The Lotus Center

— Massage itself was okay
— Dark hallway entrance with makeshift reception desk… Unwelcoming and sketchy
— Musty smell in the rooms/​towels/​sheets
— Not the ‘spa’ experience you would expect from $ 110 one hour massage!
— Go somewhere with better reviews. We will not be returning to this place.

Well…
The thing is, we’re here on vacation and it’s HAWAII. a normal person is going to expect to be WOW’d in Paradise.
This place is ok… its reception area is a stand in the hallway between the HR department of the resort and some hotel rooms and the receptionist wasn’t very helpful or professional.
This «spa» didn’t have any wet rooms, saunas, or showers available for use. It’s literally the stand and a couple of converted hotel rooms. Since it’s right next to Don’s you can hear the restaurant crowd and any passing cruise ships.
On the bright side, Lily and her counterpart were very personable and give good massages. However, for the price of $ 260 for a couple’s massage, the value just wasn’t there.

I went to this spa to try to purchase a gift certificate. I thought this would be an easy process, but no. First off, they do not take American Express. That’s fine, I have other cards. I gave the man my other credit card who proceeded to tell me that my $ 75 gift certificate would be $ 78.12. When I asked why, he said he had to charge tax on the gift certificate. I was buying the certificate for someone who only gave me $ 75, so I said I wanted the gift certificate to be for $ 75. He proceeded to do some figuring on his laptop, and charge my card which was a veerrryyyy long process. He then handed me the gift certificate upside down in an envelope. When I walked away, I opened the envelope and noticed the gift certificate was for $ 72, even though he had charged me $ 75 on my credit card. When I complained, he kept smiling at me and said I didn’t understand about tax. I told him when the person used it, the tax would be included in the total she paid for the actual service. We shouldn’t be taxed twice. He finally agreed to write on the certificate in small print «$ 72 plus $ 3 tax». When I got home, I noticed he had written an expiration date on the certificate one year from today. In Hawaii, this is illegal according to Hawaii Rev. Stat. 523A-​14. His business cards on his desk said something about being a customer service rep. When I asked to talk to his manager, he said he was the manager. So, I asked to speak to someone above the manager and he said he was the owner.
Update: I went back to the Spa to let him know having an expiration date only one year away was illegal. He said he knew about the law, but he would still be «defaulting» to a one year expiration date on all of his gift certificates. So I confirmed that even though he knew it was illegal, he would still only be honoring them for a year, he again repeated «I will be defaulting to one year». I was also able to confirm from the other girl that worked there that this man and his brother were indeed the owners of the establishment.
This owner is knowingly doing things illegally and doesn’t care. It makes me wonder what other things in his business he is doing illegally. I know the picture in their ad is complete baloney. There are no massages by the ocean at this spa. The closest you could get would be a massage in the parking lot or on the grass of the restaurant next door facing the ocean.

Loved it a lot!
Treated myself with the Princess one — it was the rebirth of my skin!
FANTASTIC!
So worth the money!

My husband and I got a lomi lomi couples massage on our honeymoon. We both greatly enjoyed the treatment. Our massages were performed the patio overlooking the ocean. My only complaint was that you could hear some street noise but that did not distract us from full relaxation.

My husband & I had a couples massage here. We were lucky to have 2 great therapist. It was a much needed relaxing hour that we could have enjoyed for a few more hours.
The only thing that would make this place much better would be better sound proofing. So as long as you don’t need silence you should be good to go!

