Albany Professional Spa

I was rather impressed by my experience at this new spa. Not only by the price but the quality of the massage I received. This was mainly because I wasn’t expecting anything great. In fact, I think I received one of the best massages courtesy of my masseuse, Tina. She asked me at what pressure I wanted my massage– medium or hard, Medium was just right. She loosened a lot of the knots in my neck and shoulders where I tend to hold a lot of stress.
Even better, was that I came in with a stuffy nose and cough, but came out with neither of them. I’m a believer in holistic medicine so it’s possible that something in my muscles was obstructing the natural flow of my body. When that was all straightened out, I had the best relief of my life. I kid you not. This may not be an experience that everyone has, but I’m sure happy it happened to me. I definitely will be back. The only downside (hence, the deduction of 1 star) is that the walls are thin and you can hear people in the hallway, so you may not have a completely relaxing experience. But for $ 45/​hour massage, you get a shower and sauna time. Doesn’t get any better than that. Oh wait it does– they hand you a piece of fruit on your way out. Thanks, Albany Pro Spa!

I agree with other reviews that the atmosphere could be better — you do hear the phone and voices outside the room and the music is outside the room/​hard to hear.
That said, I received one of the best massages I have ever had! And a serious deep-​tissue massage is what I needed. So atmosphere is not my priority.
Everyone was super friendly and it was easy to book an appointment.
Super reasonable pricing on top of it all!

Katty has left and is now at M & F Moon Spa see my review.
I am writing this for two reasons:
1) To call out that their best masseuse has moved to another place so if you are a Katty fan please take note.
2) To mention there are still solid masseuse’s here, I have had May and Linda and both were great, for me they are not as good as Katty but give a quality massage none the less.

Just had a great experience with massage and sauna. I just walked by and stopped in, and they took me in right away. I had a massage with Katie who worked out my knots and tensions on my shoulder and back. The massage room is clean and neat, and I just heard peaceful music the whole time. The staff were very friendly. The sauna fits about 1 – 2 people and I had it to myself the whole time. I only stayed in about 20 minutes and it was really peaceful and meditative. The sauna is a cedar wood sauna and heats up quite nicely. Overall, great experience.

Dear Readers,
This is a wonderful place. It is clean and professional. Keep in mind there are two massage places very close to each other and I am commenting on Albany Professional. I am a regular customer there and am very grateful for the physical and mental relief these women have provided for me.
(The other place, with the red massage sign, is smaller and although they provide a nice massage, they are very pushy about the tip, and if you do not tip enough they give you a dirty looks and pressure you verbally to give more.)
It is true that many of the women speak little English but either Nancy the owner, or Katie are on hand to answer any questions you may have upon request. Nancy, Katie, Mei and Tina can provide very hard pressure massages. I have had one «not great» massage from one of the ladies but after speaking with the owner she has made sure that I have not had her for a massage.
These ladies work exceptionally hard to provide excellent service for an affordable cost, and if you would like to know their names just ask them.

Katie is the best. She is gentle and effective with her techniques. But she was out, so I saw Lisa, who applied such hard pressure to my spine, it hurt, and such hard pressure to my leg, it bruised. From now on, I’ll only see Katie.

The massage itself was okay, not the best but not bad either. I don’t know who my masseuse was because she didn’t mention her name. I would have given this place three stars but I did not like the fact that I could hear the women talking and laughing outside, the walls are relatively thin and cubicle like. Call me old fashioned but I like peace and quiet when I get my massage, if I fall asleep you ROCK– in this case I couldn’t even hear the relaxing music. I might go back and give them another try, not sure yet.

Absolutely the best.
Don’t be put off by the fact that it is on MLK and in near proximity to some seedy looking massage places, you must go and give it a try!
The place is clean, everyone is friendly and professional. The massages are amazing and inexpensive. Both Anna and Maggie are very good. My wife had a great massage, but unfortunately she didn’t get the name of the woman. :(
After our massage they gave us water and… apples!
Noise does travel in the building and you can hear the phone ring and people speaking, but that is true of most Chinese massage establishments, and it doesn’t bother me personally.
A place this good deserves your support.

What an amazing massage! I didn’t have to set an appointment and I was able to be seen right away. Nice clean, professional place that has wonderful service. The massage it’s self was great and thorough.

I know of Albany Professional Spa because I know the owners from their last employment in El Cerrito. When They told me they were starting a business I was excited to see their new location and try it out. The new location is very nice. It is Clean and very professional. The service is great and they pay attention to every detail.
My main reason for going to Albany Professional Spa is because I know what a great massage Katie gives. She is amazing and I would recommend her to anyone. Actually, everyone I have recommended her to raves about her. In my case I have a sensitive back and I do not let anyone give me a massage. She is very intuitive and knows just the right amount of pressure to apply. She is extremely good at what she does!

Yesterday was by far the worse massage I ever got. I do these pretty often so I know what I am talking about. It was the second time I came here and I was pleased with the 60 min massage by Ana the first time, although she did not do my feet which I thought was a shortcoming. Hence I asked for 90 min for my next massage to make sure they had time to also massage the feet. I had not specifically asked for Ana again because I do not know the others and thought I can give anyone a chance. I actually do not know the name of the therapist I was assigned if she even is one. The whole experience was aweful. It started with the welcome which which was as soon as I entered and told them who I was ‘It will be $ 60, how much do you want to give for tip?’. I clarified that they wanted me to pay first but how do I know how much to tip before hand? So I gave a standard % and then would add more $ if I am pleased so to speak after the massage. They put me in the first room to the right as soon as you enter, which they had also done the first time. Well this time it was very disturbing. Contiuous phone conversations, people being greeted, questions being asked to other therapists, door opening and closing, delivery man, and you hear it all because you are literally right next to the desk as the wall is open on top. You even loose the sense of privacy let stand alone the noise. Not the tranquil place you desire for a massage. The massage was aweful, the worse, 40 min on my shoulder blades going really slowly back and forth, not sure what we were trying to accomplish, no head, hardly the neck, no arms, then the lower back slowly back and forth for another 15 min followed by the back of my legs, and then she made me turn, and did 15 min on the top of my feet (not the sole), just the top (clearly I had asked for my feet to be massaged but then I get this?) after which they cleaned me a warm towel. What was that? No ending with the shoulders and head??? No whole body massaging with both legs and arms? I was speechless, I just stormed out, could not even speak, I had never experienced anything this bad. Of course I should have said something while being massaged but I thought it will pick up, it will get better. It never did. The worse!!! Clearly not all therapists are worthwile, I think mine was no therapist, hardly spoke english, so watch out who you get.

This place is new and very clean. It is a CMT only place, so if you are looking for something else, it’s not the place to be. However, if you need a professional massage, you should try this one. I also got an hour and half massage by Katie, a young, pretty and pleasant lady with years of experience. Her walk on my back was super and she gave me a good deep tissue massage which was relaxing and helpful in reducing the pain in my shoulder.

This massage center was started by Nancy and Katie, formerly of Qi Gong in El Cerrito. It is completely new, with steam bath and sauna (I used the sauna). They opened today, so everything is new and clean. I got an hour and half massage by Katie. It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a massage by her, but it was very good. Everything is not quite settled because they just opened, but it seems like a winner to me. I’ve previously gotten massages from both of them at Qi Gong and found them to be friendly and hard working. Their prices are the same as the other places in the area.