Serenity Day Spa

Love this spa, would most definitely come back. Everyone was so friendly. This was my first time getting a message and I was a little nervous, but once I got there I was very comfortable. I read the old reviews and I believe this spa has improved. My message was good, very relaxing. Would come back and visit again !

Great service! I had the tension tamer massage and it was wonderful! I felt like I was in there for an hour when it was only half an hour service. I had Mrs. Angnes who was perfect. The massage was not to rough or to light. She put the right amount of pressure. She also greeted me with a cup of water after I left the massage room. I do recommend to come here for a group party such as a bachelorette party. They were accommodating and that was very important.

I can recommend the facials and brow/​lip/​chin wax. Dolly is professional, pays attention to detail, thorough and doesn’t rush through the service. She will take her time. Love that. I also appreciate the fact that she will recommend products but she doesn’t make you feel like you’re going to get crap service from her if you DON’T buy product.
She also understands when you say «I’m trying to grow out my brows.» Everyone else I’ve seen has not been able to help me.
I’ve been twice now and plan on seeing Dolly for a long time.

Apart from the staff at the front desk that was very nice, my overall experience was terrible. I asked for full legs and brazilian wax. I had Natasha. This was the worst wax experience ever. Let me start by saying that I am used to brazilians, and I know it hurts. But this was something else, the worst pain I had ever had. My hair was a little too long, which might have contributed a little bit to the pain. First she did not shortened my hair. Second she barely used her second hand for protection on the skin while removing the wax strip, so my skin got bruised. Third she only asked me to lay on my belly, then my back, which are positions where she can’t reach most hair for a brazilian. I ended up having my brazilian half done because of her terrible technique. The legs… so easy to do… she failed as well! She barely succeeded in doing the front and back, and left the hair on both sides! I only realized this back at home, so I didn’t complain when I left. I wish I had. And finally, I paid a crazy amount of money for such a horrible service. I would have done a better job myself. I will never go back there again. If you want a wax, don’t take Natasha!

Amazing service, clean and super friendly. After a massage and a facial I left the place totally relax. Will def come back again.

My first experience here was good, but when I recently tried to book for another day, it did not work well. They seemed to be understaffed and the services they were offering were limited. I suspect they have laid people off and are going out of business. I would not buy a gift card here!

I really enjoyed my massage and facial here. Someone got me a groupon here as a gift and it included a facial and aromatherapy message.
When I spoke to the receptionist (who was very nice and helpful), I mentioned the horrible reviews on Unilocal and she informed me that the Spa was under new management and that it was a completely different staff.
The waiting area was nice and relaxing. And I liked the fact that you could change in the dressing room, which was really clean and well kept.
After changing into my robe, I went in to the waiting area, which is only made available to guest. My massage therapist, Drake, came and got me and took me to the room. He did a good job focusing on the areas with the most tension. He was gentle and I felt very comfortable with him.
Aziza did my facial and we had so much fun together. She has a great personality and explained everything she was doing, especially because that was my very first facial.
All in all, I would love to come here again. I am glad management was able to revamp this place.

I was coming in to see Violet from all the positive reviews I had read and heard about her but I just went back and found out she has left for a new place. I have never been impressed with anything else about the spa but heard Violet was excellent. I was told by another client that she had moved to a spot in Bethesda that I have been going to for massage called Ninotch. What a bonus! Serenity has lost a customer.

Great staff, well educated and very attentive. A little hard to find, but well worth it! The massages are great!

Do not go here, there are plenty of places around the area to get a great facial. My experience at Serenity Day Spa was not completely terrible, but it was not good either. I should have read the reviews before going here with a gift certificate!
The Spa
Not well kept or particularly comfortable. They try to make the waiting room comfortable and dimly lit… but really it looks like an out of date apartment where the lights are turned off. The pitcher for water was plastic. They can afford to invest in a nice pitcher of water at least if they do not invest in the ambiance.
The Facial
While the person giving me a facial was not, I did not find her to be very thurrough. I asked her to concentrate on cleaning around my nose area… she seemed to clean everything except for my nose, even where I did not have any skin issues. I also had little scabs on my forehead (where I have good skin usually and there was nothing to clean!!) for 5 days.
The table/​chair that you lay on and blanket is not top notch either. I do not get facials or other such services often, so when being charged $ 100 and seeing what great places are available in the area, I expect much better!!!

Today I went to Serenity Day spa to use my groupon which included a Facial, Aromatherapy-​Tension-​Relief Massage, and Body Lotion ($ 176 Value). I called in advance to let them know I was pregnant bc some places either need to find a tech who has that experience and/​or they feel liable. I also decided to TACK on an additional service outside the groupon, a prenatal massage since I had the DAY off and wanted to treat myself for once.
My facialist was very kind and informative. I believe her name was Lakaisha. She was the ONLY good part of my experience.
After I met with her, I sat down in the waiting room to be taken to my tension relief massage and then prenatal. I was taken there after 10 minutes to be told that the technician did not feel comfortable doing those two services. While I totallyget that, WHY didnt someone alert me to that when I CALLED? I could have booked this day in totality ANOTHER Time.
Then the clincher is when I went to the front desk and told her my two other services were not fulfilled and asked me when I wanted to come in for my 25 minute tension relief and prenatal massage. I said I didnt want prenatal massage any more since how can I be assured there is a technician who could do it, and then why would I come in for a 25 minute tension relief alone– really not worth it (parking etc)?
She looked at me with a very rude look and said two things: what would you like me to do? 2) she had no record of my prenatal… Seriously, what crappy service. 1) what you should do is sincerely apologize and tack on complimentary services 2) why would the technicians in back have RECORD of my prenatal and she didnt, it was as if I wasnt even in the same location. It was as she wasn’t even acknowleging the situation.
Finally, to potential clientele, if the reviews are this inconsistent, saying I wish I could separate out this services from that service, I would RUN the opposite direction.
I rarely ever give bad reviews. This was extremely disappointing. I would recommend Tusuva in Adams Morgan or Body and Company on Connecticut ave.