Yikes. This is the dirtiest, saddest, most depressing spa I have ever been to.
I walked in and should have walked out when I saw the waiting area. No actual magazines, just the Hawaii tourism booklets that come in hotels. Water with plastic cups; no limes or fruit or anything in there. But okay — I was there for the services, right?
My first service was a salt scrub. I was led into a freezing room with two massage tables and scrubbed down, incompetently, by a total sweetheart whose name I forget. It was terrible. She had no idea what she was doing. I was freezing. There was crusty salt everywhere. I wanted to walk out. Then, when it was finally over, I was invited to rinse off in a sad bathroom that looked like a Motel 6 bathroom but way grubbier. I kid you not, the decoration in the bathroom was a page ripped out of a magazine (you could see where it had been torn) and slipped into one of those transparent folders you can buy at the drug store. The towel was ratty, brown, and stained. There was no bathmat, so I had to step out onto the dirty tile. Amazing. Icing on the cake was when the person doing the scrub said, «It’s funny doing it with Epsom salts instead of Himalayan salt — it starts out really crunchy.» Nice. Very nice.
Ok, so it was time for my second service, and I obviously wanted to cancel. But I needed my legs waxed, so I decided to suck it up. How bad could it be, right? Ahem.
They couldn’t really figure out what to do with me, but finally they transferred me to another room. They half-​heartedly offered a robe and when I said I would like one, they couldn’t find any. So I walked outside to the other room in a ratty, short brown towel. Nice.
So I get to the second room and the person there is going to wax me. I hear talk in the hallway that they may have run out of wax. But no. She gets out some antiquated wax roller thingie and starts in, and it HURTS. And I keep telling her it hurts, and she doesn’t really seem to care. It was like there wasn’t enough wax, so in order to get the rolling thingie going she had to press SUPER hard, onto my bones. Ouch. Also, it ended up taking like an hour, and she kept complaining about having been called in to do the service while she was at the beach. So annoying. When she FINALLY finished, I could tell she had missed some big pieces — like the entire back of one calf — but I just wanted to get out of there.
So I get to my room, and I realize I’m still sticky all over, because she didn’t get the wax off. And then, worse, I realize that when she tore off pieces of my skin while waxing — I had raw spots on my shins. I have gotten a lot of waxes before and I didn’t realize this could even happen. I was appalled.
Finally, I called down to see if they’d send up some of the Wax Off stuff so I could de-​stickify myself, and they agreed. But 10 minutes later the WAXER LADY shows up at my door, complaining, disgruntled, with a rag and an ancient bottle of product. Oh, yeah, that’s what I wanted. Right? After complaining about a service, I totally wanted the awkwardness of having that person IN MY ROOM.
Horrible, horrible, horrible.

I had the full body polish. Loved it, Kelly did a great job, she was very comfortable to be with. She also gave me some great tips on where to find some of the fragrances I was looking for.

Amazing! My sister and I went in for a massage and facial and left feeling like new women! Kelly and Katrina were extremely professional, kind and gave us the best massages and facials that we have ever had! We felt at ease and relaxed in their surroundings and completely pampered. Their expertise was incredible and the pricing was reasonable. I live here on the island and my sister was visiting, so it was a «vacation» for both of us. I highly recommend their services to anyone living here on the island that just want a special escape for the day or to any visiting us here that want a relaxing and stimulating treatment. Mahalo to both of you for your kind attention and talent. You both have a special gift!

I needed a Brazilian Wax job and discovered Katrina here at Lotus. She was AMAZING! She was very comforting and informative all the way through. She was fast which minimized the pain. This spa is in a quaint location on the water that is very relaxing. The rest of the staff were professional and very accommodating. If you are looking for a day spa or a good waxing… Katrina at Lotus Centre is the best!

