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Absolute Spa At the Century
Categories: Beauty and Spas Massage Beauty and Spas Day Spas Massage, Day Spas [Edit]
1015 Burrard StVancouver, BC V6Z 1Y5
Neighbourhood: Downtown
(604) 684-2772
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Validated
- Accepts Insurance:
- Yes
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
11 reviews for Absolute Spa At the Century
11 reviews in English
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Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
11/11/2009
I am going to try to write this based on the experience of the spa..... not had a massage in about 7 months.. and needed some stress release. Having seen this sign outside the century hotel about how they have won so many awards.. i thought I'd take the opportunity to try it out.
I went in for my appointment, was escorted and given a mini tour of the place and where everything was.. some dining tables, lounge for relaxing, changerooms, extra changerooms to pool and sauna.. and then the room for the massage.
The room was very simple and clean - dim lights, with the table in the middle and soothing music. My RMT and I had a nice conversation while she gave me my massage and I definitely felt pain in places I thought I would feel it... I honestly don't know if it was a good or bad pain... I was indifferent.
After my 45 minutes, I was brought to the dining room where I was provided with a nicely presented salad and two pieces of chicken. It was really nice... grabbed a cup of coffee and slowly enjoyed my meal. Afterwards, I went to the lounge where I sipped on more juices and put cucmbers on my eyes.
... and over 2 hours later, I left feeling relaxed and thinking that everything was all good.
The experience is great...... I would go back in a heartbeat and if I had the money... unfortunately.. it was been a week since I've gone and my body has gotten more and more sore and my muscles have gotten tighter. If you are not use to this, it may take a day for your body to recover..... I'm still trying to figure my situation out... maybe it's just calling for another massage. -
Review from Mandy N.
Vancouver, BC
5/3/2012
I've been to this location a few times and realize their service can be pretty incontinence every time i go.
It really depends on the time of week and day you go. The last time I was in i had to share lockers with my friends and their wasn't enough access cards for use to be able to use the sauna.
The experience there the other few times were great. I usually get a relaxation massage there for an hour. but the last time left me an experience where I may think twice in choose this place and spending over 100.00 at for a massage. -
Review from D T.
Vancouver, BC
12/7/2011
BUYER BEWARE
While the quality of their spa services are good, Absolute Spa's customer service leaves much to be desired. I recently booked my wife in for a surprise 3 hour spa package along with her best friend and my mom. I had made arrangements to secure the reservation with a credit card, and even phone back to confirm that the charges would be taken care of so that the ladies did not have to worry about it afterwards. While they all had a relaxing time during the treatments, there was obviously a lack of communication in executing the instructions, and at the end, my wife was asked to pay, which made for an awkward situation. What's more, the young lady, perhaps not happy having to be closing on a Sunday, was rude and combative, ruining what should have been a relaxing visit. You would think paying for over a $1000 worth of services would lead to better courtesy!
What's more, this is actually the 2nd time time that the spa has failed in a similar arrangement: 2 Christmases ago we had also arranged to pay for our friends' couples package, while also asking the spa to ensure that they got a gift bag that we had purchased for them from Absolute Spa themselves. They ended up charging our friends again, and completely misplaced the gift bag, after which I had to go back to the spa to get a refund back on to our credit card. Again, no apologies for the mishap, and no response after I wrote a formal email to the manager.
I have to say that I should have known from my previous experience on what to expect regarding customer service. To be fair, their treatment specialists are very courteous, and my wife, mom and best friend all did say they delivered a very special facial. However, their administrative staff and customer service leaves a lot to be desired, and is not at all worthy of being advertised as a world class facility. -
Review from Spa S.
Langley, BC
3/14/2012
After reading several poor reviews about this Spa I decided to try it anyways because I didn't want to believe the reviews. However, I do have to agree with them.
Absolute Spa tends to advertise itself as a high end spa. I went in for a massage the other day and was greeted by a girl at the receptionist desk. She then gave me a pair of sandals and brought me down stairs to the locker change rooms. The locker change rooms are a bit outdated and needs a bit of a renovation. There was also a sign in the locker area saying to please return your sandals back to the front desk when you leave. I don't think you should need to bring your sandals back up with you, there should be a spot for you to put them in the locker room at least. The lounge area where I was waiting prior to my massage reminded me of a basement entertainment room. It was small and had no sense of a spa-like feel to it. When I entered the room for my massage, the first thing that I noticed was a drink in a plastic cup with a straw in it (not a good first impression) and there was also a fan in my room (the circle ones you have in your house that you plug in) which was a bit noisy during the massage. The massage was alright, nothing spectacular but the massage therapist was nice. The only good thing about this spa is that you get a chicken salad after your treatment in that spa cafe which was nice.
Overall, I will not be returning to this spa. It is over priced for what you receive.
I was also never offered my complimentary make up touch up that they told me I would get when booking my appointment. -
Review from Ayaka H.
2/25/2011
warning: i suspect that the 4/5 star ratings are false reviews. BE AWARE!
they say this place is the favorite among the A-list celebrities and that they come here when in Vancouver. If you think again, this doesn't make ANY SENSE. They could easily walk a block or two down to the Island Shangrila Hotel or to the Four Seasons , seriously. It is ADVERTISED HEAVILY as a swanky place, but it tries too hard.
