In The City Reviews: Eden Massage & Spa – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Trying to come up with topics to write about, it hit me that there were two more types of sections that I could start writing about. (Woohoo! The ideas are coming! The ideas are coming! The ideas are coming...to me!) Yesterday I wrote about GROUPON in the first new sections “Links In The City” and the follow up is the introduction to the second new section. “In The City Reviews” will be reviews about places "In The City" I visit. This can be anything from a restaurant/bar to show, from a repair shop to flower shop, a found recipe to new wine, and anything in between. It will be candid reviews about anything that inspires me to share with you. No I don’t plan on making this my venting arena/section (OK! Okay, sometimes it will be.)

This introductory review is for a place I found through GROUPON. The Eden Massage & Spa in Fort Lauderdale was feature back on July 12, 2010. The deal was great for $35, you get either a 60-minute Swedish massage (a $65 value) or a 60-minute deep-tissue/sports massage (a $70 value). “Just what this BigBear needs some R&R!!,” I said to myself. The voucher would not expire for six months. Surely I would find a moment to go relax and decided to buy 2 vouchers to make it TWO relaxing moments.

Fast forward 5 1/2 months to Tuesday, December 21st and I still had not used even one of the vouchers. I needed to FINALLY treat myself to that long needed “deep tissue/sports massage” and would give the other to a coworker as a surprise gift. Otherwise I would loose the money spent on them. So I called that afternoon, scheduled the appointment for the following week with who I find out during the call was the new girl in the office. On Thursday to be safe, as I always do, I call to check and make sure that my appointment was all set for next Tuesday. SHOCKER! The new girl messed up and didn’t correctly set up the appointment for me. The woman on the phone was unapologetic about it because "all the GROUPON people had waited until the last minute to book and use their vouchers."

I was not happy; not only did that ruin my plans BUT it ruined the surprise for my coworker. She is a working mother of three (plus a step kid) and never gets time to herself. Because she really needed and deserved it I even recruited her supervisor to help me make it all happen by letting her go home early that day so we can make it to the appointment. It had been a difficult series of planning by several people to make sure that she would still be able to make it back home at the same time as always for her kids.

“But she told me there were two therapists available for that time and I told her to write me in. She even took my number to have the therapist call me back to confirm,” I explained. Told the woman about the scenario of when I set the appointment. It was no help; she was not going to be able to do anything for me. Upset with the situation I just wanted to set an appointment and get it over with already. So I asked to speak to the person in charge, “I’m Grace, the owner. The next appointment is not until next year.” I reluctantly took the appointment, which was for this past Sunday evening, then invited my girlfriend P to go with me.

When we arrived, P & I were a little skeptical about the place from the minute we pulled into the parking lot. Parking was a bit confusing because there were meters inside the parking lot in front of the spaces closest to the building. Not sure what that’s all about, but we took a spot on the other side where no meters were present and walked the whole 30 feet over to the building. The place was not sketchy or anything, just not your typical BIG Fancy Spa kind of place. Once we found the spot it was a small office space in the plaza's courtyard. As we walked in the front door I could hear Sarah Brightman playing softly.

We waited about 5 minutes in the small reception before someone came out to greet us. Big smiled through the small window the woman greeted us, “Hi! Sorry was with a patient, please fill out this form. We are running a little late.” P & I sat there filled out the form and planned what we would do after our massage for dinner. After 5 more minutes, as the first of two patients that were inside left, another big smiley face (albeit a bit shorter than the previous) comes to the window. “Hi! I’m Grace, sorry for the wait. We are finishing up and will be with you in a few.” Two minutes later, I’m asked to come in by Grace who leads me to a low light room, asked to take off my cloth and lay on the massage table be face up.

Being that I’m a BigBear, I was not expecting this to be any good because there is no way this short little woman is going to get deep enough to loosen up those deep knots. What happens next is an amazing lemongrass scented 1-hour deep tissue massage. Grace’s hands are MAGICAL! Her technique is really great and well balanced. I was glad about it because I really needed that massage. When the hour was up my whole body was relaxed and relieved. Back in the lobby, my friend told me how amazing her therapist was too. In the end, Eden Massage and Spa really came through, and both of us were really blown away by the end results. Guess the old saying is true, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

BEAR-ssential: If you are looking for a big, fancy, beautiful decorated place to walk into and relax; where they give you a locker, a robe and serve you cucumber sandwiches with flavored waters; and the price you pay reflects all these extra amenities then Eden Massage and Spa is NOT the place for you. But if you are looking for a place where you are simply paying for a GREAT massage experience without the expensive-fancy extras, then this is the place for you. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a great massage without frills. I’ll be returning there soon as a FULL paying customer and will report if there is a difference.