Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa

This spa in located in the Willard Hotel. Since I have an office in the adjoining Willard Building, I have privileges to use the Hotel’s fitness center, located in the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa at the Hotel.
The fitness room is convenient and the machinery is generally kept in good condition. But there is little space for anything other than the assorted machines. Such is life in a hotel fitness room. My real disappointment, however, is the Red Door’s men’s locker room’s sauna and steam room. The former has never worked; the latter works about 50 percent of the time.
It is time for the Willard Hotel and the Red Door Spa to attend to these shortcomings.

Meh. I’ve experienced better.
If you are into old and dated facilities, then go here. It’s a really small space. But, the staff is nice and helpful.
There are only two showers and one doesn’t have hooks for your towel. Two toilets and one was clogged with toilet tissue. No refreshments other than cucumber water and lemon water… no fruit? no granola bars? The treatment rooms are cold. Some of the cabinets and shelving is dilapidated. They were able to camouflage it, but not well enough.
My treatment was nice… but I’ve had better. They do have a sauna and steam room which were both nice and clean!
I wouldn’t go again… not worth it.

Oh dear. A truly bottom-​of-​the-​barrel pedicure experience. Even if the prices were reasonable, I’d have been disappointed. If you like to wait twenty minutes past your appointment time, be crowded into a room with too many other people, and sit in an uncomfortable chair with your feet in a bowl of lukewarm water, then this is the place for you.

I am not a fan of this Red Door. I have been to quite a few on the East Coast and by far this has to be my least favorite. The amenities are non-​existent and service was just ok. I was expecting so much more since its in the beautiful iconic, Willard hotel.

Follow up to my original, not-​so-​good experience. Virginia, the manager there, contacted me about my review and offered to give me a do over (she didn’t call it that). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take advantage of her offer right away, but when I called her back almost 4 months later, she did remember me and stood by her promise.
For my second appointment, Donna was my esthetician and she was absolutely wonderful. I received a signature facial and bikini wax and even the wax was nice. Donna blended great hands with some Zen meditation and positive energy. I really enjoyed that experience and would return and ask for Donna again.
The reason I gave «only» three stars because, well, it’s A-​OK. Not great, the locker room is still a little shabby for that perfect spa experience. The robe had a rip and the flip-​flops seemed more like men’s shower shoes. But, considering all the spas I’ve been to, I will go back and schedule another facial with Donna.

You need to schedule an appointment with Dwayne. His hands are magical. Best ever! He pays attention to details. Facilities are superb!

I was on a girlfriend’s weekend at The Willard in DC and we made arrangements months in advace for services at The Red Door Spa. We do a girlfriend’s weekend once a year that always includes spa services and believe me when I say there is a lot of thought that goes into the selection of our spa. I will tell you the services were good… I had a wonderful facial with attention to detail, the tech that did my manicure was very skilled… but this review is for the service that actually did not happen. There was a scheduling conflict with our massages. We are very easy going ladies and it was what it was… but when I tell you the level of service went above and beyond… please believe it! Andres is the manager of this salon. When he heard of the scheduling conflict he went to great strides to rectify the matter and to make sure we were more than happy! His words… you will be treated like princesses! And he was right! Thank you Andres for being the best customer oriented manager we have ever encountered!

I am a huge fan of the Red Door Spa, and have been to several locations all over the country. This has to be my least favorite. I lived in VA for years and went to the Fairfax Corner location and every time my experience was impeccable. I moved to DC and expected the same service here– but was gravely mistaken. I’ve gone here maybe 6 times, and each time there was an aspect of disappointment. Once, my massage was cut 15 minutes shorter. I went with a friend, and I waited 15 minutes for her to come out. The front desk booking people really do not emulate the Red Door quality I’ve seen at other places– they could really careless. Not warm or welcoming. There is one technician I have had, she’s great which is the only reason why I go– but today I booked my first appointment at Bliss next door– hopefully they can save me from being forced to go to the Willard’s spa. If you want a «spa day» don’t go here. This is just for quick touch-​ups in my opinion. But the Willard is gorgeous! One of my favorite hotels in DC.