I went for a Groupon package (facial, armoatherapy massage and body lotion) — the facial was wonderful and very relaxing. The massage sucked though — it was supposed to be a half hour aromatherapy masage — instead it was 20 minutes of being prodded on the table with no atmosphere at all. The massage therapist (I think her name was Jessica — it began with a J) was brusque and at the end she had the nerve to ask if I had fallen asleep — it was really hard not to laugh at that! On checking out, I mentioned that the massage wasn’t very long and I was told it was only supposed to be 25 minutes (I rolled my eyes at that one) — and then when I mentioned that the massage was supposed to be aromatherapy, but it wasn’t, the girl just walked away — she didn’t even apologize or anything.
Not worth it, even for the Groupon price.

I don’t have any complaints about Serenity Day Spa. I like the quiet waiting area with the table set for two, the cucumber water, etc. I don’t find the receptionists overly obsequious, but nor do they do a ‘hard sell’ — which would horrify me. Just friendly and they get me to the right place.
The diamond micro-​dermabrasion is excellent. So gentle but it cleans off all the yuck skin and leaves skin so nice and soft. Nice after a long summer of swimming and sun. The oils and moisturizers are high-​end European herbal … not chemically. Paul gives an amazing cut. Easygoing personality. He tends towards beautiful long layers that grow out well. Always leave looking very nice and pampered. It’s a neighborhood retreat without needing to book a plane ticket .to a resort.

It was great, fabulous, wonderful, amazing! Keep in mind, this was my first Spa experience, but I loved every second of it. The front staff was extremely friendly, and my massage therapist was so warm and caring. I am officially hooked on massages and would highly recommend the services of Serenity Day Spa. Enjoy!

I’m not sure if that things are inconsistent or if they have changed since earlier reviews, but I found this spa to be very nice. I redeemed a groupon for a message and had a deep tissue. (The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that I would have liked the message to be deeper). I have since been back for waxing which I thought was great and pedicure as well. Each time the staff has been friendly and the spa has been very clean.

Very nice, clean, soothing place with gentle music in the background. Also the people working there are very nice. As for the massage it was more of moving her hands over your skin than actually massaging your muscles. I requested her to rub harder, specifically over my IT band as that was causing me some pain. However am not sure if she knew where or what it was as she just sort of rubbed a little bit in the general area of where I pointed. Bottom line is this is a nice place if you are an overstressed parent wanting to get away, but as for getting a massage it was just a waste of time.

I went here for a manicure and facial, and I wish I could review the two separately. If I could review them separately, I’d give the manicure 2 stars and the facial either 4 or 5, so I’m going with an average of 3.
The manicure was pretty basic, and the manicurist was kind of awkward at small talk. The biggest problem with it though is that it started to peel really quickly. I had to remove what was left of the polish after only a week, because so much of it had come off anyway. I’m able to give myself a manicure that lasts longer than that.
The facial, on the other hand, was great. I told the esthetician that I sometimes break out after facials, and she used products specifically for sensitive skin, and it ended up being one of the best facials I’ve had. Another reviewer said that they extractions are not included with the Groupon, but I also used a Groupon and my esthetician did extractions. She was overall really friendly and did a great job.
A friend of mine got a massage and was really happy with it. So overall, I’ll likely be back for another facial or to try their massage, but I’d skip the nail services.

I bought a Groupon for a one hour (50minute) massage at Serenity, which I redeemed this past weekend. This place is a true spa environment and I found it to be very relaxing. Admittedly, I am going into massage therapy myself so I may have been a bit critical, but overall the massage and experience went very well. My therapist, Berthe, gave me a full hour instead of 50 minutes, and really seemed to pay attention to my requests.
I would definitely like to go back and experience some of Serenity’s other services, especially their hot stone massage. My only issue was that their entrance is not very straightforward. there is a sign above Café Olé on Wisconsin, but I had to call them to figure out how to get indoors.

I have been to this spa quite a few times since it has opened, and am sorry to report the decline in service over the past few years.
I have called the Tenley spa three times recently, attempting to book an appointment. Each time, the phone has gone unanswered, rolled over to voicemail, and nobody called me back. This is particularly galling because I am attempting to use up the balance on a gift card, which they now tell me expired two weeks ago, although I was never advised that the balance had an expiration date, nor was I provided any documentation that reflected an expiration date. There is no manager on duty, and my voice mail message to the manager has gone unanswered. Based upon these recent experiences, I will be bringing my business (and buying gift cards) elsewhere.

I totally agree with Serena P. THE BRAZILIAN WAX IS TERRIBLE!!! I was left with wax all over the place, and the beautician (her name was Micky) left me with scabs from trying to pick out every little in grown. Ironically, she didn’t even wax all of the hairs from places she could reach, so I was left with an unclean bikini line.
The salon is nice and clean, but bottom line, it was $ 75 and NOT WORTH IT.
UPDATE: I got store credit for my crappy brazilian because it sucked so much, so I went back to use the credit and get a pedicure. TERRIBLE PEDICURE. LIke, I might’ve well done it myself. And ppl pay $ 44 fo it? Omg… insanity. Just cut off your toes if you’re going to go here. I’m using the rest of my credit on shampoo or something.