Sanctuary Spa

Great massage (I got a therapeutic) but the spa is extremely small. Not many amenities at all, especially for a luxury resort.

absolutely wonderful place. Love the service, and massage was awesome too!

Amazing place to rest and relax. Everything one would want is all in one place. The staff is courteous, polite and accommodating.

The bike/​hike tour on the Cholla trail with Steve was fabulous. He gave us nutrition advice and was patient with our group of 8 moms. The pool staff was attentive and exceptional. Perfect place for girls getaway. Relaxing, quiet and great jalapeño margaritas!

The spa is small but nice. Well kept and the services are good. I’ve been a few times and would go again but it’s not my favorite spa. I wish there was outdoor access while in the spa itself — the last time I went all doors to the outside were closed so really felt cooped up. To get to a pool, you have to walk completely out of the spa which kind of blows.

Arrive a few hours early to enjoy the pool and other resort amenities. The view is gorgeous

This review is for Michael at Sanctuary’s salon. Since moving to the valley four years ago, I have yet to find a hair stylist that I was motivated to return to – until Michael. I was given a gift certificate to the spa and chose to use it for a new cut and color. Upon arriving, Michael greeted me warmly and was very kind and patient as I shared my many ideas for a new «do.» The wash and scalp massage were so nice, and I fell in love with the products that he used (Oribe). While he did not push any of the products (that were also sold at the attached gift shop), he helped me pick out some items after I asked him for suggestions. I left the salon with a beautiful cut and new color, as well as a new hair stylist and products that I now can’t live without. My second visit was just as wonderful. It was so nice to be able to have a relaxing and organic conversation with someone, and as an added bonus, to look even better than when I first walked in. I can’t wait for my next appointment!

My wife and I had the time of our lives at this spa retreat. I cannot even think of one complaint. If you wanted to describe what a perfect spa weekend would be like this would be it. The staff is incredibly attentive and polite, the food beyond incredible and fresh, the grounds immaculate, the views and wildlife to die for, and the room and spa spectacular in equipment and ambiance. It was our first time and I am sure we will go again after this incredible experience.
It is also quite convenient that Scottsdale is literally next door, so you can be at Oldtown or the one of the malls, for instance, in just minutes. I say to put this spa on your bucket list right away. It is a must see.

I love to enjoy a spa day at a resort at least once a month during the last part of summer, early fall. This spa is pretty nice, the fitness center is nicely equipped, I loved the pilates reformer class. The last time I went, the sauna was not working, so I didn’t get to enjoy everything they offer. Also, the wait area is not as relaxing, the chairs are a little uncomfortable. They offer teas and nuts, raising and cranberries to snack on while you wait. I’ve had facials and massages done here. My last massage was really great, I think I fell asleep at one point. I agree with some of the reviewers that the lockers are a little cramped. We were not busy that day, but it seems that they put everyone in the same area, so every time we wanted to open a locker, we had to wait for the other person to be done. The infinity pool is very nice. It is not just for the spa customers, so sometimes it gets busy and a little loud, but it is not a complaint, just an observance.

This was the first spa in Paradise Valley that my friends and I tried during our trip this past week
+ clean, friendly staff
+ nice pool with view
— only 2 our of 3 showers were functioning
— totally ruined the flow of the body scrub treatment when I had to get up and walk from my treatment room to the communal shower area
When compared to other spas in the area, Sanctuary feels dated and overpriced for the minimal amenities they offer.

Absolutely beautiful and serene. The ladies locker room is fully equipped with everything you could possibly need and the pounds area is warm and inviting. More later about the massage services.

