My Worst Hotel Spa Massage Experience Ever: What Would You Have Done?

I'm amazed that you like massages to begin with, @Ben, especially because you always describe yourself as an introvert. I'm an introvert too and there's no way a stranger will ever be able to massage me! I won't even take a scalp massage, lol

The subject of massage quality can be subjective. Nevertheless, I would have had a nice chat with her, telling her something like maybe she should see a doctor or physical therapist because of her pain complaints, a massage therapist needs to have good hands, that you were expecting more pressure, etc. I would be saying this more to help her than anything else. If nobody says anything to her, how can the situation improve? Maybe it would click in her head or maybe not but you'd be out of there soon and cannot solve every problem that comes up.

Of course you have to talk to the Manager. If not for you at least for all the future guests.

I would have cranked down in front of her and called it even.

This seems stupid. You don't have to talk during a massage. Introverts might like the time to relax.

Part of why I like Ben's blog is how he reflects well the detailed internal dilemmas we all often face in life. I can see myself thinking through the exact same way with this situation. My two cents: If the massages were truly as bad as you say, then this is something I would gently report to the hotel manager. I would do so politely and sympathetically, acknowledging her injury and the low price, and without even asking for a discount or any recompense. But the manager really should know about this if this is a part of the hotel's offerings. I might not do so if this is in a really poor country and the price was dirt cheap (you get what you pay for), but this is Austria and the price was still not super cheap.

Why would you not mention the hotel name? It looks like the Torgglhof in Kaltern

You would be doing this woman a favor. She'd be allowed to go home for a few months and heal.

It's not easy to have a conversation like that without speaking the same language.

The only beneficial massage is the Finland stick-beating after the sauna , and then dive into the icy water . Invigorating .

Hotel spa massages are merely a money grab .

I'd talk to the hotel manager. If it's three people with the same experience across two different days, then there's a problem. Who's to say she doesn't give these excuses to every single other customer so she (maybe) doesn't have to work hard for her pay? Unfortunately, people like that exist.

I bet when Ben gets scammed by some guy taking $30k for fixing his roof and just pockets the money, he would say "Yeah but I don't want to go to the police, what if they arrest that poor guy? He probably just didn't know how to fix a roof."

I am literally a hermit living in rural Maine, but love massages. It is quiet and I just lay there.

It'll be because it's just $30k and sometimes people in life get what they pay for, such as when giving someone a mere €68 for 50 minutes' work at a location where the average hourly rate is a whopping €17.

None of you should have paid for a service you didn't receive. I had a similar experience at a Steigenberger in Tunisia a few years. An untrained masseuse basically just covering me in oil for an hour. I got up, asked to speak with the spa manager and the hotel's GM and the massage was comped and a nice bottle of wine sent to the room. They knew she wasn't trained and thought they could get away with it.

This is Italy, not Thailand. If she is sent packing, it would be for a long workplace injury recovery period, with full salary.

@Ben, since it was in South Tyrol, any chance the food was served by the mother of #1 ranked tennis player in the world? 🙂 That family apparently has quite a work ethic.

Asking for her to be send home for the season is basically asking that she is fired.
Your blog is widely read and the lady is very easily identified. As such I am a bit disappointed in that you single out a person in such a way. You could have talked to management without this naming and shaming.

We don't know whether it's an employee of the hotel or a self-employed person paying them a bit of rent for the space.

I wasn't there so it's hard to judge, but I'd say on the balance, just let it go. Like you said, she might rely on the income, and the hands pain may not be her fault. If it's a luxury hotel where people have the ability to pay for it, and all you got taken for was less than $100 and got a good story to write about, I'd say it cancels out. If it's bad enough, someone will eventually speak out. Don't let it be you.

Total sidebar: Now I can't unsee you and Ford as "brothers". You do have some similar facial features. Kinda funny that came up lol. Happy Pride Month by the way!

At least there was not "HARD" sell offered this time ! ..... lol

I’m going to Bolzano with my family in two days. Dying to know where you are Ben.

You say she didn't speak much English, but considering you were in South Tyrol did you try switching to German? My understanding is that most people who live there speak it natively despite being part of Italy, though of course she could be in the minority there.

