Hand & Stone 5213 Kelvin Drive, Houston, TX 77005

"Visited this place today for a birthday surprise from my partner to me. I am also 9 months pregnant. It was a very dull and dissatisfying experience. Though I paid for an hour massage, my appointment started 7 minutes late and ended 12 minutes early. The massage tech talked for the first 15 minutes of my appointment despite me sending obvious cues that I didn't wish to continue talking.. so it took about 30 minutes for me to get somewhat relaxed. The massage itself was also very rushed, aggressive, and demonstrated no real technique. I left with the same pains I arrived with and feel like I essentially paid to be aggressively rubbed and no real work was done. I shared my unpleasant feedback with the front desk and the response was just “oh”.. no attempt to resolve or further questions asked so I regret choosing to spend my birthday here and I’m very glad I didn’t book the facial because I’d rather spend my funds elsewhere. There was also a miscommunication on what I’d be charged as when I called to book my appointment one price was shared and upon arrival it was a different price. I did really enjoy the coconut water and the environment itself was clean and peaceful in a good location."

"I have been seeing Nick the last couple of months. I had a dual organ transplant about 2 1/2 mos ago so I was a little apprehensive about going in for a massage. Nick’s skill set is phenomenal and he has really helped relieve some neck and shoulder pain I was experiencing. I highly recommend Nick if you are looking for a deep tissue or a massage with medium-firm pressure. Kyle"

"BEWARE OF THIS LOCATION. I had an appointment here 12/13/23 at 9 am. I initially booked an appointment with Jasmine 12/14/23 at 2 pm but had to reschedule to 12/13 due to a scheduling conflict. I am an out of state client and booked based on reviews. The new appointment on 12/13 was booked by the receptionist who suggested the massage therapist, Sarah to me. I walked in and was greeted and provided with scents to choose from as I had booked an hour and a half massage that included a foot treatment and hot stone massage. I was then introduced to Sarah who I could see upon introduction was visually impaired. We greeted each other and I went back with her to the massage room. Inside the massage room, Sarah did various things that demonstrated she was unable to see to perform certain tasks. For example, she asked me to adjust the setting for the table warmer, which was a numbered setting and I wasn’t sure how high to increase the number that would correlate with the temperature. I asked her this and she stated to increase it to “7.” I asked her if she was unable to see the table warmer setting and she replied that she was unable to see it because it was “a digital number”. I later stated that I would be uncomfortable starting the massage if she was unable to see certain things in the room, including if I needed the table warmer setting adjusted as well as the hot stones (which was my primary concern) during the session. I didn’t want to accidentally be burned. Sarah then led me back to the front since I had expressed my concerns and as we are walking back, I witnessed her almost walk into a wall in the hallway in which I had to call her name and redirect her away from the wall to avoid her hitting her head. This was also very alarming. I explained this to the front desk staff, a woman named Stephanie and she continued to try and convince me that “Sarah had good reviews and was a good therapist there.” I continued to state I was uncomfortable as she had displayed difficulty seeing. I then asked to rebook with someone else available. She told me that they had a 10 am appointment with Mike. I then stated that my preference was a female massage therapist. She proceeded to offer me an appointment at 2 pm the following day which was with Jasmine, (which I already stated I was unable to do) and offered me a 2 pm appointment that day. It was 9 am and I had already paid for parking, I excused myself to my car to make a call, stating that I would return. I returned back into the location about 5-10 min later and Michael the “assistant director” (per his statement) stated that he was told by his employees that I stated I did not want a disabled person and that they do not allow that at Hand & Stone and I was “banned from all locations.” I never stated this at all He proceeded to yell at me and did not allow me to respond stating, “Please leave before I call the police.” I have been a member of Hand & Stone for over a decade and have never had such an appalling and terrible experience. Michael “the assistant director” was extremely rude and unprofessional and tried to imply that I was discriminating against “a disabled person.” If that were true, I would have never followed Sarah back to the massage room in the first place because from the beginning it was obvious she was visually impaired. It was ridiculous and insulting for him to have insinuated that. Michael then made an unauthorized charge on my card and stated it was a cancellation fee and utilized 1 of my membership packages for a service I never even received from that location. I have a right to choose who massages my body and it is based on preference and who can perform the massage effectively. For example, selecting a female therapist vs. a male should not be considered gender discrimination. I will be reporting this entire incident to the Hand & Stone Corporate office."

"Received a couples massage for Christmas last year and finally able to take advantage. However, we were both extremely disappointed with the massages we received. Customer service was great and interaction with our massage therapists was good; but we were there for the massage and it was severely lacking. Unable to distinguish between medium and firm even with direction. Hands appeared to just roam. Difficulty managing time resulting in an abrupt end and limited time on final limb."

"They charge you for 50 minutes (this is also how long the massage is), not the traditional 60 minutes. They will try to get you to sign up for the packages and recurring program, but don't if you can't guarantee a regularly scheduled visit as there are a lot of rules in the fine print."