Healthy Living Spa

What is up with the great reviews of this place? Is this one of those hit or miss places? I feel really bad giving a negative review but I feel that customers should know.
I was a visitor of SF and did not know the good places so I relied on Unilocal.My best friend and I were looking for a massage on a Saturday and because we didn’t make a reservation in advance, of course all the spas were booked. We were grateful that we found one that wasn’t and it seemed like a decent Japanese spa. When I got to the neighborhood I was a little scared because the surrounding looked ghetto. The spa turned out to be Chinese which was fine but not what I expected. There were open rooms in the front so they shushed us… We couldn’t even talk in the waiting room.
Customer service was average but the terrible part was the massage itself. We had a couples room and both our therapists did not speak English. I asked for lavender oil and they had to get the hostess to come in because they did not understand what I wanted. My therapist did not ask me where I wanted to focus or if I had any parts I wanted to avoid. The techniques were terrible! I’m not lying when I say it was the worst massage I ever had in my life. I’ve been to high end spas such as Disney Aulani and experiences some average massages and even went to students from massage schools and i couldn’t explain this massage. It was so bad I was very curious what was happening to me the entire time. I cannot give my descriptions justice by saying how bad it was but I know that this person had no idea how to give a massage. I can guarantee that she did not go to massage school. I’m not sure if they were even license.
It it was actually a great learning experience for me because it made me realize how much schooling a masseuse must have, to know the correct points to press. She couldn’t get the shoulder blade areas correctly and massaged my legs how a lay person would. The funniest part was when the therapist gave me a head massage and I recognized the technique of walking your thumbs down the middle of my head but she did it to the left of the middle, if that makes any sense, and it felt very strange. My friend said her therapist pulled at her underwear so hard, it gave her a wedgie! When they ended and left the room, we both busted out laughing and I knew my best friend had the same experience. Although it was cheap, only $ 70 (oils+tip), I couldn’t believe that I had to pay for that. I really wanted to ask to see their license but I didn’t. We just paid and left. The worst part was walking away not feeling relaxed at all when I started the day out wanting to have a relaxing experience.
There are probably good therapists there which you would have to request by name but don’t go in there blindly!

Never come to this place if the same guy I had gives you a massage. My upper was completely bruised afterwards. Horrible!!! No wonder my back was painful the next day.

NO! NO! NO! wow, where do i begin. first off, how places like this actually continue to have business confounds me!
made a 4:45 appointment for 2, 1hr foot reflexology appointments. arrive on time and are told we have to wait until 5:15 because «they got busy». whats the point of making an appointment if they’re not going to honor it!!! but then it turns out they weren’t actually «busy» (there were only two people getting foot massages), but they likely took walks-​ins and just pushed our appointment. not cool at all! but we waited anyway because the reviews were so good. boy, were they misleading.
we are finally taken to our chairs (but not before they insist we pay in advance) and EEEWWWW, what is that smell?!? like wet towels that have been left in a pile. i actually even took the towel off the chair to smell it to be sure i wasn’t about to sit in the stench. and that’s when i stepped on the giant wet spot on the floor under my chair. and it stunk soooo bad!!! gross.
massage starts and my guy has gotten maybe 5 minutes into the massage and walks away to go answer the phone at the front! then like 10 minutes later my friend’s lady walks away to go check in a customer, take her payment, and walk her back to a massage room! she was gone for like 5+ minutes (and did they add that lost time onto the end? what do you think?! absolutely not) but while the lady is checking this person in, the customer is asking a ton of questions so my guy is yelling up to the front answering the questions for her! wow, so relaxing.
during the massage it was *very* evident this guy was NOT a trained masseuse. not even close. he rubbed me and shook me around so hard and nothing resembled a massage of any sort. and he had just smoked a cigarette and was breathing smoke breath all over me. mnsty.
worst massages ever! worst overall massage experience ever. will never go back and advise others to go somewhere else! what a joke. and again i ask, how do places like this actually stay in business?
**and note to fellow customers: when you walk into a massage place, do you think you *might* be able to talk in a low, indoor vocie? just like you, people are there to relax and not listen to you gab on about what kind of stones they use for the hot stone massage like you’re the only person in the place.