If you are thinking about going to the Sanctuary Resort On Camelback Mountain think again… they get one star cause there is nothing lower.
I am in my mid 40’s, excellent health, very active and 103 lbs. As a licensed professional I was considering a career change in CRT.
Last September I found Gary a message therapist employed at Sanctuary and scheduled an appointment with him to learn about CRT and any advice he could provide me. Gary treated me with CRT and then also suggested another technique called Myofacial Release. Never asking for it and very sorry I let him practice on me, the firm stretching and pressure applied to my abdomen caused severe pain and discomfort.
I was so concerned that I contacted Gary on his cell phone. He said, «keep up with your treatments, I have done this many times.» I told him that I was never there for a treatment. He didn’t remember giving me his recommendations for education.
For the next three months after being treated by Gary I experienced stomach swelling, poor digestion, severe tenderness, poor circulation, and I became extremely nautious to the point of not being able to work.
Trying to figure out what damage Gary had done to me, and using my own money I went to several Dr’s. The total amount of my medical bills came to approx. $ 1500.00, not to mention my lose of wages.
In January I was in touch with the Director of Sanctuary explaining in full detail my bad experience and to let her know so it would not happen to anyone else. She simply said, «Mike from security will be contacting you for more questioning.» Recanting my bad experience once again to Mike from security «he wanted to know why I waited so long?» I told him that I wanted them to know what happened to me so that they could prevent it from happening to anyone else.
At first he had an attitude and was very unhelpful going as far as attacking my credibility and calling me a liar. He even tried twisting my words. By the end of our conversation he asked for my personal, confidential medicals records and Dr’s names and said «we have insurance.»
Submitting all records as per Mikes request thinking he would at least meet me half way with my medical expenses only to find out he had no intentions of doing so. He said, «let me be perfectly clear, I did not make any offer to reimburse you for any expenses, medical or otherwise, that you may feel you are entitled to.» Why would he request such information from me? Only to lie to me regarding his intentions.
I highly warn anyone seeking treatment from this so called (high end?) Spa. I would hate to see anyone go through the pain and expense that I have endured.

Completely lackluster experience for a very high price.
I came here for a resurfacing facial and the raved about «Orange Blossom» pedicure. I was super excited and was expecting nothing short of perfection for the price.
When I had called to book my appointment a few weeks prior, I was told my 30 min facial would be at 3pm and my pedicure would be at 3:45pm. That was perfect, I would only have to wait 15 min in between services.
On the day of my appointment, I arrived to the spa 30 minutes early — as they suggest — to have ample time to change into a robe, rinse off, and relax before my first service. When I checked in, the girl told me my appointment was actually scheduled for 2:30 and I was handed a robe and instructed to change, however, the facialist came in before I had even had a change to put my purse in my locker and told me not to bother changing because we were already running late and I was cutting into my appointment time. She rushed me off to the treatment room, told me to just pull the sides of my dress down because she didn’t have time for me to change and then proceeded to rush through the facial so that she was done by 3pm. My 30 min facial was more like 20 min.
Now, instead of the 15 min wait in between services, I had to wait 45. I used this time to check my email and verify that the itinerary THEY sent me did in fact say 3pm. At this point, I was irritated but just wanted to focus on my upcoming pedicure.
The waiting area/​restroom/​locker area was more like a locker room at the gym than a high end spa area. There were many women coming in from the gym who were very loud and the whole vibe was not conducive to a relaxing spa environment.
The pedicure girl was on time and very sweet — however, the pedicure itself left something to be desired. There was nothing about this pedicure that made it worth $ 85. In fact, I’ve had much better pedicures for $ 25. While it was relaxing, it wasn’t by any means through. I left with no less dead skin on my feet than I started with.
Overall, I was very disappointed with my experience at the Sanctuary Spa. I left with a $ 210 tab and not much to show for it. Definitely will not be returning here.

