★★★★★

Had my first visit to J. Madison and overall my experience was positive. I am by no means a "spa expert" and so take my review for what its worth. I will compare J. Madison to the Woodhouse which is next store. I visited Woodhouse two weeks ago and J. Madison this week, both for a sweetish massage. I'll base my review on the pre-massage and then the actual massage itself.
J. Madison vs. Woodhouse pre massage. They both are on busy wyoming ave. Upon entering J. Madison, the two gals at the front desk were pleasant and inviting. Woodhouse was also pleasant but more "business like"...splitting hairs here..the gals at J. Madison were just a bit more outgoing and friendly. Woodhouse waiting area is more "spa like". J. Madison was not bad however I would recommend having relaxing spa music played int he waiting area...to get in a relaxing mood. The street traffic was loud and if there was inviting music being played in the waiting area...it would set the mood. Woodhouse wins in this area...very relaxing area before the actual massage and street traffic could not be heard. After completing a client form at both...I was escorted up stairs. Woodhouse has a better locker area that is separate from the toilet area. J. Madison locker and toilet area is combined into one space. Also, Woodhouse locker felt like it was ready for just me. They had one rope hanging and slippers for a man. J. Madison had 6 or 7 robes hanging all in one area and the one issue is that all the slippers were closed inside the robes. I picked one...opened it up...ladies slippers...chose another...same thing...I ended up putting on what was probably a size 7 ladies slipper because I did not want to open up each robe that was tied closed in order to find a robe that had slippers for a man inside. You could not see that unless you untied each robe. Not a big deal...just an observation that if I owned J. Madison I would make an adjustment with that presentation. Also, Woodhouse had combs and hair gel/moose in the bathroom area. This was very helpful because after a long massage at both places, the therapists at both places did an awesome job on the head/scalp area and my hair that already had gel in it...made it looked like I had serious "bed head"when It was over. Woodhouse must be aware of this and had sterile combs there to use along with hair moose to fix the hair... If I was heading back to the office after J. Madison, it would have been an issue as I had no way of fixing a messy head of hair. That attention to detail by Woodhouse was a nice touch. I would encourage J. Madison to make this very easy fix for the client. One other thing to mention, when I left the locker area at J. Madison to look for the therapist, I stumbled onto a storage room and employee break room since that door was wide open. That room is obviously not for a client to see as it looks like what it is...a storage and or break room. That door should be kept closed...it takes from that relaxing spa atmosphere that I think clients look for. Its like seeing a messy kitchen for a high end restaurant....just don't want to see that and I am sure it was not for me to see....the door was just left wide open. Again, its that attention to detail. Overall...I feel like Woodhouse won the "pre-massage"experience but its not a major issue...just something I think J. Madison should be made aware of.
The actual massage: J. Madison vs Woodhouse. First let me say, I think both were really good. I also understand that each therapist has their own technique...like a snowflake...no two are alike. If I had to pick on the actual massage...I am leaning toward J. Madison on this particular day. I had Nichole at Woodhouse and she was really good....I had Jolene at J. Madison and she was really good too...maybe just a tad better. But one MAJOR ISSUE I had with J. Madison is that when the actual massage started....(continued on next review...running out of space)...more

KP

Kevin Palmiter

June 11, 2017