Consistent with my experience of the Steigenberger brand.

You have a responsibility to your fellow travelers and frequent travelers to report this to the management. How will they learn if no one guides them? Maybe you validate their behavior by not reporting anything. Can’t believe there is any other choice. You hav to say Madame you are not happy here and you are suffering through the day so I think you should go somewhere where you can get joy from your work. That’s the kind way to fire someone!

All this internal conflict and dilemma is neurotic. The massage was terrible x3. Present hotel management with constructive commentary. The department overseeing spa services needs to be aware the product on offer does not deliver, which btw you are paying for.

What a clueless comment. You're exactly the type of person that makes the world a worse place, and more precisely, allows it get worse. An irresponsible person like you who just "lets the next guy fix it" shouldn't even be allowed to participate in modern civil society, let alone travel. If someone does something wrong, speak up and put an end to it! No need for a bunch of second-guessing and internal conflict!

I’m also curious. I was just in Ritten (immediately north of Bolzano) last week!

Never get massage services at a hotel.

Why aren't you requesting a masseur?

I would have cancelled and fiscusssd with spa manager re cancellation charge. If she is too hurt to work, that’s sad, but that isn’t a reason for you to continue.

@Miguel Ben wrote in his article that she did not speak German but she spoke limited English and she spoke Italian.

I think it is correct for Ben at least to tell others about their bad experiences and Ford is correct that you get what you pay for. So, it makes me wonder if the prices are cheap because others have had bad experiences there too. And Ben wrote that her hands hurt because she did three massages the day before. A professionally trained, skilled and experienced massage therapist would have probably said oh, it was a slow day yesterday as I only had three bookings.

She probably rents that place if it is a one person operation and she should hire more experienced employees to help her get the business booming and then she can just manage the front desk and her hands wouldn’t hurt anymore. And for those that wrote she relies on this job for her income but it isn’t right for customers to support her business for such a bad job. It is like saying do not complain to the manager about the food server for doing a poor job and continue to tip her well for those in America because she needs the money.

Sounds like it was an unhappy ending.

So, a travel blogger should never share a bad review if there is any chance it could have consequences to those offering bad service? So, Ben has a bad experience (×3) and should just keep mum? Why would one want to read travel blogs if this was the case? (Yeah, I know, to "discuss" politics)

Silly analogy. I would take what steps were necessary to recover a 5-digit sum (heck, even high 3 digits). Now, if someone tries to scam $20 from me, I'd probably waste way too much time to deal with it. Somebody gives me a lousy haircut, it isn't worth the hassle---I just won't return. I value my time, and more so, in recent years, my peace of mind. I'd be unlikely to raise a stink in a case like this with service, just poor service, provided. This is not necessarily a scam. Only a naive person would think that means they can scam me out of the same amount of money.

@This comes to mind, humans don't always do a spreadsheet calculation when it comes to these things. I've certainly made multiple escalated complaints about certain low-value stuff which annoyed me, and there are parts of the world (e.g. Crete) where multi-generational vendettas that started as a dispute about a couple of square metres of land have claimed multiple lives. Equally, one may take the $30k dispute to court, lose on a technicality and then decide they can't deal with the stress of an appeal despite having decent chances of a successful outcome.

The assertion that our species is capable of separating reason from emotion has basically been debunked by neuroscience.

€68 isn't cheap in a rural location where the average salary is less than €35k. Bolzano isn't Geneva or San Francisco.

Take it down a notch Karen. He asked for readers’ opinion. This is mine. If you don’t like me traveling or my views on the world then stay at a different hotel than I.

@Throwawayname

1. It is cheaper than the advertised price of 85 euros.
2. You would expect better from a boutique property.
3. Also, if you are saying that 68 euros isn’t cheap then Ben and his family should be complaining about paying all that money (68 euros times three) for the terrible experience and it is an assumption that Ben probably cancelled his father’s booking.

Of course they should be complaining about it! I would have been livid!

Ben - Why drop the "South Tyrol" reference like average readers are supposed to know where that is? I had to look it up...

If you can’t use your hands, maybe use your mou.. elbows?