Disheartening...

I shall begin by mentioning that I adore the lounge at Spa myBlend. I've been coming over the past few years for a Birthday massage as it's conveniently located, spacious, and their lounge area has lavish lounge chairs and cushions where you can relax and order food or beverages. I enjoy the feeling of luxury on my special day.

Unfortunately, that is where the luxury of the experience ended this year. This December I went for a joint manicure with my sister, and scheduled my massage afterwards with an hour buffer. It was my sister's first time to have a manicure, and so I thought it would be nice to have our manicures together, relax in the lounge for some food and a beverage before my annual Birthday massage. In fact, we had to upgrade our manicures to $105 each for a "Signature manicure" in order to use the lounge and facilities (which I thought was distasteful seeing as we're already paying a large amount).

While the facilities and ambiance were nice, unfortunately the manicure was the worst quality I have ever had, full stop. I have had $20 manicures before, and so being at the Ritz, I expected an elevated level of sophistication. However, all my $20 superseded this one. The polish did not go near the edge of my nails, you could see where each layer started, the nail shapes were not consistent, my cuticles were not trimmed, and the nails on my right hand are noticeably longer than my left. With the dim lighting I could not tell how terrible it was until we entered the lounge. I felt quite awkward since I'm not someone that likes to send anything back, and I'm very grateful for the experiences I'm afforded. But my sister turned to me in horror when looking at my nails and helped me realize I should assert myself in this case. I spoke with reception who brought management over. Anna, the manager was lovely. She redid my nails, however there were still some issues with the length, since one hand had already been cut way too short, and the paint layers - you could still visibly see the edge of each layer. However, it was now past one hour into my buffer time and so I had to run to my massage late. Not only did I not have time to spend with my sister in between, but when she ordered food, they made her pay right away instead of when we leave because of some change in the system. Instead of this being a relaxing experience, I was rushing around trying to make the best of the day. We ended up having to eat the lunch we ordered at 4pm when it was cold. Anna provided a couple of glasses of prosecco in the meantime, and was extremely apologetic.

I debated posting this review, but when you're paying this much for a manicure, and it's your Birthday as well as your sister's first experience, it's even more disheartening when a $20 manicure would have been better. While my sister paid, and they offered a tax discount, she basically basically paid $100 for someone to unevenly cut my nails, which I now have to grow out so they don't look silly. I'm ashamed and embarrassed for the Ritz brand. Please do better in the future, this is simply unacceptable. I will be taking my Birthday massages and other business elsewhere for the time being.

The Ritz-Carlton Toronto
181 Wellington St W, Toronto
(416) 572-8000
http://www.spamyblendtoronto.com/#/intro

The best spa I've ever been to. Hands down.

Professional, courteous and genuinely kind employees who make every bit of your time at the spa perfectly relaxing.