Allure Day Spa & Hair Design

05/26/09

Unreliable service, unprofessional treatment

by massagecritic at Citysearch

I just moved to Anchorage with my husband who is in the Air Force. After 13 days on the road, I was in need of a good massage. As a massage therapist myself, I did a lot of research into the spa offerings around town. I visited at least 10 different spas before deciding which one I would give my loyalty to. (Incidentally, Allure does NOT offer a military discount, which is surprising and disappointing to me since Anchorage has such a strong military population.)

To be honest, I was very tempted to choose Allure at first because they are the big name around town. I soon discovered that that's about all they are. All talk, very little substance. They've definitely got the corner on the market, but the actual quality of their service is unreliable. During my massage, I learned that Allure has upwards of 30 massage therapists, most of whom are fresh out of school, and a turn around rate for employees like you wouldn't believe. Definitely not the nature of a spa I'm interested in frequenting.

One (possible) oversight that stood out to me during my visit was the remarkable absence of an intake form. If indeed it was a mistake, which I think it was not, my therapist didn't even verbally check in with me about my medical history or any other possible contraindications to massage. It was an uncomfortable situation, knowing that my therapist was working on me blind, so to speak. It is unprofessional and dangerous.

You also have to pay to park, if you want to be anywhere near Allure's building, which is a hassle and an inconvenience. Ultimately, you're taking a chance with any of their service providers, and I personally am not willing to spend $95+ for that risk.

• Pros: Beautiful facility, but that's the only pro.
• Cons: Disappointing, unreliable service quality, pay to park.

07/12/09

Allure...

by TheSkinBar at Citysearch

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• Pros: Good Wax
• Cons: High Prices, Bad Customer Services

06/16/09

Worst Hair Salon!

by MrsHarvey at Citysearch

I went in to get a simple hair cut and color and came out with a hack job! This salon has master designers, designers and stylists. I chose a designer which is supposed to be close to the best. I was told she has 10 yrs experience and is an expert at hair cuts and color. I showed her a picture of exactly what I wanted and she said she could do that. I asked her to not cut my hair above the top of my shoulders because I have very thick hair. She then asked me a few minutes later how short I wanted it so I reiterated that I want it no shorter than my shoulders.

She then proceeds to cut my hair to my chin and says theres no going back now. I thought I was going to die! It looked like a helmet of hair on my head. It was also very un even so I asked her to even it out. To do that made my hair even shorter, almost to my ears! I was horrified! She decides to put layers in it to make it lie down more. My layers are totally uneven and she just told me to go home and play with it to make it look better! Unbelievable. On top of that she put a glaze in my hair to make it more shiny and it came out very dull and my hair is dry and brittle now.

To make things worse I asked to speak to a manager and was told none was available. I then called the next day and was told the same thing and then called again the following day and was sent to a voicemail. 3 days have passed and I have not been able to speak to a manager and I was still charged 140.00!

This is by far the worst salon with the worst customer treatment I have ever been to and I travel all over the world because of my military career. I gave it one star because it was clean. My hair was butchered and I was ripped off financially.

UPDATE ON HAIR DISASTER 6/18/09:

I finnally got a hold of a manager and she was very professional and sympathetic to the major mess up at the salon. She was attentive and came up with a solution to help lessen the sting of having almost no hair anymore. Although nothing can give me my hair back other than time, her professionalism and customer care helped me see the salon in a tad more favorable light. I am pleased that management will aknowledge when theres a mess up and do the best they can to fix it.

• Cons: Unexperienced hair stylists at a high price

11/19/08

You pay for service.

by mjojo at Citysearch

Excellent!! I've always had high quality service. You pay for the service so expect a higher bill but know that you're going to get better service than anywhere else in town.

10/25/08

Won't go again

by anchorite at Citysearch

I went for the 80-minute pregnancy massage for myself and an 80-minute massage for my fiance. From the time we got to the front the customer service was lacking, we were not acknowledged for several minutes. The wait time was not very long, but it did cut into the time allotted for our massages, even though we were on time. My massage left much to be desired, namely a reasonable amount of pressure, which I asked for several times. Additionally, I mentioned that my feet were a source of discomfort and would like extra attention. Over the 80 minutes, my feet were "massaged" (again, with very little pressure) for less than ten minutes. As soon as we left the establishment to do some shopping, my feet were hurting again, which seemed unreasonable to me for someone who had just left a massage. My fiance said his massage was alright, but nothing special. We have both been for professional massages at quite a few different places, and as such know what to expect from a place like this. Due to the price range of the services, the customer service I experienced, and the massage itself, I will not go back to this establishment and would not recommend it to others.