WOW. I am so so so happy I found this place! Happened to have a horrible situation at «relax feet» down the street which ended in me walking out on my massage — it was that bad, and I’m a no frills massage lover. I then turned to Unilocal after that situation and was able to get an apt here for my boyfriend and I 2 hours later. So nice! The price is extremely reasonable, $ 50 dollars per person for our own private room and full body deep tissue 60 minutes massages, and when I say deep tissue, it was VERY deep tissue. I’ve had massages all around the world and this one was one of the best. Room was warm and she even offered to turn the heaters on half way through after we had a chill from our hot towel rub down half way through the service. So impressed by this place and cannot wait to come back!

My wife and I had a very bad experience here. While the price was lower than other spas in the area, the customer service and quality of massages was the worst we have ever experienced. The gentlemen who massaged me did not talk when he entered the room and gave minimal instructions. The massage was painful and when asked to go softer, he laughed and said something in Chinese to the other masseuse who was working on my wife. This happened at least 5 times. We both walked away with bruises and were generally sore.
When I called the front desk to let them know about the experience, they didn’t seem to care at all. If they had taken my feedback seriously, I would not have written about it. Unless you want a rough massage and to be made fun of during the process, do not go here.

Waw！ I had the most amazing Body Massage with Lisa tonightXD. The spa is simple and incredibly clean. I really love the small tranquil water fountain that can be heard amongst the relaxing music. I’ll come back:) wait me

Great service at a great price. I highly recommend the hour foot massage with Helen. I run a lot and practice judo 4x a week so my body takes a beating. I had also just flown in too SFO earlier that morning. This massage was exactly what my body needed to put me into full Dreamforce mode. Thank you Helen.

After looking at all these positive reviews, my friend and I made a same day appointment for an hour full body massage. We arrived on time and paid the $ 50 each and was led into our rooms. This place was clean, a good thing.
When my masseuse arrived, she was not too talkative not friendly. Not a problem, I wasn’t there to talk. She started off with my shoulders and neck, didn’t really massage the muscles, but just firmly squeezed and pressed it, mostly using her elbows. At times, it was painful. She proceeded to firmly rub the top of my back to my lower back, in one long stroke, using first her palms, then her elbows again. This lasted for what felt like 30 minutes of my 1 hr session. I was almost going to ask her to switch to another part of my body as it might be turning red. Finally, she did a brief rub of my legs, head and arms, then it was over. She didn’t focus on any of my muscles, just seemed to go through the motions but firmly. Not my definition of a massage. I still tipped 20% to avoid any confrontations.
My friend got a man massaging him. He requested for a woman. He had even a worse experience.
This place is clean, but they need to employ better masseuses if they want to be successful.

Another great experience. It was a spur of the moment decision, and unfortunately I couldn’t get the full body massage since they were booked, so I had another fabulous foot refloxogy massage. As other reviewers have mentioned, they also massage your head, neck and shoulders along with your feet so I felt so fantastic by the time it was over. $ 30 for 60 minutes is a great deal. The spa is immaculate and the masseuse was responsive to any request for lighter or heavier pressure.
Next time I will be sure to book ahead so I can do the full body massage with hot stones!

4.5 Stars! My former coworker who loves this place, and Unilocal reviews didn’t steer me wrong!
I just started a new job and have been in desperate need of a massage for my shoulders and back. I called at 5:45pm and made an appointment for a 60 minute full body massage with Lina at 6:30pm. Lina seems to be a popular masseuse there so I asked for her.
Once I arrived I paid at the reception desk up front. They take credit cards. 60 min. full body massage was $ 50. The gal at the counter wasn’t the most friendly, but, I didn’t go there to see her.
Once I got settled in, Lina showed up and started on my massage right away. She was great! started out on my back and shoulders (yeeeeeesss!) and then lower back, legs, and arms. I asked for more time on my shoulder and it felt amazing as she un-​knotted my troubled muscles one by one. I could hear it click each time she pressed down over my shoulder blades. Lina applied just the right amount of pressure — strong and deep, but not super uncomfortable or painful, like I’ve experienced before at Thai massage places. After the body massage with me facing downwards, she had me turn around and massaged my arms and front of legs, and finally finishing up with a head/​temple massage.
Time sure seemed to fly by and soon she was all done. $ 50 for 60 min isn’t a lot so I tipped her $ 12. By the way, no one forced me to pre-​pay the tip up front, like some of the Unilocal reviews stated.
Before I left, I tried to engage the receptionist gal one last time by asking about their Hot Stone massage and she gave a lukewarm response at best. Eh.
Anyways, afterwards I moseyed over on Clement and found myself taking a short rib KoJa to go from the new KoJa Kitchen restaurant that was just delicious. What a perfect evening!

