V.I.P. Spa & Nail

I’ve been going here for 3 years now, it’s my regular pedicure place. They are inexpensive and their pedicures last forever. I love the massage chairs and the hot stones.
I’ve had a few manicures on occasion (not gel, just polish) and they weren’t unbelievably good like the pedicures, but I’m not a huge mani person anyway.
People seemed annoyed about several things in the negative reviews:
1) Friendliness. They are hit or miss. I don’t care, I either come with a friend and chat or want to read my trashy magazines.
2) Someone mentioned paying before the manicure. They do this so you don’t smudge your polish. The dryers also take a long time and they are usually busy with someone else when you’re done. Makes a lot of sense to me.
3) Cleanliness — I’ve never had a problem and I’ve been here over a dozen times. They disinfect the pools and their tools.
Bring cash for the tip — you can pay for your service on the credit card but can’t tip.

I had a really sub-​par manicure here today. I only came because I wanted to walk-​in and a salon don’t the street couldn’t take me.
My nails were filed unevenly and polish application was sloppy. The actual polish appeared to be old and was thicker than it should have been, causing it to not go on smoothly. The woman who did my manicure was fine, but I hope I don’t sound paranoid when I say that I am pretty sure they were talking about me there… I mean, it wasn’t that discrete.
Not to mention the place didn’t feel clean and I’m unsure if the tools were sterilized or not…

Went to VIP nails on Easter Sunday. Everyone was so nice and cheerful! Jenny is the best! My nails look amazing! I got a gel mani and regular pedi. The leg massage with the hot stones is included and it was awesome.
Great staff, prices are reasonable and very clean. Ask for Jenny!

My usual place for affordable and decent quality gel nail. Me, being Asian, I feel comfortable with their «normal» (not fancy, luxury, over-​the-​top welcoming) attitude to regulars. If you want to be treated special, go somewhere else.
If there is a mess or tipping off next day, they do their best to fix it for free.

Good place to get your nails done. I have been here a few times and often on a whim. There is always someone available and lots of chairs. I can see the place getting busy at times though since its in a central location. The ladies are nice and I have no major complaints. They do a pretty good job.

They might have few regulars who get better service and give them better reviews, but aren’t you suppose to give just as good service to new customers???
First time I went to this place (suggested by a friend) I had a decent experience! The place is clean and their prices are reasonable! Although, today was my second time and let me tell you I had worst experience in the history of mani pedi! When I arrived a girl on the reception asked me if she can help me, I told her I had an mani-​pedi appointment! Without greeting me, without single ounce of expression or smile she straight asked me to choose a color of nail polish! She took some stuff and asked me to sit on a chair! I was rolling my pants up and she said «that’s it that’s enough». She then started to do my padi and I swear she didn’t even touch my feet the whole time. I did not feel anything on my feet AT ALL. She was soooooo unprofessional and inexperienced and had zero conversation with me! She had such a straight angry pissed off face as if she hated me being there. (I am not exaggerating, this is exactly what happened)! My pedi was done in 10 mins — LITERALLY! Then, she did my mani and asked me to dry my painted nails at the drying area. She then turned away sat at the reception desk and put her headphones on. When I left, she did not even say ‘bye’. I felt so unwelcome! I am gonna be honest, I did not even give them a tip this time and I ALWAYS give tips!

Totally great. Inexpensive, very friendly staff, reasonable attention to detail, and the manicure lasted a solid week without any chipping (I use my hands too much to have it last any longer…). $ 29 for a mani/​pedi if you pay in cash!

I really like this place! It’s the only place I go in Boston. I always think their instruments are clean and can usually accommodate walk ins. The women there do a good job of cleaning up your nails and making sure they look good. I’m always happy with I leave!

This is my favorite nail salon I have ever been to. My friend lives in Somerville and I try to frequent every time I am in the area.
They are frequently busy, which I consider a good thing. My mani/​pedis last forever. I had a traditional manicure that lasted as long as, and looked as good as gel.