The only thing slightly good about this place was that it is physically located in Hawaii. Other than that, move on!
This place is located at the Royal Kona Resort so I figured it would be a higher-​end spa/​massage establishment. However, it is not associated with the Resort.
We were greeted outside of what looked like an old set of rooms. We were then directed to an outdoor «holding area» that had a few plants and bamboo dividers. I could see part of the ocean but most of my view was the restaurant next to the resort, the parking lot and the roadway.
They let us know they were running behind. Good thing we didn’t have any follow-​on plans.
We were then led to an outdoor massage area that had a view of the ocean, in combination with a view of the restaurant and parking lot. The door was a sliding glass door with minimal curtains. Basically, I am surprised we didn’t get a citation for public indecency. One of the massage tables was situated directly in front of the sliding glass door, which had a perfect view down the hallway and into other rooms. The «changing room» was a white curtain suspended from the ceiling in the corner. So, we casually showed off our gifts as we walked back to our massage tables. Lets just say my wife wasn’t happy. Not to mention, anyone in the restaurant or parking lot could see you before, during and after your massage. We went back later and confirmed this finding. Luckily, we didn’t see any naked people.
The LMTs were so-​so. They had no idea how long our massage was scheduled for (90 mins) and they kept whispering back and forth to each other about other appointments and their lunch breaks.
Just a note: this is the first spa I have ever been to that didn’t ask us to fill out any type of medical release or information form. They didn’t ask about any pre-​exsiting conditions nor did they ask about specific areas to target. I had to remind my LMT numerous times that I had sutures in my scalp from an earlier injury. Luckily, she only bumped into it a few times!
While they advertise this as «oceanfront», it should be named «oceanview». There is a tremendous different between «oceanfront», «oceanview», «beachfront», «beachview», etc. I could see the ocean from the «massage room». There was a restaurant in between us and the ocean. Definitely not «oceanfront». I wouldn’t waste your money on that.
The music was provided by a nice little MacBook that was situated about 2 feet from my head in a chair. It helped to drown out the remainder of the waves that I thought I could hear. That and the numerous diesel delivery trucks that parked about 50 feet away from us helped create a great ambience.
At the end of the massage, we did our mad dash to the «changing room». We weren’t offered any water or assistance after being on the table for 90 minutes. They cut us short by 8 minutes. Whatever. More time to show off our semi-​tanned bodies!
BLUF: you get what you pay for. I didn’t investigate many other spas but I heard this was the least expensive. A couple’s massage with the «oceanfront» parking lot experience costed us $ 291. Add the $ 25 tip and we broke $ 300.
You be the judge. I will not be going back. Let’s just say I have already booked another couples massage for us in Atlanta. I’d rather get it there than in Hawaii.

Going to a spa was a must on my list in Kona. With the busy schedule, I was able to squeeze in a facial with my sister at The Lotus Center (located downstairs at the Royal Kona Resort). They are not affiliated with the hotel as I was not able to chargeback to my room.
The spa itself is small with only a few rooms and a tiny back patio. I signed up for Deep Cleansing facial $ 80 and my sister Body Polish $ 85.
I was greeted by an Indian man on a podium outside the door. I then waited for my aesthetician with a glass of water on the patio. The facial itself was very nice and relaxing. My aesthetician was very knowledgeable and I did learn a few things from her.
After we were done I asked if I can use their bathroom to put on my make-​up. The annoying thing was somebody kept knocking the door every 5-​mins. After the 3^rd time, I just walked out and it was some guy trying to put some stuff in the bathroom. I was soooo annoyed with him.
My sister had a nice body polish, she seemed pleased.
Overall it was an okay experience and can’t really complain for the price. At least I was able to get some «spa» experience during my trip.

I’ve been to the Lotus Center several times now for massage and chiropractic. Staff are professional and courteous with good hands and a wide range of massage modalities and services. When I get pain in my shoulder (more often than I would like to admit), I need someone who can get deep and work it out and Angela was able to. When my wife wanted a nice relaxing massage, we went together for a romantic couples oil massage that blessed us out. When my wife was pregnant she came here for prenatal massage and chiropractic which was a huge help during the pregnancy.
They offer ocean front treatments, facials and a nice area for just chilling out. It’s better priced than any other resort spa we’ve been too and you still get the resort feel, plus it’s right in the middle of town.

I should have known not to proceed with my appointment after I had noticed the business like and non-​warm attitude of the receptionists. But I had a hope the chiropractor, Koakane Green would have a more down to earth and heartful demeanor.
I was wrong. The whole session seems like a nightmare, except that it was real and since the appointment I’ve been feeling 10 years older, sick and drained. I got the opposite effect that I had in mind when I booked a session.
I should have taken as an indicator the fact that he was not booked at all in advance, and I could get the soonest appointment. If I may go into more details, it is even hard for me to type right now. Today the whole day my memory was bad, my neck and lower back hurt, and I’m just feeling under — something went wrong!
I super don’t recommend it to anybody. He’s just… more like an intimidating machine, not a bad guy, but nobody you want to mess with your bones and energy flow. I will be doing more than normal amount of yoga, etc, to help myself… Now I’m going to go lay down. I mean I really feel bad. I hope that whatever he did won’t last.