Remotely complaining about anything having to do with a spa really deserves a big fat #whitegirlproblems hashtag. I realize this. That said, I do enjoy Sanctuary’s spa. I’ve found a great therapist, Bill, who puts the «therapeutic» in «therapeutic massage». He beats the shit out of me and his Chicago accent makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
That said, I like to check in with Bill every six weeks or so because my driving-​a-​desk-​but-​highly-​stressful-​and-​often-​irritating job leaves me with my shoulders cranked up to my ears from tension. I don’t go to sit in a whirlpool or so someone can soothingly rub lavender scented lotion on me, backed by some vaguely ethnic soundtrack involving a wind instrument made of a root. I go so someone strong can beat my rhomboids and trapezeii into submission. I don’t need the spa experience.
Now, if I wanted a truly luxurious «spa experience», I would not come here. The locker rooms are cramped. The Jacuzzi is small. The layout is a little weird and awkward. There’s the whole getting a locker/​changing into a robe and rubber prison slippers experience that is largely superfluous if you’re like me, just popping in for a massage. There’s not a ton of room to just hang out if you really wanted to piss away a day at the spa. I’ve been other places within the same area whose «experience» blows Sanctuary’s out of the water. As lovely as the surroundings may be, the experience is lacking, and you get Real Spa Experience prices.
If I hadn’t found a therapist I liked, I doubt I’d be back once every couple years. But, I’m picky, so for now I’ll keep trudging back to Sanctuary every now and then, until I can convince Bill to make house calls. (Bill, are you reading this? Call me!)

Oh but how I love a spa day. Is there anything better?
I’ve been lucky to be able to go to many of the high end spa/​resorts here and this is up there. The inside of the spa is absolutely gorgeous, tranquil and calming. Stocked with plenty of products for hair, body care, and so forth, you can leave here looking fabulous.
The waiting area has hot tea, coffee, waters, healthy snacks, magazines and so forth. In between treatments it is a great place to relax. I also enjoyed the steam room after my treatments because I didn’t want to leave the spa area.
My facial was one of the best I have received. I particularly loved the hot stones places along my spine. I added on the paraffin treatment to hands/​feet and it really softened them up. My aesthetician paid close attention to my eczema and offered up extra care for my current eczema spots on my face (fun fun). The facial was relaxing and above pampering and best of all my skin looked amazing after (and still today).
After my treatments I headed to the pool, which unfortunately is undergoing construction at the moment and was annoying, but I was warned. After putting in headphones, it wasn’t an issue at all. Half the pool area is closed off, but eh…
The wait staff were extremely courteous, prompt, and friendly as always.
This serene spa and resort is one of my favorite properties and the sunset is not to be missed.
I can’t wait for my next spa visit!

I loooooove this spa!!!
I went this past Sunday, for the second time ever and had such a lovely experience. My husband set me up for an hour long Swedish massage and for the Orange Blossom Royal Manicure. Both technicians I had, I believe Tara for the massage and Lana for the manicure were just amazing. Very professional and fantastic at their jobs.
The spa itself is a very relaxing environment. One complaint, I am not a fan of how the locker room faces into the waiting room area, you know, for when you are getting changed? Not very private. Love the steam room and Jacuzzi.
One negative, the front desk staff messed up big time. My husband had originally booked these treatments as a surprise for my first mothers day, left his name and number for them to contact… well, since I had been there before, they didn’t read the notes and called and left a voice mail to remind me of my spa treatments… which my husband had not told me about as they were to be a surprise. So he was wayyy bummed out, since it was my first mothers day and the gift had been «Ruined». I will say though that even though the surprise was ruined, I enjoyed myself very much and the spa manager stepped up and did a great job making things «right». Hopefully they will speak to the staff about attention to detail.
I seriously can not wait to go back. Next time I want to try out one of the Watsu aquatic massages, sounds so amazing.

