Amber Celeste Klippel, LMT

I was looking for a massage therapist who could help me maintain high athletic performance and aid me in keeping multiple herniations in my lumbar and cervical vertebra in check. Amber is definitely the right choice for the Northwest of the perimeter area for effective bodywork to set the body back into balance and relieve pain.
I had a fantastic first appointment and had a couple of spontaneous adjustments, one in my cervical spine around C7, my problem area, and one in my ankle, which had been bothering me on and off for weeks. Ambers skills and techniques started to break up the many, many adhesions I have in my neck and upper back area. When I got off the table I felt about an inch and a half taller and all my aches were gone!
I’ll definitely be a repeat client. Especially if you are active and want to remain active and fit, see Amber. As an athlete herself, she uses her LMT and NMT skills to bring real balance to the body for the best functional result for active people.
As a plus, Amber contacted me the morning of my appointment to make sure I knew which suite in the building she was in. She was on the lookout for me, greeted me as I pulled in the parking lot, and I had an excellent experience, from booking to first meeting Amber to the actual bodywork. Kudos for a great entire experience!

I would also like to chime in on the «locked door» and other odds and ends. Amber gives the best massage, particularly deep tissue, of anyone in town. I’ve tried many — this is it. She is also very well trained (neuro-​muscular– therapist), etc. Ask your LMT if she is also an NMT — you may get a blank stare. Then ask if they are trained and certified in Thai body work. Hint: There are two certified Thai massage/​body work therapists in the entire Atlanta metro area, Amber and one other. If you want a spa experience for mother’s day — this is probably not for you. There are plenty of places that do «fluff and buff.» Amber understands and applies massage for injury, injury prevention, strengthening, flexibility and conditioning. I originally went to get in the best shape I could for a grueling international trip I had coming up. Amber got my range of motion, balance and conditioning vastly improved — quickly. The locked door… Amber works alone and everyone gets full 100% attention every time. No interruptions, period, ever. That means the front door has to stay locked and the phone on mute when massage is going on. As a client you will quickly come to appreciate it. Yes, if you arrive at 9:50 for a 10 AM appointment, you might spend 5 minutes in your car catching up on email. No big deal — well worth it.

Excellent! Amber does a fabulous job. She can find the points of pain and work them out. Also recommends at home stretches for prevention of bunched up muscles. I would recommend her, but I do not want her to get so booked up that I can get in :)
Yes, the locked door can be a little creepy. But when I am the one on the table, I like the door locked.

Now this was a mistake. First of all there was an emergency which cancelled the first appointment. That is completely understandable and easy to work with. Second appt: was upon my arrival I find the door locked. I am getting in the car and the opened by a young man who tells me that the woman who is supposed to provide my massage is working on another client. That’s nice. What about me? Well, the schedule software screwed up. Ok… so why didn’t you call me? Well, there is only one phone and it is with a lady who isn’t here… And, my appt. Skip it. I’ve lost all interest in a massage at this point. I’ll stick with my lovely lady at Healing Garden on Shiloh Rd. in Kennesaw.
FInally, the place is hidden from street view so you might end up wandering around even if you GPS says «arrival on left». Normally, this isn’t a problem but given the rest of my experience, not finding the place and having to creep through Woodstock at 25 miles per hour… just finished the entire experience.

I want to answer the negative review about the locked door and wait time for Sanctuary. Amber Klippel has owned sanctuary for several years, and also instructs a Yoga class. She is excellent at what she does. When you arrive her door may be locked and there is a sign saying that it will be locked if in the middle of a session; while she is conducting a class or giving a massage. Her office door is an outside door, it’s located downtown and if left unlocked during a massage it would be unsafe for her, and her clients, since she has no staff except for herself. Yes, it’s unusual and I too found it irritating the first time yet understood after thinking about it. I would not want an unsavory character to come in to the office during a massage and attack anyone there. Woodstock is not unsafe like downtown Atlanta, but this is no longer like your grandmothers era, and there are a lot of crazies everywhere. Safety first! I’m glad she is thinking of this first.
I highly recommend Amber, she is an excellent sports masseuse, her sanctuary is peaceful and she gives time to her clients during and after the massage. My massage was also almost 30 minutes late but, she gave me the time I needed in spite of the fact that she had Yoga class that was also waiting on her.
All of this said, know it before you arrive and take some deep breaths, relax while you wait in your car and know that your massage will not be ordinary, it will be excellent and you will want to come back for that, and her Yoga classes. She is wonderful.

I would give this place zero stars but that option is not available. I did not like this place at all. I purchased a Groupon and tried to book online but there was no availability before the Groupon expired so i tried calling several times and left messages explaining the situation and no one ever got back to me. I finally called Groupon and complained and they helped me with the matter so I went to the appointment looking forward to it but when I arrived there fifteen minutes early, it appeared no one was there. The door was locked and no one responded to my knock. As the appointment time neared I tried calling and as usual no one answered and you couldn’t even leave a message because the voicemail was full (from all her unanswered voicemails I’m sure). I was very frustrated, wondering what to do, when at exactly 1:30 (the scheduled time), she opened the door saying she had been there the whole time but was with another customer. So she made me wait out on the doorstep not knowing what was going on instead of allowing me in to wait in the lobby, get a drink of water, or use the bathroom before my appointment time. The woman said her name was Amber and that she’d be my massage therapist although that was not the name of the person I was supposedly scheduled with. I found this odd too since online there different massage therapists listed but the guy next door said he thought it was just her. The place was dark, cold and creepy. When she did allow me in, she never even asked me for my groupon or had me do paperwork like they always do the first time for which I had arrived early. She didn’t even verify who I was. I could’ve been anybody. I don’t mind less hassle but I thought this was very unprofessional. To make matters worse we started almost fifteen minutes late and I laid there on the massage table just waiting for her while she talked on and on to the last customer. The room was cold although she did turn up the heat after I asked and it warmed up quickly. The music was nice but I didn’t think the massage was very good. When I asked her part way through it if she could do some deep tissue, she said she would when she got my muscles warmed up (she’d been working on me awhile) but the tone of her voice was negative. When she did a little deep tissue I did not like her style as I’ve had this done before. The overall experience was not good. I found this place to be very unprofessional and disconcerting for many reasons. I did not like running late (and her seeming like nothing was wrong with this), being locked out, not knowing what was going on, getting no response to my calls and a poor massage at that! These things caused my stress level to go up right before the massage instead of having a relaxing experience beforehand like I should have. I would definitely not recommend this place to anyone.

Amber is the best massage therapist I have used and I have known quite a few having lived near the PGA Spa in Palm Beach Gardens… Amber does for me either deep tissue getting after trigger points or Thai, which is my favorite… Recently she moved the facility to an adjacent suite which is double the floor space… She has added some yoga classes, too… Her prices are better than fair, and she has a great personality. It’s also nice that her location is right in trendy Main Street Woodstock, so it’s easy to add services, shopping and dining to your Sanctuary experience. As a matter of fact I am heading there shortly.