I’ve tried MANY a foot spas in the city and I was really impressed with Healthy Living Spa. Super spacious and clean facility. They actually scrub your feet which is an added bonus. All for the low price of $ 30 (for 60 min!) This will be my go to spot from here on out.

Our second time in the spa and will come again. It’s clean and good therapists.
Worth the money

I would consider myself a massage junkie– I was pleasantly surprised by its facilities. The spa was clean, however it did smell a little bit like food (I have a very sensitive nose). The beginning and the end of the massage wasn’t so great. I don’t see the point of «lightly» pressing on my skin. I didn’t feel any pressure/​tension release. The only thing I felt was the harsh towel rubbing against my skin.
The massage with oil was better than its start, although I wanted more oil so I don’t feel too much friction against my skin. I just wish that my masseuse knew pressure points rather than just rubbing. Oh wells, can’t beat $ 70 for 90 minutes.

Really great massage (!) at a great price (!) in a clean/​legit (!) environment at the last minute (!). Large place. Only thing I didn’t like, and only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars, was I got lectured/​reprimanded (by the front desk guy) for giving an 8 dollar tip for a 50 dollar massage, which I thought was reasonable. He said I needed to give at least 20%. Was the potential of an extra $ 2 enough to make a new customer feel awkward?

Just got home from a 60 min massage with Angel and it was blissful. She was absolutely great, hands down.
The massage was $ 50 for 60 minutes and I paid up front with the receptionist when I walked in. Once the massage was over, I gave the masseuse a 5 dollar bill for tip. I’ve had massages at various spas before and this seemed appropriate. The lady at the front desk told me that they only accept a minimum of $ 20 for tip. I was still feeling sedated from the amazing massage, and it was honestly so worth it that I gave a $ 20 the masseuse without hesitation. Has anyone else encountered this? I had no idea that the minimum for tip was $ 20. I wish someone would have told me when I paid up front or they had this posted somewhere.
Overall fantastic massage, very clean and relatively quiet environment. Just did not expect the extra «charge.»

I love this place. It’s really clean and very welcoming. I was in dire need of a massage. 3 weeks of hovering over a desk to study for my big test and this was a great reward. I got the foot reflexology ($ 30)and the lady was awesome. Just the right amount of pain and pleasure. However, I thought my shoulders needed a little bit more work and they offer the chair massage ($ 20 for 20 mins) and I’m never looking back. The lady really used her elbows to dig into the tight spots. If you sit at a desk all day long, I highly recommend this one! I’m also weird about people touching my feet so foot reflexology was never my thing anyway but this is well worth the money.

4 stars for the reflexology massage. Check in on Unilocal for a $ 5 discount. Most of the time is spent on your feet, but there is some small portion of time spent on the upper body. This was relaxing and good.
2 stars for the chair massage! The masseuse used her knee and elbows to dig into my back! I had pain for days after!
I’m not sure if I would come again, but if I did, I would definitely NOT get a chair massage!

I came to the store last night and the old guy at the front seems to be the owner no smiles at all, the lady who has smiles at the front desk is not working there anymore.
He charge me tips upfront instead of after the massage like used to be, so I make $ 20 tips upfront.
I had a 1 hour hot stone massage, the woman seems to be in a hurry to finish my massage, compared with the last visit is totally complete different, I’m still feeling tired today.
I would still go back to this place and get a different massager next time, and tips after the massage.

Still 5 stars! Back for the second time got 90 mins with free steam sauna. I had Tony equally as good as Peter. Too bad the steam room was not hot they just turned it on right after my massage.
I will be back for another 90 mins deep tissue, steam hope it’ll be hot!
What a gem!

Came here and me and the bf both had 1 hour massages in the same room. There is a $ 5 Unilocal check in offer which made the massages $ 45 each. The place is very clean and it is probably because it is still new. They have a sauna and shower for after but me and the bf didn’t use it. My massage felt like a rub down and not once did she ask for feedback on pressure and etc. I’m usually really sensitive with pressure and can’t take
too much strength but for me to say this felt like a rub down means her pressure was reaaaaally light. My bf said his wasn’t great either. He said the person just kept focusing on one spot and it really hurt. Overall they were nice and pleasant but I probably won’t be returning unless somehow my back feels amazing tomorrow.