J L.
Yelp
Shibui is the Greenwich Hotel's spa, open to hotel guests and visitors. My experience there was very inconsistent, and definitely not relaxing. The level of service for treatments was excellent, but several mishaps disappointed me.
The hotel itself is gorgeously decorated as a wealthy, worldly gentleman's mansion, with wood accents, plush chairs, and lush greenery. Heading downstairs, I was transported from Manhattan to Japan. A beautiful space, however, can be meaningless without a good experience. We had several concerns by the end of our two hours at Shibui: the pool had signs from the health department announcing that it was closed for safety concerns, but employees assured us nothing was wrong other than a badly-lit corner of the pool and encouraged us to swim; I received the wrong bath, not the mint bath I had ordered after being given several options over the phone; my friend who was also getting a treatment was unable to enjoy the pool given a private yoga lesson occurring less than 10 feet away, which was shortly followed by two young children in snorkel gear running, screaming, and splashing water all over the floor for nearly half an hour.
Needless to say, besides my wonderful massage, it was not relaxing at all. While the massage was the main reason I came to Shibui, being able to use the pool area was another perk (one that I used to justify spending this sort of money).
We believe in letting businesses know how we feel before writing a negative review so as to give them an opportunity to respond. We mentioned to the manager the questionable safety of the pool, the incorrect bath, and the craziness of the pool area. She was initially very helpful, explaining the pool was in fact the hotel's only pool, so it was open to all its guests. It was also their only space for private yoga lessons, apparently. We hadn't been aware of this and just assumed the spa was its own little area, but mentioned that it might be useful to let non-hotel guests know when they book appointments. (I have stayed at and visited several hotels/resorts with separate spa areas that have managed the balance of hotel and spa perfectly.) The manager took our information and explained that an employee would be contacting us shortly to arrange another bath so we could experience Shibui again, hopefully on a better day.
That communication never came, and it has now been two months. We followed up with the spa by email recently but never heard back. It seems that if you are not a guest at the Greenwich Hotel, you are more than welcome to drop $300 at the spa but you shouldn't necessarily expect to feel relaxed or revitalized. Perhaps if they prefer to cater to hotel guests, they should do so exclusively.