I purchased a couple's massage deal for Spa St James on living social on a whim and was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon massage with my bf.
The Spa is very well located, the receptionists downstairs were lovely and the waiting area upstairs had a pot of tea ready...it looked promising.
The couples massage room was small and the carpet had seen better days - there was no separate area to undress, no fluffy robes...
My bf's massage therapist was Kim, by all accounts she was sweet and gave a great soothing massage....we barely heard her in the room.
My massage therapist was Fillippo - he clearly didn't get the memo that it was supposed to be a soothing couple's massage and that he wasn't the only person in the room - he kept talking and gave me some sort of sport massage which involved twisting me into various odd positions...I'm sure it was great for my muscles but it wasn't very relaxing. My bf kept worrying that I was getting hurt as I'd whimper and be told to breathe through the pain...
After the massage there was no area to decompress - we barely had time to dress when there was a knock at door and we were told that the room needed to be readied for the next clients. We were led to one bathroom to freshen up (with 2 other girls waiting) and told we could sit and relax in a narrow hallway with 2 hard backed chairs and one carafe of water.
I'm glad I didn't pay full price for the experience.