Mandara Spa

Lovely spa with relaxing environment. I used a Groupon for a facial and massage, both were top notch. The environment is clean and cool. I enjoyed my visit. It is expensive and it is made very clear that gratuity of 20% is added to the retail value of the services. That means it’s 20% no matter what so be prepared for about $ 80 of gratuity on top of the $ 189 for the Groupon. I am not complaining at all, just be prepared so that you’re not shocked when you check out and ring you up for that $ 80 tip. Everyone is very friendly and again every room and pool is very clean.

So I couldn’t wait to come home and write a review about this spa. Mainly because I was shocked at how terrible my no chip mani and no chip pedi were. Spending $ 120 you would expect beautiful nails and for the no chip to last longer than 2 days!!! My trouble started off with trying to book a spa day for my mom, 2 sisters, and myself while we were on vacation in FL. When I called it was so hard for this young man to try and figure out how to get us all in around similar times. I even gave him three different days that we could come in since I wasn’t expecting him to get us all in on one particular day. I was speaking with him for 30 minutes without having even made the appointment yet. I could tell he was getting frustrated, he then placed me on hold and passed me on to a woman. Who then made me explain everything all over again. Ex: what services we wanted, what days we could do, etc. I was on the phone for another 30 min! Total of 1 hour trying to book appointments. I’m in customer service and I’m typically very patient but that phone call put me over the edge. We eventually all got an appointment. I’m giving the spa 2 stars because the facilities were beautiful and relaxing and my mom and sis who got massages were very pleased. As for my other sister and myself we were very disappointed with our nails. The woman was nice just did a terribly job on my toes. There was paint on the skin and it looked pretty lumpy once I had a closer look once I left. My nails looked good when I left but all chipped the very next day! Keep in mind I was on vacation so I was doing nothing that could possibly ruin the nails. I was just disappointed because I waited to get a mani pedi before my vacation so I could enjoy one at the spa and have pretty toes and hands while on vacation and that didn’t happen. Hands lasted for 2 days and toes have paint all around the skin. Once I got back home I went to my favorite girl and had her re do everything. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed.

The massage I got with a Groupon was very good but I have to give 1 star because during the checkout process I was charged twice for gratuity. They charge a service charge which is the gratuity and then an additional gratuity that I did not authorize. Then they needed someone else to fix this. I thought it was a one time mistake but by looking at the reviews on trip advisor it seems this is a common occurrence and that has not been fixed therefore done on purpose. BEWARE… I would have gone back and used their spa again if they were honest.
Funny how I posted this review 1 month ago and it disappeared from the Unilocal site.

By far the best massage I have ever gotten in my life, and I have gotten a lot of massages. Ask for Tara. She located all of the knots in my back and got rid of them. I highly recommend this place. Completely worth it

Clean, serene, friendly service, wonderful facilities… it was the best local getaway two parents could ever ask for.

Take a look at the many more reviews on Tripadvisor before you book here. I had a very mediocre massage with an unprofessional and 15 min. late therapist, freezing room, no attention to the areas I requested and an extremely troubling checkout process. They overcharged, took three people to process properly, made snide comments. Overall just a very unprofessional experience. This place should be half the cost… not a high end spa in any sense.

Pricey, but WORTH IT!
Features:
~ The Fitness Faciility: Several treadmills with monitors, elipticals, yoga mats, free weights and benches, various weight machines, and a water dispenser. The facility seemed clean and served it’s purpose! Well lit too!
~ Men’s Locker Room: Clean! Code setting locks on the locker (much like Club Sport) with bath robe and extra towel. Clean private shower room with curtain and door. Razors and other personal amenities also provided. Behind the shower area is the men’s lounge with an LCD monitor. Here you can sit and read. Or you have a choice of using the heated stone sauna or steam room, or both. I was the only one there, so I spent time in both!
~ Co-​ed Spa: Large, hot, and bubbly! A couple of chairs, but no windows.
~ Co-​ed Lounge: This offered hair dryers, a fruit and snack bar, and hot tea to detox.
Other features offered I did not do:
~ I notice they have a hair and nail salon. I don’t really have hair or nails, so I can’t Unilocal about that one.
Service:
~ Everyone seemed friendly. No issues.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LISETTE!!! 5000 Stars!
Back Story-(Skip ahead for review) — I usually shave because Brazillians make me cry like Korean Drama Cry! I usually only wax the shady lady on special occasions & well this vacation stay was one such occasion. Special Shout Out to my Unilocal Elite Boyfriend Ron R. Now onto the review…
Mandara spa is tucked away behind the Loews Portofino Bay hotel by the beach club pool. Walked into a very peaceful and welcoming setting with fitness room to the left of the reception area and nail salon to the right of entry…
Lisette! The REASON For my 5star review has the BEST — THE ABSOLUTE BEST hands and a down to earth personality making her super easy to relate to. I went in with my guard up whilst being focused on getting in and out all in the name and the pain of beauty warning her that I will probably bawl like a baby but to keep going…
Pain was minimal and fleeting for well something that’s pretty painful. She talked me through it and before I knew it I was hairless! I’ll be back!!! Go visit! See Lisette!