Peng's Spa Upper West Side

Peng's Spa on the Upper West Side is my new favorite spot for relaxation. The therapists are skilled, and they really know how to work out the knots. The ambiance is soothing, and I left feeling completely renewed. This is definitely the place to go for a quality massage!

The massage itself is very nice, but the structure of the place is a little weird. The massage rooms and the front desk are in different rooms that are connected only by walking outside. The massage area is small for a much taller individual, but it does have a different atmosphere that preps you for a nice massage. They didn't remember that I had called the day before and made an appointment, which would be inconvenient during high peak times, but I was the first one there, so I was helped out quickly.

They really need to get their management in check. My massage itself was amazing!! However, when I got there there were two customers who had made an appt, but the person they spoke to never wrote it down. In the middle of my massage, an unhappy customer walked in who wanted to speak to someone, but it was busy and everyone working was in the middle of a massage. As a result, my therapist had to leave the room— twice!!— to talk to this unhappy customer. The two customers proceeded to speak loudly to each other even after they spoke to my therapist— twice. Someone left the door to the spa open and they said that was fine, resulting in me being freezing for the rest of my massage. It’s a no frills massage place and you can hear everyone around you. The staff talk to each other through the rooms. Customers loudly talk to each other as well. Overall, an amazing massage affected by lack of professionalism by the staff and their own customers. ..for the record, I’d still go back, but would try to go at the least busiest time possible.

I liked this place, the massage was great, and the place is clean. However, after the masseur convinced me of getting the longest massage they offer, he waits until the end of the session to tell me the tip is based on length of massage. When I arrived there the woman behind the counter just so happen to be standing in front of that sign. I've been to quite a lot of massage parlors and never heard that rule before, usually you can give the amount of tip you want. Its was slightly annoying but I just wish he would of told me ahead of time.

The entire experience was a mess. I made an appointment for 2:30pm, they call last minute and change it to 3:00pm (which is not a huge difference but still inconvenient). I show up at 3, and nobody is there, 10 minutes pass and the guy finally shows up opening a sketchy downstairs area telling me I have to pay a service fee upfront even though I paid with Groupon. Fine I pay the fee. I go in for the massage and the entire time the person massaging me is hurting me, not being attentive to when I literally say ouch or ask for softer. (I came home with literal bruises on my lower back). The “hot stones” that were suppose to be a part of the deal were used for 30 seconds and tossed away only to lead to more pricking fingers. At the end the masseuse tossed my legs aggressively up and let them drop rather hard on the bed shocking me multiple times. When I go the leave the guy is waiting outside for a tip, I hand him what I think is reasonable for the subpar massage and he tried stopping me saying “no you have to pay $50, the tip is $50” where I laughed and explained to him I already paid $50 for the massage and I was not paying $50 for the tip, and certainly not paying over $100 all together for a terrible experience. At that he tisked and said whatever telling me to leave, so I did. And will not be coming back. I am in a lot of pain, and just don’t want anyone else to go through that. Left worse off than I came.