Unfortunately like many others I did not have a good experience. I’ve been to the Red Door in Gaithersburg and Chevy Chase and had a good experience. So I thought the Red Door at The Willard would be swanky. Boy was I wrong. First, the locker room. I walked in and there was a towel in the corner and a hanger laying on the ground. So I had a bad first impression. The woman who showed me back, didn’t tell me where the relaxation room was. So once I changed I was standing in the hall. Finally a guy comes by and says ‘oh let me take you to the relaxation room. So I go back there and there must have been a bachelors party or something going on. There’s a deck outside the relaxation room and a group of women was eating, drinking, talking loudly and laughing. You could hear everything in the relaxation room. Needless to say it wasn’t very ‘relaxing’. Also these same women had thrown their purses and sweaters in the relaxation room all over all the furniture, so those of us waiting for treatment didn’t have anywhere to sit. There were also a bunch of empty cups laying around. I would think the staff would tidy up. Then a lady came in and had her sound turned way up on her cell phone and it kept beeping every time she typed. I wish there was a sign in the room to ‘turn your cell phone volume off”. Once I had my massage, it was fine. The table seemed small than one’s I had at other locations. The massage really wasn’t anything special. Overall, I was disappointed. As others have pointed out, the ‘spa’ needs renovations.

If you are staying at the hotel, you have no excuse to not visit. Make an appointment as soon as you know you are going to be in the area. This isn’t my favorite location. It is smaller and laid out oddly. I have had manicures and blowouts. Forget trying to find parking if you aren’t a hotel guest. There is a garage near the CVS by Freedom Plaza that charges $ 12 if there are’t special events & $ 15 on a weekend. The Willard charges $ 39 for parking. Who do they think they are, the Willard?

The Spa Week facial is a rip-​off. It was a waste of my time and coins to get the Spa Week facial. Save your $ 50 and go to another spa. Even at $ 50, you will feel jipped. I felt like she just washed my face, used a hot towel, rubbed on on some moisturizer, and said bye! I imagine their regular facials outside of Spa Week are probably good but I’ll never know because I do not plan to return despite receiving a 20% off future visit coupon. If a reputable spa cannot give a good facial during Spa Week, then I won’t risk paying full price only to be disappointed again.

The staff is friendly and the overall facility is nice, though it is a little hard to find on the second floor of the Willard hotel.
My friends had massages and enjoyed them. I had a pedicure and one by the sweetest nail technician, Mary. But the choices by the management in setting up the nail service area were confusing and uncomfortable – for guests and workers alike. Any neighborhood nail place is much more relaxing than here. They don’t have the standard whirlpool chairs. Instead they have a low chair with a movable foot rest. And movable it is, all through the service. It was uncomfortable to use as a guest and awkward for the technician who had to keep the foot rest in place with her own body. I really felt for her, sitting uncomfortably hunched over me on a stool. Plus I was just soaking in a basin, not a whirlpool so it felt very improvised.
It costs about twice as much for a pedicure here as in the average nail place – and it’s far less comfortable. That’s why I have it three stars. Don’t waste the money on nail services here. Go for a facial, instead.

I came in without an appointment and get massages quite often so this was my first time here. I waited for about 15 – 20 minutes and a female came to show me to the massage bed. It was not the greatest massage i have to admit but i can tell they are trying hard. I hope they improve because with the amount they are charging i do not think they will last very long…

Conveniently located across the street from where I work — I find myself making appointments here often. I love this spa.

I had a gift certificate for the White Tea Mani/​Pedi but when I called to make my appointment they said they no longer offered that service (odd, because my boyfriend bought the gift certificate only about a month ago). The receptionist said I could substitute the Milk and Honey Manicure and Pedicure, which was the same price. It was very easy to make an appointment, I just named the day and time I wanted to come in, and they said it was available.
I was expecting something luxurious, since this spa is in the Willard, but it was pretty ordinary.
I forget the name of the lady who did my nails, but she was very friendly. First thing to point out is that the nail salon room is tiny. So the lady started with my pedicure. For the pedicure, your feet are in a bowl with warm water. There is no fancy pedicure chair. The lady cut the skin around my toe when she was cutting the cuticle, which burned badly, especially when she applied the scrub and was using nail polish remover. I regularly get my toes done, and I don’t think this pedicure was anything special, besides a few extra steps added in (like the milk and honey and the wax).
The manicure was good, except I asked that she not cut my cuticles on my fingers and only push back the cuticle, but she cut them a little bit anyway.
I had brought my own flip flops so that I didn’t mess up my pedicure by putting on closed toe ballet flats when I left the salon. After I got back to my apartment, I wanted to run some errands (this is about 2 hours after I get back from the spa), so I touched one of my toenails, just to make sure it was completely dry, and the polish WIPED right off my toe. Like I said, I regularly get my toes done, so I know that nail polish should be dry by this time.
Needless to say, I will not be going back to this place.