Very great service. Was a little busy and had to wait 20 minutes for service. But overall I was impressed. Pedi/​Gel

This place looks pretty crappy – I’d walked by many, many times and never considered going in – but is actually fantastic! I ultimately came here in desperation: It was a Sunday and many nail places were closed. Those that were open, like Beauty Spa down the street, were packed, so I walked up to VIP and they were able to take me. Not sure of the name of the woman I saw, but she was GREAT. Super experienced, super quick, but very thorough and detailed. My manicure looked amazing and lasted as long as any I’ve gotten at much more expensive places. My daughter, who is six, was with me, and asked if she could get her nails done, too. I assumed they’d say ‘no,’ but an incredibly sweet woman (again, don’t know her name; very beautiful Asian woman in her twenties) gave her a huge smile, and said, «of course!» She painted my daughter’s nails purple, then painted perfect white hearts at the center of each nail. To say that my daughter was thrilled would be huge understatement. She was in absolute heaven.
Anyway, point is: This is a bare bones place, but the people who work here are wonderful. Skilled, kind, lovely. And I really appreciated how they did such a great job so quickly, without skimping. I’m only giving them four stars because if one is looking for a super-​relaxing experience, this is probably not the place. It’s very dingy inside, and can be a bit hectic. But if you just want a great manicure, come here!

I used to be a regular here when I lived next door. It was super convenient. I had some great mani/​pedis And I had some off ones, where my nail polishes either chipped or turned yellow. But everyone is really nice that works there and I actually have gotten some of the best eyebrow waxes I’ve ever had (including top notch spas and salons).

Just got my nails done (acrylic fill) by Miss Thi (Tee). She does a great job. I’ve been going to this Salon for the last 16 months, quit smoking & gave myself the gift of Acrylic nails. She’s quick & efficient & she does whatever I want to try. Today was Spring Flowers. She did such a fantastic job I had to come here & show them off. Thank you Thi & the girls at VIP Spa & Nails! Prices are reasonable & one day soon I’m going to get a Pedicure. :-) I’ve had my brows waxed. :-D

I come here often for a manicure and I always tip almost 50%. Last week, however, I was the recipient of the most appalling manicure and customer service I have ever experienced to date. The manicure lasted no more than 6 minutes in total. I am not exaggerating when I say this. I was worried about getting a ticket when I parked, as I only had one quarter in my car (15 minutes), but figured I would just chance it. The manicure usually lasts between 25 and 30 minutes. This time, however, I returned to my car to discover that there were still 3 minutes left on my meter (after walking in, waiting, getting the so-​called ‘manicure’, paying, and getting back to the car). At least I didn’t get a ticket. The woman doing the manicure (lightly older, glasses, long hair pulled back) seemed to be in a horrible mood, or perhaps she was disgusted by me (both?). I couldn’t decide… She made fun of me for being a man getting a manicure and laughed about it several times, which was uncomfortable. She then raced through the entire service like she didn’t want to touch me or something. My nails looked absolutely horrible — worse than when I had walked in. The other employees said nothing of the fact that this woman took no longer than 6 minutes to complete this $ 12 service… Nobody even batted an eye. I was truly shocked and upset by the terrible service I had just received and felt annoyed and embarrassed and confused. She skipped over the massage (choosing instead to just slap lotion on each hand). She then pushed my hands away and said «done». She did not offer clear coat. She did not offer a buff shine. I laughed nervously and payed her (and tipped!!). I will never go back to VIP ever again, as I have never felt less like a VIP than I did on that day. Shame on you VIP for not providing me with quality (or even remotely acceptable) service, shaming me in your salon, allowing such things to transpire right before your eyes and not stepping in to fix them, and for making me feel so horrible on that visit overall.

