Escape Salon and Day Spa

Mama always told me… if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
I bought an Eversave for this place to have a mani/​pedi done for the price of just the mani. Yay. Sounded awesome. I made this purchase after talking with the business owner and letting him convince me that the mythical unicorn of a «high end salon» could POSSIBLY exist in Hudson, FL. Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with Hudson but they aren’t really known for their high end any thing except tattoo parlors. However, the owner, Anthony assured me that they were modeling themselves after the Clearwater salons I am used to. Okay. However, before I used my Eversaves on the mani/​pedis, my friend and I decided to go in for haircuts there.
Well, I called that salon about four times. No answer. Left messages. No return calls. I call there again. I am greeted by a sparkling bucket of personality named «Sky», who sounded like she was still asleep. I let Sky know that we called a few times, left a message and that no one ever called us back. She said «Okay, so? How can I help you?» No «Sorry no one called you back.» I said to her, «you aren’t going to say any thing about that?» She just said, «No. Do you want an appointment or not?» I was a bit taken aback so I asked to speak to the manager/​owner Anthony. She just hung up the phone. No goodbye. Just a hang up. Suddenly the «high end» was more like the «shallow end.»
I got Anthony on the phone and after a lot of listening to his excuses why no one called (the air conditioner broke, the staff was overbooked, etc.) he asked if we still wanted appointments. We booked appointments with him and with Tiffany for their 4^th of July special which was 50% off a cut and style. Their haircuts were $ 25. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well the day of our appointments. I called to cancel mine but my best friend continued to hers. After searching all over Hudson to find this «high end salon», which was buried in a wooded area off 19 in an industrial area, she went in. The first thing she noticed was that the salon SHARED A SPACE with a pizzeria! (Google the address on «Google Maps», zero in for the close up view. It is definitely worth the laugh!) There is an enormous pizza logo on the side of the salon! (I hate her for not taking a picture of this!)
The inside of the salon was nice and clean. She was never greeted by the salon owner, Anthony, which is what a high end salon does. She sat down for her cut with Tiffany, who my friend did say was very nice. When you go to a «high end» stylist, you are supposed to get a consult, suggesting what you would like and then, what the stylist envisions what they could do to meet your end vision. Then generally, the owner/​manager comes over to hear what both the stylist and client have agreed on to make sure that everyone was happy and pleased with the plan. Well, the «cut and style» consult was so bad that my friend ended up too terrified to have this girl give her more than just a trim. She «styled» her hair. (Translation: blew her straight hair… straight.) No «style». A haircut and style is normally $ 25. For some reason, she got charged $ 22. This was supposed to be a 50% off special. Then, when she got her bill/receipt…there was a spot there for a «suggested tip», despite the fact that this salon advertises itself as a «no gratuity» salon as most high end salons do. If you advertise as a no tip salon, then you do not put a space for a gratuity on the receipt as it would compel someone to leave a tip of some sort lest they look cheap.
Instead of arguing the price, my friend just paid the $ 22 and added a $ 5 tip just to get out of there. She didn’t want to make a bad impression because she knew I still had two Eversaves for mani/pedi’s that I intended to use in the future. However, after our poor experience… mine with the customer service, hers with the salon itself, we both opted out of ever going back. I called Eversave, let them know about our experience and they very quickly and graciously refunded my Eversaves for the original purchase price, no questions asked. I can tell you most assuredly that I will continue to head into Clearwater when I want a proper salon experience. She was not made to feel comfortable, warm or invited… all the key points to running a high end salon and day spa.
The only reason I offered them a second star is because of they supposedly donate 5% of all service revenues to charity.
They also offer 20% off on your return visit if you book an appointment with them before leaving the salon. How can they afford to do that, you may ask? Simple. No repeat business after the way they treat you.
There’s an old saying. You can put lipstick on pig… but it’s still just a pig.
Pucker up and say oink, Escape Salon and Day Spa.
We won’t be back.