Spa D’Athena

For valentines day, I received the Bliss package. I went and ended up getting the worst massage of my life. I’ve literally given myself better back rubs. My little gum chewing masseuse deeply rubbed my scalp with painful pressure, which felt like it was pulling my hair out. Horrible. Then she proceeded to vigorously and lightly rub me with lotion. It was the worst massage I’ve ever had. After that, I had a Kur bath, which was amazingly relaxing. Next day, I have HUGE hicky-​like bruises on both my hips from the Kur bath side jets. Yikes!

I received my first massage here. It was ok being that I had never had a message before I had nothing to compare it to. The woman did a good job and even did a scalp massage and used pressure. I live in DC and started seeing a massage therapist weekly. Major difference. Licensed Massage Therapist! He knows his anatomy. Doesn’t talk. works on the right areas and muscles. I come back to Bismarck to visit family and need a massage so try Spa D’athena again as I received a gift certificate. I booked a deep tissue as I have major knots due to the stress of grad school. She barely used pressure. I had to say «I ordered a deep tissue» the response (as I’m fairly petite) «I didn’t want to break you»…yeah Won’t be spending money here again. Didn’t work out any knots causing major pain and talked the whole time. Plus it’s more expensive than a massage in DC! Unheard of… Don’t waste your time/​money here unless you just want a light massage to relax not a therapeutic massage.

Received a «Just because package» to go along with a friend for her birthday. It consists of the Bath Kur, Head-​to-​Toe Massage and the Refresher Facial. Checked in at 12:30 and mentioned that we were there for the «Just Because package». She said not a problem and brought us back. Wish someone told us how long these services would take and in what order. Maybe we could have had a say in which services we wanted first and last. The rooms were a little chilly. Otherwise the facility was clean a friendly. Would go again and this time, I would ask more questions.
My package started with:
Facial (took like 45 – 60 mins)
Massage (45 – 60 mins)
Kur Bath (20 mins in the jet tub) but the room is booked all out for 1 hour so you can soak for a little more. They don’t tell you that tho.
My friends package was:
Massage
Bath
Facial

I took my mother here for a Christmas gift several years ago and was very impressed. It’s a beautiful facility!
I’ve been an Aesthetician for 11 years now and have been to a lot of spas, including many in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, The Spa at Pebble Beach, and Lake Austin Spa Resort. (I grew up in Underwood but live in the Bay Area)
Spa D’athena is equally as nice as many of these spas.
I only give it 4 stars because my massage therapist didn’t really seem into the massage and seemed to finish it abruptly. I’ve never experienced this before and am used to a massage coming to a gentle, definite resolution.
However, my mother loved her facial!
Will definitely be giving her another gift certificate this year.
As for massage, I hear great things about the Blotske sisters, Shanna and Sarah.

Truly a lovely spa.
They are in the midst of construction [7/​07], but even in the massage rooms, we could not hear a thing! Plus, it’s a little confusing, but you park and enter in the back of the building.
My friend and I had a brief spa day here while we were visiting ND for a friend’s wedding. She got a facial and I got a massage and we got tandem spa pedicures.
She said she loved her facial, and they included her decolette, shoulders and arms as well. Her skin looked radiant when she was done and did for days afterwards.
My massage was ok. I did have to ask her a couple times to ease up on the pressure. It was painful at a couple points. I’m also very particular about the direction that one massages, and rather than massaging outwards towards the fingertips, she just kind of went in a circuit [right shoulder, right arm, right leg, right foot, left foot, left leg… etc.] I also felt that because of this, she didn’t work each side equally and didn’t work the toxins out of my body properly. But maybe I’m too particular about that sort of thing and it doesn’t really matter.
Our pedicures were absolutely lovely! I got a french pedicure and I think it’s really the prettiest french I’ve ever had. She was very detailed and got everything cleaned up very nicely [except for this one callus on my little toe that no one ever seems to want to work on… again, maybe I’m expecting too much.
But I really felt refreshed, relaxed and beautiful when I left. Truly a lovely spa and I hope their rennovation goes well, because they will be a powerhouse when it’s done!
Oh… also, we booked our services 2 weeks in advance and were not able to get a couple things that we wanted to have done… so be sure to make your appointment well in advance… or have a flexible schedule [unfortunately, we did not]