[Honest Review] Spa Elements

Many of my friends may know that I love going for massages (No, I am not rich but I am one that goes for trials and Groupon deals - hence I am not really paying a lot to experience the services, but I guess they are more than enough for me to post my reviews on here!)

Unfortunately, there is no photograph taken for this review due to the rushed job (You will read more about it in later part of this post)

If you are someone who does read-ups of reviews (like me) before deciding to purchase any packages or deals from spa/massage companies, you will be glad to chance upon my blog as I will post my honest opinions on here (I am always honest, anyway. HAHA)

And one thing I always look out for is WHETHER a company will do hard-selling. 

I totally HATE hard-selling, it totally puts me off. Even if I am impressed by your services, I will NOT want to sign up with one that pushes sales. I am sure potential consumers like yourselves dislike it, too.

Enough said, I shall review on one of the massage companies I recently visited -Spa Elements. 

Unlike previous deals, I did not purchase it through Groupon - but rather, a voucher that was given to my friend (she is my massage khaki!).

We paid around $23 (inclusive of GST) after the services.

From their brochure, I noticed that there are two branches - One at The Cathay (Dhoby Ghaut area, which is the one I went to) and another at Orchard Ion.

Services: 6/10

Not sure if it's due to overwhelming response as they have an ongoing promotion, I feel that they have compromised on the quality of their services. 

From beginning to end, everything seemed like a pretty rushed job. 

I remembered the masseur knocking on my door to ask if I was ready when I've not even removed my shirt!

I was supposed to feel relaxed during the massage, but I felt somehow pressurized as the massage started off in a VERY fast-paced manner. Yes, it was still a 1-hour massage nonetheless and I guess they were just trying to make the best out of it. The masseur did slow down her pace in the middle though.

Quality of massage (Depending on the masseur): 7/10

The masseur had not bad skills. She did massage on some of my joints that badly needed a good massaging; and I felt they were on point.

Environment: 6/10

Quite a small and simple place, but cosy enough. There was a large wardrobe in each room for us to place our belongings.

Hard-selling factor: 2/10

I'm relieved. There's no hard-selling involved, even tough they did introduce some of their packages to us. The promotional price for their packages are at $68 per session, and I would say that it is not very cheap, as compared to other places I've been to.

Nonetheless, I am glad they are not pushy about their sales. That's a plus point.

Overall,I would say that they are still pretty okay - but not the best I've been to. I'll be reviewing more places on my blog in time to come - Stay tuned for more! :)

Review: Spa Symphony - 313@Somerset

Here's another long-awaited blog review of mine - and surprisingly... It was a negative experience turned positive.

Before you think this is another sponsored advertorial/review, I have to tell you it is not. Everything was paid for using our own money, and experiences are shared based on what we personally went through.

I'm not sure if any of you have came across a Groupon deal from Spa Symphony before, but I think I did patronize them years ago and forgotten about it.

(Sorry for the unclear pics, all the below were taken using my phone's camera under low lighting)

It was not until I received a call from them recently and they actually OFFERED me FREE facial session.

OMG, got what motive?!?!

Of course, ANY - I mean, ANY, sensible human will be on high alert and be skeptical about this, right?

FREE LEH. FREE. It's most un..un..un..un..believable.

Come on, there is no FREE lunch in this world. I was pretty sure there would be strings attached.

(No offence, but I am ALWAYS skeptical of spas, massage salons, etc because they are commonly about packages, packages, packages!)

"Do you mean it's tied with packages or what??" I asked the Mr.Nice Man who called me over the phone.

"No, ma'am. It's a one-time thing, and we are offering it for free. You can bring along your friend as well to enjoy the promotion together. Unless if you are interested in a body massage, it will be chargeable at $28."

Mmm, Did he just mention body massage? I would love that anytime!

$28 is actually considered a VERY reasonable price, considering that this is Singapore we are talking about. It's almost like paying at a Groupon deal price, except that this isn't really through Groupon.

Still on a skeptical mode, I agreed to take up the body massage option, much to his surprise.

"You are okay with paying $28 for the body massage, right?"

(LOL, I guess he must have thought all Singaporeans would opt for FREE facial session and did not expect that someone would actually not mind paying for other services)

"Yes, I know, I am okay with it." I replied.

Together with my massage kaki (Let's call her "Shreky"), we made an appointment and headed down for it. I somehow expected us to get into some hardselling shit. 

