My boyfriend booked us a couples massage treatment, named "taste of heaven." Unfortunately, it was no such thing. We were not given the steam colour therapy sauna, yet were still charged for it. We were supposed to have an aromatherapy massage, and somehow that meant slathering more oil than I've eaten in the past 10 years on us while we could see nothing due to the foul-smelling eye covers. To top it off, the esthetician did NOT wash her hands before moving to massage my scalp. This resulted in a lot of oil in my hair, which completely ruined my night. I cancelled my birthday dinner as I was not expecting to have to wash my hair again and did not bring anything with me to make me look acceptable at a fancy place. The receptionist also refused to let me use a straightener from their salon to try and fix the situation. The shower in the couple's suite is also ridiculously not user-friendly. We also were only offered water, and were not offered any of the teas or snacks that are supposed to be complimentary with the services.

Much like the user below, we had no idea about the policies, and I sent an email complaint and was sent a "your esthetician washed her hands and you looked great when you left!" email from the owner of the spa. I also have no idea of what kind of oil or scrub was used on me, or what kind of bath gel and shampoo they provide which is very disconcerting for someone like myself who makes a conscious decision to use natural and organic products.

Since this massage was booked as a suprise for me, I was unaware of what to expect, and so this was $300 wasted. Horrible.

Novo Summary - They didn’t book the massage type we asked for, and they blamed us for their mistake. They expected us to know about the policies they have that are not posted in the salon or on their website and are not told to you before you receive their service. They tried to make us pay for their mistake, and we may still get charged on our card for it. If you go to this salon, do NOT make your appointment with Giovanna and don’t expect help from the manager Shannon. Also, if you are not happy with your massage, walk out within 15 minutes to avoid payment.

Details:

On Saturday, February 7 my husband and I called Novo and booked two 60-minute therapeutic massages with two requests: a woman masseuse for my husband and a person who could do strong pressure for me. The salon receptionist said no problem.

We got our massages on Sunday the 8th. During my massage, I asked the woman to apply more pressure for my massage. She said she couldn’t. She also did not massage my feet, and massaged me with almost no pressure. I was very dissatisfied with my massage. My husband had the same pressure problem. Our massages only lasted 45 minutes, but we paid for 60 minutes.

The receptionist asked me if we enjoyed our spa experience. I said my husband had a decent massage, but I did not enjoy mine. The spa coordinator, Maryelle, asked me what happened. I explained to her we booked two therapeutic massages, what the masseuse said, and our dissatisfaction with the services. Maryelle looked at me oddly, and then looked at our booking. She said, “No, therapeutic massages can have pressure. But you had aromatherapy massages, so that’s why you couldn’t get more pressure.” We didn’t book aromatherapy massages, we booked therapeutic massages.

I refused to pay for the massages and asked for a solution to the problem. She said, “Well, you already received the service. If you were not happy with your massage within the first 15 minutes, you could have called it quits and you would not have been charged for the massage.” They never told us that information when we arrived, and it is not on their website. I thought I was receiving the service I booked. I just thought the therapeutic massages were not the same as other spas. I said, “You just told me that I received a different kind of massage than what I requested. I didn’t receive the massage I asked for, and I will not pay for it. Please call your manager so we can find a solution to this problem.” Maryelle kept repeating over and over that we received the service, and that “your service was written in the book, and we need to do an investigation on what happened.” We realize what was written in the book, but the book did not have the service we requested.

Maryelle called Shannon, one of the managers, and she said the manager repeated the same things Maryelle already told us. We asked her to call back the manager so we could speak to her, and she did. The manager, Shannon, refused to speak with us when Maryelle called back. The salon owner, Gabriel, is in Mexico and isn’t going to be back until Tuesday.

In the end, Maryelle said she would not charge us for the massages for now, and that the owner, Gabriel, would call my husband on Tuesday to further discuss the charges. We asked for the name of the woman who booked our appointment that she needed to investigate. Maryelle said her name was Giovanna. We will wait to see what happens next……if the owner Gabriel bothers to call us and if they charge our credit card for the service we didn’t request.