Spa Bar

OMG! This place is so janky! My husband got me a «day of beauty» gift certificate purchased 2÷9÷09− $ 170! They sold it to him knowing they would bail on 2÷14… essentially selling fraudulent gift certificates and stealing our money. You can imagine how many «gift certificates» they sold for Valentine’s day. How upsetting, unethical and so wrong. Horrible. I hope they get what’s coming to them.

I spoke with the prop mgmt company and they up and left «in the middle of the night» the day after Valentine’s Day. There were people who purchased Gift Certificates on Valentines. The prop mgmt company are trying to get a hold of them as well and currently in process of suing the company. They are an individual operator and are not affiliated with any other company. Luckily, I only have a $ 50 gift certificate, but I’ve heard people had certificates for much more.

just wanted eybrows waxed
overpaid and over taxed
customer service was nice
results not worth price
called me super model that was a trip
so i gave her a three dollar tip :)
would i go back? heck no
maybe if they made their prices low

Maybe the expectations around Long Beach for a good pedi is lower, maybe in this case Unilocal was wrong.
I went to Spa Bar after reading the reviews and thinking that I was going to get a great, relaxing pedi. But I was not impressed.
I walked in, the lady asked me to choose a color (from their VERY LIMITED very few OPI and some other brand selection), shuttled me to a spa chair that didn’t have massage, and tried to upsale me. I normally may have upgraded to the signature at $ 37, but today I was in a time constraint so I said no and asked just for the regular, $ 22 pedi. She pushed for about 5 minutes for an upgrade, which turned me off a bit.
I don’t think she did a really stellar job. It hurt when she cleaned around the toenails, and when I told her to be lighter, she said they are really dirty. EH? Also, when she massaged the lotion on I asked her to go harder and she said no.
The polish application was fine, but two major flaw here. I didn’t realize it at the time but she didn’t put on a top coat. She also just left me on the spa chair to air dry instead of going under a UV light that will ensure long lasting nail polish. She didn’t help me with putting on my flip flops either until I asked. There also wasn’t any quick drying spray.
All in all, maybe I just expect another level of service when someone calls themselves a «spa».

This is a nice place. Relaxing.
I took my friend here for her B-​Day for a Mani/​Pedi — and it was fun. The environment was nice, the people were friendly and helpful, and the place was buzzing with activity (It was a Saturday).
I paid $ 35 for a «honey & milk» manicure and pedicure. My friend REALLY liked the «honey and milk» … but it was just some powder they put into the foot bath — so you could save the $ 5 and get a regular mani/​pedi and I think it would be the same.
They have nice foot spa stations to soak your feet — the «soaking» part isn’t very long — but I bet you could get them to let you soak while someone else has their work finished — if there is an open station. They did that with 1 girl.
The price was comparable to other places nearby — but it was MUCH nicer than a plain old «nail salon».
My friend got her eyebrows waxed — and said it didn’t hurt. She loved the service.
She does a bi-​monthly mane/​pedi & eyebrow wax — and this place charges about $ 15 more for all that than her regular stop — but it’s MUCH nicer — and she’s thinking of switching.
I don’t go to salons or spas often (though I’m starting to — lately). I don’t know if it’s typical, or just this place… but EVERYONE there was SO HAPPY.
It was like a big «girlfriend» gathering — people chatting and smiling — I don’t easily warm up to strangers (I tend to be shy and quite) — but i was talking to other customers and could see Making some Friends just by going there regularly! Everyone was in a good mood. That — in and of itself — was a great experience.
They have a full menu of spa services — and the prices are average — but on the affordable side for a «spa».
Spa Bar — in the Long Beach Town Center near Sam’s Club next to the Mattress Gallery & Big Dogs.

Been here twice — once for nails and once for a massage — and I must say for a pretty lil’ place this spa lacks the attention it deserves! It’s spacious, clean, comfortable, sophisticated, and shines with quality. I don’t understand why it isn’t packed with customers. Though it’s kinda nice having this modern-​fancy place all to yourself… :)
Everyone there is really friendly and they always ask how things are doing/​how things went. The actual service itself isn’t bad… though it wasn’t amazing either. I got a plain (meaning, no nail polish) manicure/​pedicure combo for $ 28 and it was nice — not great, not bad, just nice. I had a similar experience with the massage. I got their 30 minute neck & shoulder massage for $ 40 and it was nothing memorable. The girl was nice, but she was too soft in her pressure. I was going to ask her to push harder but I didn’t want her to charge me for a «deep tissue» massage, which was an additional $ 15.
Hmmm… perhaps I do know why they don’t have that many customers… the service is so mediocre that no one remembers the place! A pity since it really is a nice place to be in… :-/

Original review:
It’s hard to find a place these days that you can really get a decent pedicure from someone who isn’t whining to her co-​workers in another language, ignoring you completely and giving you a truly half-​assed pedicure. I’ve been to all of them in the area — the one by the Coffee Bean on Spring & Palo Verde, the one in the Stater Bros. shopping center there by the «French Spa» (dude.) and then the worst of the bunch is the other nail place in the Long Beach Towne Center — «The Nail Spa» where I swear I was ready to harm myself after about 10 minutes in there with all the yapping, indifference and haphazard pedicuring. They also don’t take credit cards unless you want to use their in-​store ATM. What the #$%^ is up with that? Seriously. I’d like to spend some dough in your establishment, and I have no cash and don’t want to use your ATM. Take my money. Please. No really, take my money.
The Spa Bar offers a really good quality pedicure at a slightly higher price point, but you know what? If I’m paying a bit more for someone to actually acknowledge that I’m spending some $$$ in their place of business, all the better. Besides, they play nice music (jazz, Brazilian music –ahhhhh), they have no flat screen TV playing endless hours of E! (or any flat screen at all — don’t you go to get a pedicure to get away from the TV?,) the place is spectacularly clean and everyone is very friendly. They also take credit cards (imagine that!), although they do not allow you to leave a tip on it, so bring some cash for the tip. Not everyone there speaks the best English, but there’s always someone there to moderate or call to if you really need something explained.
Out of all the places nearby to go pamper your feet, I recommend this place. They also have manicures & all the spa-​type treatments including waxing and massage. I’ve done the eyebrow wax which was fine, but have not partaken in the massage. I tend to take those pretty seriously and would not likely go anywhere other than a full service spa…
At the Spa Bar you’re treated like a paying, human customer and someone that they’d actually like to have back to spend more money there sometime soon.
**Update 8.25.07
I took my Mom here 2 weeks ago, and she later admitted to me that she’d had the worst pedicure of her life, and believe me, that’s saying something.
Apparently the brute she got to do her pedicure ignored her cries of pain and butchered her cuticles pretty well leaving her with open sores!
I’m horrified they’d do that to my own Mom, and when you can’t take your Mom somplace, you can hardly recommend it to other Unilocalers.
Try somplace else out, and certainly don’t go here for a pedicure.