I live in CA and came out to AZ to visit a friend. She picked this spa because she had great things about it so I was really excited to try it out.
Amenities
The locker room and spa facilities were a lot smaller than I was expecting. The last spa I had been to was the Canyon Ranch Spa Club at the Palazzo/​Venetian in Vegas (which is ridiculously HUGE and amazing) so maybe I’ve been spoiled. This spa was TINY. The hot tub in the women’s locker room looked like it may fit 2 – 3 at most. We didn’t even bother going to the lap pool by the spa and headed straight to the resort pool just above the spa. The pool was nice. Not too crowded on a Saturday afternoon. In August in AZ the water wasn’t too warm so that was nice. And though we didn’t order any food or drinks from what I could see the pool service seemed pretty efficient.
Customer service
Everyone I came into contact with here was super nice and helped us promptly.
Services
I got a prenatal massage and my friend got a Swedish massage. We both enjoyed our massages. I had forgotten to mention to my friend when she made our appointments that I prefer a female therapist and so I had a male therapist (Bill) for my appt. I was a little uncomfortable at first but it was fine. He did a great job and was very professional, which I would expect in a nicer spa like this. The treatment rooms are situated in little casitas through a short private walkway from the spa. The rooms were quiet and soothing.
Bottom line
Although I enjoyed my massage, I often get massages of the same caliber from massage only type places. You know, the ones that don’t have the spa facilities and charge around $ 50 for a 60 min massage. And for more than triple that amount when you include tip (my massage was $ 130 before tip), I just didn’t think the spa facilities were as nice as the other spaces I’ve been to. I mean, the whole point of paying the extra money to go to a fancy spa is for the fancy facilities and I just didn’t think this spa offered too much in the way of those extra spa perks.

Ok take my review here with a grain of salt. I’m a total Spa nerd and have probably been to at least 100. That being said here we go.
Massage:
Very average massage. We went here on a Travelzoo day at the spa deal $ 99 person. The massage was quite average to bad. Its suppoed to be an hour, we got 45 mins. Of that 45 mins, 12 of them at least, were spent with the amssage therapist over at the sink doing god knows what. I asked for a Quad massage, they were never touched during the massage.
Mens Locker Room:
It’s a gym locker room, not a SPA. It has a lot of locals hanging out and if you are into a nice quiet spa with amentities and a «spa feel» you won’t find it here. The steamroom was nice, the relaxation room was an afterthought and odd, the hot tub is in a corner and completely ill placed. If you like privacy while you change, forget it. Everyone from the TV room can watch you change.
Horribly designed place.
POOL:
The actual spa pool is big enough for 2 people to do laps, Thats about it. So we used the resort pool just up the stairs. Went there for a couple of hours hoping to get drinks, no chance. No pool service.
Amentities: They had tea bags in the mens room with no hot water for it, no lemon waters or lime juices etc like most spas would have. Coffee but that was also empty. They have a jar of stale almonds in the TV room if you like that.
All in all this is one of the most disappointing Spas we have been to. Which is very sad because we had heard good things.
When we told the manager about our experience the reply was an offer of 25% off our next time in. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD WE COME BACK?
Oh well. Sanctuary Spa is officially the most overrated around.

**PARADISE SPA IN PARADISE VALLEY**
I did plenty of research for a beautiful spa setting. As many of you are aware, spa treatments in general are not cheap; especially so in the Scottsdale area.
On average, expect to pay $ 150+ for an hour’s worth of services.
I chose the 60 minute Swedish massage here ($ 150).
Entering the lobby area, I was soothed by the sounds of water and the zen-​like ambiance.
The ladies who checked me in were friendly and delightful.
The spa itself was not very spacious. However, the shower stalls were nice huge.
The amenities were plentiful. Included: razors, combs, BB shampoo and conditioner, shower gel, etc.
I didn’t like the wait area because I couldn’t see the zen garden. The doors were frosted.
Raisins, cranberries, almonds, tea, and coffee are provided in the wait area.
I requested to sit in the zen garden with the Liebling and the staff was accommodating.
My massage therapist was punctual and we had a good conversation while he attacked my neck and shoulder knots.
AHHHH, much better.
Thank you.
RECOMMEND.

Awesome.
I still think my nail tech is better, but she was very good.
The entire staff was wicked pleasant and always had a genuine smile on their faces. Yes its overpriced, but its a spa and a Scottsdale resort.
Just like other spas, you have unlimited use of their other facilities w/​the purchase of any treatment. Theyre nice, clean, and very relaxing.