are astounding. Having seen many various massage therapists at various price points over the years I can safely say place is the absolute best of both quality and price. Have had several people here and the experiences have all been great, leaving with knots and tensions fully worked out. Loved it.

I went to a late breakfast Saturday afternoon with my friend and afterwards we decided to go on a little walk around the East Village, hitting up some stores, etc. On our walk back, we passed by Lao Yu’s — which my friend has told me about before. She quickly asked me if I was down to get a massage and since I had no afternoon plans I obliged. Lao Yu’s is a small, very bare basic massage parlor. But, it is CLEAN and 100% legit, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down. No hanky panky here fellas. For $ 45 you will receive a one hour full body massage and it is no joke. They work every kink out of you. You will leave feeling like you paid $ 150 and took a Xanax. This place is amazing!

After suffering so much pain from my day job and intense workout, I came to Lao Yu. They are having their 5-​year anniversary sale right now. 1 HR massage is $ 45 as opposed to $ 50. It is about the average price for other Asian massage parlor.
I do like this place a lot. My massage lady, Cindy asked me where I have pain and she emphasized on those areas mostly. I felt so relaxed and my pain is almost all gone as I am typing right now. Shoulders and arms feel lighter.
The rooms are not completely sound-​proof and I could hear the customer next door. However, there is at least a «room» instead of curtains in some places.
I would definitely come back.

Amy worked on me for a good 90 minutes and did a terrific job. Strong, skilled, intuitive in finding the really sore bits and fixing them.
Environment I’d much better than average. Good Chinese music but a bit of noise from the club downstairs.

I would have to say overall I enjoyed my experience. A and I walked in here after our night of happy hour bliss, dessert at Milk bar, and thought we’d end the night is a quick reflexology for our feet. We ended up getting the 60 minute full body massage.
In case youre wondering 60 min massage is $ 50, pretty standard pricing for a chinese massage place. There are no frills and thrills, no special amenities such as steam/​suana, but its clean. This place does use oils on your skin and require you to take off your clothes. (I’ve been to chinese massages where they’ve asked you to keep your clothes on or used a thin blanket instead of massaging directly onto your skin.) Also, they have makeshift rooms with doors better than some others that are just curtained off into sections.
If youre into deep tissue, I would definitely check this place out. These ladies may seem small and petite but dang, they work your back like crazy. I’d like to think i have a high tolerance for pain but I think i may have shed a tear. Yes, I’m sure i could have said something but i just lay there silently squealing in pain.
However when she moved on away from my shoulder blades, I did have a nice relaxing massage and I actually dozed off for a couple of minutes.
I will have to say this though. my back does feel better today so maybe the saying… «no pain, no gain» applies to massages as well!
Oh… i had brought in a frozen icecream dessert from milk bar and had asked them throw it away because I was done with it. There must have been something lost in translation because when i was done with the massage they brought out my icecream. I thought that was sweet of them to toss it in the freezer even though I really didn’t want it anymore.
Lastly, QUICK TIP: if you pay in cash they won’t charge you tax. If you pay with credit card be prepared to pay the 8% tax.