New York Ayurveda

[Note their address change to 55^th St. between 8^th and 9^th Avenue.] THIS BUSINESS IS A MESS. Every part of my experience was awful. From scheduling an appointment, which took months to nail down because of construction or scheduling errors on their part, to waiting in the reception area, where the masseuse walked out of the room she had been in, oil still on her hands, and sat behind the desk without acknowledging the customer (i.e., me) until I spoke up.
The massage itself was just AWFUL. She had so much attitude, and I couldn’t feel comfortable at all with her. Instead of trying to put me at ease she tried to rebuke the hell out of my body for being tense. It was painful, knotty, oil ridden, gross. And when it came time for me to flip over on my back she was careless about how she was covering up my body, making me feel even more uncomfortable. Lifebooker’s non-​return policy was the only reason I kept this regrettable appointment.
You want a good massage? Try Great Jones Spa. Their massage left me loose and relaxed and almost in a peaceful daze for the rest of the afternoon.

If I could give them no stars I would. Worst massage of my life. It left me with bruises and the lady talked my ear off the whole time. Not to mention the massage wasn’t cheap. I used to go here years ago and they were so nice and the treatments were relaxing. Something has happened to them. They are so rude now. Both myself and my friend were treated so rudely when trying to make an appointment. It took multiple phone calls all of which they were very rude to use treating us as if we are a problem for wanting to make an appointment. You’d think being that they provide a service to people they would want your business. I will NEVER EVER use them again and I will be telling everyone I know that they should not go here. There are a thousand places around this city who are much cheaper, happy to have your business, provide superior service and do it with a smile the whole time.

Bad attitude towards people. Bad massage. It was really painful. Next day every part of my body ached. I def would not recommend it.

Save yourself the $$, don’t come here.
Purchased the «Spa Week Facial», which I thought was a good deal. Wrong, my time is more valuable than the pathetic $ 50 I spend on a non-​existent facial and rude management.
The woman doing my facial was very sweet, but had absolutely no idea what she was doing. First, she asked what I was supposed to get in my facial— unprofessional, they should know what I am signed up for and what I purchased. Second, the facial itself consisted of two different lotions (maybe this is standard?) applied multiple times and then washed off with wet cotton disks… nothing I couldn’t do myself.
After the lotion came the «scrub», which essentially consisted of the same/​similar lotion but using one of those scrubbing gloves to work it into my skin… The session was interrupted multiple times when the «spa» owner would bust into the room and rummage through some drawers and leave. After the «scrub», the mist machine was turned on to open my pores up. Sadly, this meant absolutely nothing because the extractions which were promised in my facial never happened. The magnifying lamp was turned on, the tool to extra was in hand and yet the 3 minutes spent gently pressing it into my skin removed absolutely nothing, despite the fact that I had asked them to take their time with this step. The facialist reasoning– it just can’t happen, nothing will come out… really?!
The last step in this dismal process was the mud mask. This, in fact, was some sort of mud mask that was applied so liberally to my face that I spent the rest of the evening picking off the same mud mask from my hairline and neck. Needless to say this sloppy application of products is NOT something I wanted to be walking around the city with for the rest of my evening.
Lastly, the salon owner was simply. At the end of my session, the facialist (or receptionist) asked very nicely if I could wait for the owner to come back because she had a question about my payment. I had paid for this service previously online when I stupidly booked this spa– so I thought, strange but okay I can wait. A few minutes later the owner brushed through the salon without even acknowledging me, asks me to step in her «office» where she proceeded to tell me, no accuse me, of owing them money. Absurd, not a pleasant greeting, not an apology for what may have been my misunderstanding, not a single question asking about my experience… just barking at me, accusing me of trying to leave without paying. After I explained to her that I paid for the Spa Week Facial online (which cost $ 52) she just said okay and acknowledged her own misunderstanding with a shrug. I walked out… regretting the fact that I had even spend the $ 52 on this place.
The takeaway:
1. Spa Week Facial w/​extractions= no extractions happened
2. There were intervals where absolutely was nothing was on my face– while the facialist was either looking for lotion or fixing the overhead lights
3. Session was interrupted multiple times by owner
4. Facialist may have actually been the receptionist… no clue but she certainly was not trained properly on how to administer a facial
5. Owner accused me of trying to leave without paying without even consulting her appointment book to see that I had paid for everything weeks prior
This place may be good for other services, but facials are certainly NOT their strong suit.

Practitioner was a no-​show. I waited until fifteen minutes after the scheduled appointment time. I called the business number twice and left a voice mail the second time. I also left a note on the door. In both cases, I requested a refund because my time was wasted. I later received a voice mail blaming the no-​show on «train traffic.» I was still billed for the service and have filed a dispute with American Express.