Unfortunately, they called me on THE day and informed me that one of us would have to give up the massage due to their masseur's last minute of urgent leave. They offered the option for us to switch to the free facial session instead.

Being a hardcore massage lover, I was quite disappointed, lah. Honestly, I had been looking forward to a good massage after all the body-ache!

Nonetheless, I took up the free facial session and let Shreky proceed with her massage.

When we reached the place, I was kinda' impressed by the glass door design. LOL.

Quite atas-looking, I would say.

As we entered, the staff greeted us with smiling faces.

Hmm. Not bad. Friendly. Wait till we reject all those packages during their hard-sell talk...

For a start, we were asked to fill in a form with our particulars.

We did not wait long before we were being ushered into our individual rooms. 

As I am a person who has sensitive skin, I was kinda' worried about the facial massages. (And not to mention it was FREE)

The staff assured me that all their products are made from organic ingredients and suitable for all skin types.

Hmm, well... Okaaay.

A young and pleasant-looking lady attended to me during the session. Somehow, we clicked and started chatting away- even sharing our personal stories.

The facial session was surprisingly quite comfortable, and I really love the ambiance of the room. (I noticed that they have an exquisite design placed on top of their ceiling in 3D mode.. And you will feel like you are looking at a sky/ top of a tree top!)

I was glad that there was no hard-selling done during the process (I have heard enough horror stories of customers going through a tedious hard-selling talk during facials)

When we came out of our rooms after 60 minutes, tea was served.

A lady walked in and greeted us.

I REALLY THOUGHT THE HARD-SELLING PART WOULD COME ANYTIME NOW.

Indeed, the lady did introduce us of their services - but that was surprisingly it. 

There was completely no expected hard-selling from their side, and even politely thanked us when we told her that we would think about it.

WAH, this is seriously BEST.

The facial session really came with NO string attached. It was just their way of service introduction to us, and I really appreciate that Spa Symphony was true to their words.

You know, this is the kind that I wouldn't mind signing up packages or paying for - instead of some others who use methods of hard-selling.

If you are any business owner who use hard-selling tactics, I hope you read and LEARN from them. Hard-selling will get you nowhere. In fact, it will only get on customers' nerves and cause them to shun.

So yes, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Spa Symphony for being such a good sport! The facial session was superb and your staff are really friendly.

I won't mind bringing other friends back there again if there are any other promotions in future. 

Tried, tested and highly recommended from SGComplainQueen! Hahaha.

Here's their website if any of you is/are interested:

http://www.spasymphony.com.sg/

(Too bad that I did not get the chance to take many photos there as I did not intend to blog about it but eventually decided to!)

Groupon Review: Oriental Spa Chamber [PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!]

You may not know, but I am a total fanatic of massages!

In fact, I have been to quite a few that I kinda' regretted not blogging about them - reason being that I always purchase them through Groupon deals, and I am sure many of you out there would be googling for some reviews before clicking that "Buy Now" button.

Right, right... Right??!!

As such, I have decided to be *kind* and start blogging down my experiences for each Groupon deal that I purchase for the benefit of anyone who may be considering about it.

Be rest assured that I am not PAID in any way to blog about their services, hence these reviews are definitely not any form of advertisement. If they are good, then they simply are.

 If they are not, then I hope they are now regretting how badly they treated me (Note: Never offend a blogger! *glares*)

I have always believed in the importance of REVIEWS. They form a huge part of the company's reputation, no?

OK, so here's one that I purchased and tried yesterday with my Shreky:

The Oriental Spa Chamber

I actually came across this place randomly once and was amused by its name. The chinese words "Huang Ah Ma" literally mean "Emperor Dad" (not sure if I translated correctly) back in the olden Dynasty times. I was tempted to visit the place; and my wish was somehow granted when I spotted it on Groupon coincidentally on another day.

 Ok, it is not really THAT cheap - I got the one that was on promotion for 2 pax and we paid $42.50 each for 90 mins of session with them. It's usual prices for ala carte are WAY, WAY more expensive than the deal price!

(The session includes 60 minutes FULL body massage + 15 mins foot soak + 15 mins Sauna)

What appealed me was its ORIENTAL interior design of the place based on the photos that were advertised on its website. (Not to mention that I am a huge fan of oriental style).

So you can imagine my excitement when I managed to secure an appointment with them after I purchased the deal.

However, the booking of appointment wasn't really a smooth-sailing one as I was unreasonably told that they do not offer massage services AFTER April (I had wanted to book for a slot in June). I was appalled as it was supposed to be valid till AUGUST as stated on the Groupon website! The person who picked up my call did not provide me any reason despite me asking; and just simply insisted that they do not offer the services after April.