1) Had a tour of the facilities
2) Got changed in to a robe +slippers
3) Relaxed at the steam room (the changing room is in serious need of renovation), which is tiny and not really well decorated
4) Went in to the relaxation room..had lemon tea + while waiting for my treatment, had cucumber on my eyes (this was good)
5) I had the Oxygen Facial. (which was soo heavenly)
6) HAD a COMPLIMENTARY delicious Chicken Salad.
The esthetician was Very nice and sweet, and very skilled, the treatment was awesome. but not worth 150! nooo way. :(
the makeup artist put on some makeup on me after my facial...i'm not really a fan of putting liquid and powder on my face but it turned out really natural looking which made me happy. Even though I am Asian, she didn't put on yellow foundation (Not all Asians have yellow undertones) so she did a great job. I'd come back for the cosmetics.
I've been to better places- the spa at the Four Seasons Hotel is TOP
NOTCH, and you get better facilities for about $20 more.
Honestly I'd rather spend $200 or more at the Chi spa at The Shangrila because you get the most bang out of your buck. -
Review from J N.
Vancouver, BC
3/29/2011
I want to like it here, I really do, but every time I visit, something goes wrong in the way of service.
I should have been forewarned when I tried calling, and was placed on hold for 12 minutes. (I timed it). On a rainy Monday morning? Really?
So it turned out that I visited on what happened to be a pretty quiet weekday for a massage. That part was a good thing. After my massage, I had a shower only to discover that there were no towels. No towels! I managed to find one old striped towel that was reminiscent of a 1980's swimming pool. I had to use this same towel to dry off after the shower, dry my hair and use in the sauna. (Ok, I offer better service for myself at home; this is not saying a whole lot).
I relaxed in the lounge to magazines that I'd already read. Probably because there was nothing in the lounge past January! And I'm paying 145 dollars for my massage here? (including tip).
I will say that the towel girl was nice, but maybe because I told her about the lack of towels, and so my therapist was equally pleasant. But when I told the front desk, the girl just shrugged as if she couldn't hear what I was saying!
I am pretty loyal to a place; I'd like to try it again, but next time, I guess I'll bring my own towels. I'm sorry, but that's not acceptable for a full service spa.Listed in: Places So AwfuI I had to…, Holy Hotness All Year Round
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Review from shain r.
Vancouver, BC
10/24/2008
My partner was blessed with an amazing gift from his boss, and what was this gift you say... a gift certificate from the spa of the century.
We booked ourselves in for an afternoon of pure bliss. I decided to have the chocolate body wrap, was a little scared at first because I wasn't sure if I could stand having my hands tied down in a body wrap with all that perfectly good chocolate going to waste... anyone heard of Augustus Gloop??? nuff said. Suffice it to say I was not that bad.
First off the room was peaceful and serene and the attendant came in and asked if I was ready to get started, I think at this point this is were I scared her, she said to take off my clothing and jump on the table... I guess what she meant was not ALL of my clothing, the next thing I new I was down to my birthday suit and hopped up on the table... she took a step backwards and asked if I would be more comfortable in my undies... I sheepishly blushed and said yes and put them back on. After this awkward moment we got down to brass tacks. A complete head to tow body massage followed by and chocolate body wrap, and who knew that they actually wrap you up in saran wrap. Once I was all cocoon like the attendant proceeded to give me a full facial complete with aroma therapy and the whole nine yards.
After the treatment I was treated to a warm shower and time to spend in the "relaxing" room.. eating crap like cucumbers and water with berry crap in it.
two thumbs up! -
Review from D X.
Burnaby, BC
I find it kind of interesting that all (except 1) of the bad reviews are filtered... maybe they wanted to keep their 4 star review rating??
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/8/2011
So technically I give them a 2.5 star rating.
I used to work for this spa so this review will be… Read more »
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Review from Sarah G.
Vancouver, BC
3/20/2011
This is the best spa in this city. I have been going there for over ten years. Athough I am open to other places, no other spa quite compares to this one. Over the years every service I've had is professional and done properly. ...it is not over the top but provides an ominous sense of relaxation and cleanliness that I don't experience elsewhere. They are the definition of 'spa' in this city.
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Review from me m.
Vancouver, BC
3/26/2011
We had one of the best massages by our RMT's and loved the service. Reception was nice, although made a mistake on my receipt but easy fix when i called.
ONLY issues were with the facility. Not even having high expectations, the robe was so worn out, slippers were yucky, changing rooms need major upgrade. Not sure what was wrong with the bed, (maybe those mobile ones?) it was moving during my massages with was disturbing during service. -
Review from Courtney M.
Vancouver, BC
1/7/2011
This spa is decadent! Everything about it spells luxury. Its not surprising that this is a celebrity hot spot. Great customer service, experienced lovely staff, very good products. I have had a few pedicures, a facial and a massage here, and all were exceptional. I highly recommend experiencing this spa!
