Spa 195

Back in the day, I was a nanny at North Harbor Tower (next door)…and the family I worked for treated me to a mani/​pedi at Spa 195. It is tucked away in the 195 N Harbor Drive condo building, which if you aren’t familiar with the «New East Side» (yes, that’s an official ‘hood name), you will likely never find it…
So basically, just take Upper Randolph Street east, stay above ground (to the right), take it til it curves into Harbor Drive (left), and there you are. It’s a herd of highrises, so there are several parking garage options, but you’ll pay a mint.
The spa is somewhat sparse, but conveniently located for those living in this peninsula of high rises… it means they don’t have to walk down the wind tunnel that is Randolph Street, and it’s literally steps away. That’s the bonus.
The mani/​pedi I had was great, although I did not pay for it… but the staff was friendly. The salon/​spa is very small… basically, use this place if you live over here… if not, there are much better options.

I went to spa 195 for my first brazillian. I thought since the prices were high I would be getting the best service. I was more wrong than you can imagine. It was so painful and the woman acted like she was doing me a favor. It was not thorough, I still had to go home and tweeze which I don’t understand why she couldn’t do.
I went twice, only because I had no idea what to expect and I the fact that I don’t want to take my pants off for everyone. The first time she charged me $ 90. The second time she charged me $ 95 and told me I needed to come in so she could «fix» my eyebrows and because I needed a facial. I go somewhere else now and could not be happier
Don’t go its terrible!!!

I went to this spa for a Pretty in Pink special and picked it because it was a couple blocks from my office. I had an appointment for a «pumpkin pedicure» at 5:30 and I arrived at 5:15. I was told that the person I had an appt with had stepped out for a minute b/​c she was booked back to back. No big deal. After a few minutes they went to find her and when she comes in, I hear her say she was just about to start 2 (yes 2) pedicures, neither of which are me. After being offered water or tea one too many times, I finally took some water. My pedicure didn’t get started until just after 6:15. I again was offered more water which I accepted. Their price list says this pedicure is 1 hour and mine was about 45 – 50 minutes and that was only because she was working on someone else the same time as me! I didn’t bring flip-​flops so I had to sit another 20 minutes waiting for my toes to dry so by the time I got out of there I had been there 2 hours and 15 minutes, for a pedicure! When I walked in, I saw a sign that said that they could not add tips to credit card charges. I only had a few dollars cash so I said something to the receptionist and she said she would add it for me. Ok. So I’m in a room with 2 other guests and she comes in and says that she wants to close out the drawer and asks if we can pay now. I give her my card and ask her again (in front of the person working on me and 3 other people) about adding a tip to the card. She says okay. She comes back to have only charged me for the pedicure and proceeds to tell me that it’s too late to add a tip! At this point I’m starting to lose patience. Had I known I was going to wait an hour I could have left to get cash or better yet, just cancel.
The place itself is pretty small, there are 4 or 5 rooms and each one (except for the facial/​massage rooms) doubled as something else. I felt like I was walking over things and people trying to get anywhere. It is located in the lobby of an upscale apartment building near Harbor Towers. Looking at the price list, their prices seem to be in the average to high range.
The owner or someone told me that she would give me a free manicure on my next visit for my wait. Needless to say I didn’t get that in writing and this person left before I did. My pedicure experience was good (although it was light on the «pumpkin») but the service left a lot to be desired. Nothing about the experience was worth the $ 52 this pedicure normally costs and not even the $ 31 I paid. I don’t think I’ll be taking advantage of my free manicure.