This place was great! I got an acyrlic set done by Chi (I believe I am saying/​writing her name right) and she was awesome! The pricing was good as well. Very attentive to the nail shape I wanted and just an overall sweet lady. I am definitely coming back and seeing her! :)

Pedi = 4 Stars
Mani = 2 Stars
Part of the basic $ 32 mani/​pedi deal.
Pedi was fine — hot stones and a nice foot massage, can’t go wrong.
Run of the mill mani, nothing to write home about. But when it came time to pay (before painting), there was an extra $ 6 charge. Not the end of the world but after wrestling with the manicurist as to why, it was finally explained to me that it was due to the polish I had chosen (which was already used on my toes). Not a gel color, just a regular pink OIP polish which was mixed in with every other color with no sign describing the extra cost. They said the polish lasts longer and thus the extra charge. Now, I have been getting my nails done for 20 years and unless its a gel or acrylic manicure, regular polish lasts about a week — MAYBE. At this point, it wasn’t worth arguing or changing the color since it was already on my toes.
2 days later, my nails are already chipping. Though I didn’t have much faith that the «special» long lasting polish would actually last longer, I was a bit disappointed to have paid an extra $ 6 for a basic manicure.
Not saying I wont go back, just saying I’ll be more aware of my polish choices.

I go here sometimes for what is usually a slap dash mani or pedi. They do an ok job but not a great job. It’s conveniently located and I think that’s what drums them up so much business.
I came in for a manicure today and as the place filled up the lady doing my nails got more distracted and annoyed.
She asked for payment before she started with the polish which I found weird. I should have just left but as goes with this kind of thing I paid and stayed. She did not have the design color I wanted even though I showed her what I wanted before I sat down. Then tried to convince me to get a different color. As she looked through a box of thin brush polishes I noticed most of them were old and clumpy. The work was rushed and the finished look is sloppy looking.
I won’t be returning.

I’ve been here a few times. They can get a bit busy which is normal for a Friday (especially in the summer). My mani/​pedis were ok but on two occasions the polish chipped the next day. If you choose an old color that has been «stretched» with nail polish remover that can happen and I’m assuming they do it often. Also, they double dip the sticks for waxing.
What bothered me most was seeing that they use old worn down pumice stones to scrub everyone’s feet. They just rinse them in the sink after scrubbing someone and reuse. I’ll never go back to this place. Save your money and potential health risk .It seems unsanitary and I’m sure there are probably several health code violations if an inspector pops in unexpectedly

I’m sad to give less stars on an update but I feel like VIP really went down hill. I loved my experiences there until about 6 months ago. The salon itself got very busy and often times it would take me upwards of 2 hours to get a gel manicure.
I finally branched out and to be honest — got better service. It bothers me that VIP began charging a fee to get shellac removed if I was getting another manicure. It is the only salon I’ve ever been to that charged for that as a service.
When I request certain manicurist (Anna, Nancy, or Li) I get an excellent service — but only if they are not crowded. Now that I no longer drive to work I think I have to move on, but we had a good run VIP.

Pros:
Reasonable prices
Very good location
Good and pretty skilled staff
Gives you little disposable flip flops if you aren’t wearing sandals
Cons:
Very very strong nail polish smell
Limited selection of polishes — many of them are very old
Gets very crowded
Been here a couple of times now. I definitely have mixed feelings about this salon — on one hand, it’s convenient and definitely gets the job done, but on the other hand it’s constantly crowded, and service seems so rushed.
The salon is located in the basement of a shopping center right off of the Porter Square T stop; the place had some really strong polish fumes (I’ve gotten my nails done at quite a few places, and the polish scent was definitely a lot stronger than I’m used to) and was really annoying for the rest of my trip. We walked in without an appointment at around 11am on a Tuesday, and the place was open but not extremely busy. My friend and I both opted for a pedicure. We had to wait for a good 30 minutes before we were able to get seated at a booth, and by the time we were halfway through the salon had become extremely crowded. The pedicure itself definitely went well.
Prices are very reasonable but service definitely drops when there are more people waiting. At one point even the receptionist was also giving a manicure, and people walking in had no one to greet them and were just standing around very confused (keep in mind the place is tiny). It doesn’t seem to matter if you have an appointment or not — when place is super crowded, you’ll probably get ignored for a while before someone checks you in. I would recommend going at off hours for good service.