Well then, I gave in and went for a slot in March.

And so we went - Fortunately, the place was easily located as it was within a short walking distance from Chinatown MRT (Purple Line) - Exit E.

Gosh, I love, LOVE this painting on the wall. Talk about oriental!

Kudos to whoever painted the wall. Haha~

The Oriental Spa Chamber actually resides INSIDE a hotel, so its unmistakable!

We actually spent some time admiring the exterior and taking some random photographs before heading in for our registration.

Gosh, I believe this is one of the rarer times I'm posting a non-makeup photo of myself - but heck. I am not gonna care what you think. Ugly then ugly, lor.

(I don't know why, but I am not into makeup nowadays unless there are really important events. Getting lazy, I guess? But whatever)

When we finally got our asses into the place, we were led to a small cozy room and Ginger tea was served! We were told to wait for our turn as it was a busy Sunday for them. Since their waiting area was VERY comfortable (it somehow reminded me of those small study room in an ancient palace)

Pictures unclear due to the dim lighting and we were using our front camera - my sincere apologies!

Here's a pic taken from my better camera:

Palace, palace!

When it was our turn, we were called in to a small room that consisted of 2 comfy massage-alike chairs:

We were told to soak our feet in the bucket of sea salt water.

(It was #(*$##*$ scalding hot and it took us awhile to adapt to the temperature before we could fully soak our feet in)

Here's a pic of me getting all panicky at the feel of the hot water~

That's my Shreky:

(Note that she did not insert her feet entirely into the water too HAHAHA!)

Ok, now that the water is not that hot...

(We were allowed to bring in our Ginger tea to drink & enjoy the feet soak at the same time)

Shreky's Crayon-Shin Chan manicure design that she did in Malaysia! CUTE to the max!

Look at this door that I love so much:

When our 15 mins feet soak was up, we were led to hall of different compartments where we could finally lie down and relax for our 60 mins full body massage. I was SO hyped up at the thought that  I couldn't wait to pounce on the massage bed so badly. Speaking about being desperate. HAHA.

We were given time to change and wrap ourselves with towels while awaiting our masseurs. (Don't worry, they are all female masseurs!)

Sorry- as much as we had wanted to take photos of us during the massage session, we couldn't as we did not have a photographer with us. (Not to mention that we were given lockers to lock our bags outside)

Both Shreky and I were lucky that we were in the same compartment (We actually bought the 2 pax meant for couples); hence we were able to communicate with each other more freely!

So... You might be wondering how well the body massage went, right?

To be fair, I have to say that it was OK-OK. The initial part started out being painful as the masseur seemed to have powerful hands (I did tell her that it was quite painful and she used lesser force. In fact, it is always important to let your masseur know the level of pain you are experiencing during the massage!) . Thankfully, it became slightly more comfortable soon-after and I almost did fall asleep.

I would give the massage services a 7/10. 

It is definitely not the "VERY SHIOK" kind of massage; but its still okay for the experience. I mean, if you are not able to take the pain... Just voice it out and the masseur will definitely respect you. :)

The masseurs were friendly people, and despite the fact that we came in using Groupon vouchers, they still gave us good service (There are some places that will totally offer you a not-here-or-there service if they see that you purchase their services using vouchers).

Fortunately, the service at Oriental Spa Chamber was great.

We were being taken into a small room for our 15 min Sauna (In fact, it was my VERY first Sauna experience!) I didn't like it at the beginning, but slowly adapted to the heat and I was amazed by the amount of sweat that came out from all parts of my body - including my face!Honestly, I felt like I was a pig being roasted in a hot oven - but the "after-effect" was awesome.

The moment when we stepped out of the Sauna room, I FELT LIKE I WAS REBORN AGAIN. HAHAHA.

Our masseurs came over and gave us our towels to wipe our bodies before proceeding back into our compartment to change.

The best part of all about the Groupon deal?

THERE WAS TOTALLY NO HARD-SELLING OF ANYTHING.

 No hard-selling of packages or products, etc. I was most impressed.

So if you were to ask me whether this is something that is worth purchasing, I would say.. 

GO FOR IT! :)

Even if its not for the massage experience, you may be interested in the oriental style of its interior.

So I guess that shall end my review here... Do bookmark my blog for more future reviews on the different deals I'm gonna try out! :)