I’ve been going here for almost 2 years and their waxing staff is perfect. They know what they are doing and do a great job on all skin types!

Pretty nice experience overall. I had a facial, pedicure and hot stone massage, and the services were exactly what the doctor ordered. The facilities are not too bad, although for the high-​end nature of the spa I would have expected much more luxury than what you see. It looks more like a hotel spa and less like what you’d expect from a stand-​alone Red Door Spa: the hotel gym separates the locker rooms from the relaxation room, the makeup station lingers oddly in the hallway between the massage rooms and the main hallway, the matchbox-​sized nail salon is on the opposite end of the hall from the relaxation room.
I was impressed by the fact that my friend, who was getting services at the same time as me, asked if she could use her GC even though she didn’t reference it at the time of booking and they happily accepted it. No hassle — period.
The reason I didn’t give this particular Red Door spa 5 stars is partly due to the physical environment (the layout just doesn’t make sense and the nail salon is just cramped) but also due to the fact that the host didn’t take the time to make sure the robes and shoes would fit before she left me and my friend in the locker room. I’m not average sized in anything (noticeably taller, curvier), so like other spas I would have expected acknowledgement of this. I had to come of of the locker room twice to ask for larger slippers and then a larger robe. I was tipping out of the locker room carefully because I didn’t want my tiny robe to expose my goodies! :)
Overall, me and my friend will definitely be back. I’m thrilled that we decided to make this a part of our vacation!

I must say, I was astonished to see all the negative reviews for this Red Door location! My boyfriend bought me a signature facial as one of my birthday presents and when I looked up the reviews on Unilocal,I was more than hesitant to go. Nevertheless, at his insistence, I booked my appointment online and used the gift certificate code to hold the reservation. No problems there.
When I arrived, I checked in and was promptly directed to the «locker room» to change into a robe. It did have somewhat of a fitness center feel, but I won’t dock a star for the 5 minute experience of changing out of my clothes.
My esthetician was Elena. After I filled out the paperwork, she retrieved me from the wait room and led me into a dimly lit room, which was fresh, clean, and relaxing due to the spa music playing in the background. I enjoy a good facial so I was pleasantly relieved when the routine was exactly what I expected. Cleansing, massaging, exfoliating, mask, arm and hand massage, extractions, etc. It was a pleasing and professional service from start to finish.
Afterward I received a complimentary makeup refresher from Rashelle. She was friendly and inquisitive and asked me what I was doing for the rest of the day so she knew how to apply my makeup.
Needless to say, I could not be more pleased with the service rendered at this Red Door Salon and I will most definitely return!

Disclaimer: This review is not on their services but on their false advertising.
I was looking forward to finally being able to try a Red Door Salon service thanks to Spa Week (Oct. 10 – 16, 2011). Unfortunately, when I called to book my appointment, I was told this location is only offering Spa Week specials from the 10^th thru the 13^th. I know some spas and salons extend their spa week specials, but never reduce them. If that was the case, they should not participate is Spa Week as the website and advertisements provide SPECIFIC dates.
With only four days to choose from, I was limited to two days because I have prior engagements on the other two. However, the only appointments they had left were all during the afternoon. Even though I told the person on the phone that I can only go after 6pm, he kept me on the phone by pulling up appointments during the day.
Red Door Spas are overpriced and I haven’t heard many good things about them, but I’ve been waiting to try their services when (if?) they offer specials so I can form my own opinion. Apparently, I should just listen to my friends and not waste my time.

Despite my amazing company (my best girlfriend) and a nice massage, this spa could have easily put me in a foul mood. Nobody at the front desk when you arrive to start with. then you have to walk through a linen closet to get to the locker rooms… and yes, it feels much more like a gym locker room than a spa ladies room. Eerily quiet, only two showers (one of which is for a wheelchair), the sauna was turned off and room temperature, and you must walk past the gym and front door in your bathrooms to get to the sitting area and treatment rooms… very very awkward layout. And who wants everything to feel awkward when you’re at the spa? My service was nice, really can’t complain about this but there is a total lack of ambiance here which I consider an essential part of the spa experience.
p.s.
Also even though my friend and I booked our massages weeks in advance, we got a call the week of our appointment to say a female massage therapist was no longer available and our request could no longer be accommodated… way to be professional there.