• Pros: massage area ambience was nice
• Cons: customer service relative to price

07/30/08

Great place for waxing

by jca14 at Citysearch

The atmosphere was very soothing--dim lighting, relaxing music, and CLEAN! All the staff members (one esthetician and two receptionists) I encountered were very professional and helpful. I was there for a brazillian and the esthetician who helped me was great. She was quite thorough and made sure I didn't have any questions or concerns beforehand. Also, the staff didn't engage in aggressive selling of products, which I really appreciated! I would definitely go back.

10/14/07

Dont waste your money

by cinnamon228 at Citysearch

Well i have been going to this salon for about 8 months and i've decided I have had enough! i have gone to the same stylist who always manages to convince me to change what I want for my hair. No matter what i want she has forced her opinion on me or failed to do what i want done to my hair. I have had to go back twice to have her fix what she thought looked good but not what I wanted. Why I have kept going back i have no idea. But this is the last straw, that salon is way too expensive to not be satisfied. If you want someone to do what they think looks good not what you want then I guess this salon is perfect for you. But not me, I know how I want my hair! Not to mention in the whole 8months i have paid for highlights/cutt/style I have never gotten my hair styled by her either! i have always been rushed out because she was running behind.

• Pros: nice salon
• Cons: Downtown parking, my stylist wasnt open to my ideas for my hair,

08/30/07

Unprofessional, terrible results

by nicole_ripley at Citysearch

My friend and I went to Allure for a spa day: I got a brow wax, and full manicure and pedicure. I was made to wait for half an hour (they ask you to be early and the girl was 15 minutes late) before my first service, the wax. She did an awful job (just the bottom brow) and I had to ask her to do all of it! Then the same girl did my nails, filed them almost completely away and caked on the worst French manicure (complete with uneven, blotchy paint and leftover cuticles) I've ever had! And that was $80!! The pedicure was fine (it was a different girl who did that!) but the entire experience was atrocious. For that kind of money, the customer should be treated like kings and I was appalled by the superior, ho-hum customer service (made to wait AGAIN while cashier was on the phone when trying to check out). Unbelievably bad! I went to the quick nail shop in the 5th Avenue Mall and got my nails fixed for $20 and they were perfect! Do not waste your time or money at Allure!

• Pros: Atmosphere
• Cons: Rude staff, poorly skilled staff, WAY too expensive

08/24/07

terrible, terrible, terrible

by uvalde at Citysearch

I have been to many spas and was excited to hear Allure was ranked top 5. Now i am guessing probably top 5 salon, not spa. You think spa you think tranquil, serene, relaxing right? Well at least I do. There was a rude staff member at the front that didn't even acknowledge us probably becausing she was busy talking about how much women hate her because of how she looks. Please let's keep it professional, I don't need to hear your woes. There is no seperate, closed off dressing room. It is wide open to the sitting area. Only 3 changing rooms(changing closets), one bathroom, and again zero privacy. The sitting room is very noisy and difficult to begin relaxing in because it right behind the checkout counter. My massage therapists asked no questions, i.e. how are you today? any trouble areas? I received the stone massage. she must have been new at it because she didn't lay the stones on my skin directly, they were on a wet towel on my back. tons of time was wasted digging around for rocks. It ws the worst massage i have ever had and i have had some not so great ones. Anyways, I paid for an 80 minute massage and it was cut short 20 minutes. Massage was so awful I didn't say anything. Again no locker room filled with showers. i got offered a shower which was connected to another massage room. I was told steam showers are complimentary however my friend who started her massage way before me and finished way after i showered (cause my massage was cut short) she wasn't even offered a shower, told about a shower, or shown a shower. They expected her to walk around downtown Anchorage covered in oil I suppose. The decor is awful. Place looks a bit beat-up and again not spa-like. Save your money and your time. Go somewhere else!

• Pros: none
• Cons: bad massage, bad decor, bad staff