RJLondonGold

Just a rant - I arrive at 7.55 this morning, from BRU to fly onward to SFO at 10:30 and thought I would try the Spa..

Me: "Can I have a treatment please"
ES: "Yes sir, first one is at 10:30"

Me - Leave spa

This isnt the first time I have not had a treatment as there has been a wait of over 2.5 hours - obviously its going to be a lot better in T5...!!!????

Rant over....

leaveamessage

T1 on jan 1st... get to lounge before 11am- departure is 13:45...
Compared to normal, the lounge was dead (especially the F lounge) , as was the general departure area.
Wanted to give my brother the chance to try the spa, as its his first time out of Y..

No free slots until 14:30 Useless

aristoph

We don't even bother asking now, especially having read reports of this nasty chair-thingy. Makes me pine for TG's First spa at BKK.

vla

That's strange -- at least when it was MB the spa at T1 was known for its easy availability. Any idea why it's more difficult now?

I'm of two minds about the chair but if you get the one which does your feet it's an incredibly stress-relieving sensation.

Land-of-Miles

We had a similar experience in late December with the T4 spa. I thought things would get better (for bookings) with the move to Elemis and shorter treatment times, but clearly this isn't the case.

Jimbob247

Can you still pick up toothbrushes/razors from there?

Teece

Sure - I always raid the toiletries when I go for a shower in the spa.

adrianjc32

Unfortunately this morning there was only one therapist due to illness. She was going flat out (or not in the case of the chairs now) but every slot was filled. Elemis are still training therapists so are not up to full strength. Hopefully they will be in the next ten weeks, it would be a shame to open T5 with just one therapist .

Teece

A 'shame' is an understatement! I would have thought BA would be mightily displeased with Elemis if that happens!

stimpy

Hmm. The reports I've seen are 50-50. I personally like it a lot and I've never had to wait too long at T4. Fortunately I rarely use T1.

Long JB

From the above I take it you cannot ring up and book???

Just that my wife and her friend are going CW to JFK in a few weeks time and would be nice to get them an appointment to start the trip in style.

They are on the 1st flight of the day to JFK on a Saturday, is the Spa likely to be busy then?

L JB

Land-of-Miles

I am in the "instrument of torture" camp. It feels to me like sitting on a washing machine during a fast spin cycle whilst being alternately punched in the back and fitted for really tight ski boots.

Availability of the Elemis treatments seems just as bad as the previous MB availability despite the drmatically shortened treatment time. I have been unable to obtain appointments n occasion when I had 5 hours to spare.

The whole "spa" now to me feels like a token gesture for the marketing material rather than a real attempt to provide a service. TG and QF do it so much better. I would happily accept being unable to obtain an appointment on occasion as a trade off for a good quality treatment when I can get an appointment. Sadly it seems right now that many get neither.

Will this change at all in T5? My understanding is that T5 will just carry over the existing arrangements and perhaps put them in a nicer setting.

Whilst I am on a rant the Spa front desk staff particularly the older "gentleman" are amongst the rudest people I have ever encountered at LHR (a nd there is considerable competition for that particular "honour"), I hope that T5 will see changes however I think I am being hopelessly optimistic here.

stimpy

Well I have seen a lot of rude passengers at the spa. Unfortunately BA has caved to the rude passengers who couldn't get their spa treatment in their short transit window and made the spa poor for everyone as a result.

Land-of-Miles

Rudeness is inexcusable regardless of whether it comes from customers or staff, but the front desk staff should surely be selected for their ability to handle difficult situations and defuse tricky problems or are you seriously saying that you would be happy to have your reception manned by curt and rude staff?

I can understand passengers being upset when they have been "sold" the benefit of the spa as part of their CW or F trip and are then confronted with the reality of being unable to book an appointment unless you have a 24 hour layover at LHR. You and I both know the score here, but Jo/e Punter splashing out on his her/his one off special trip really will not.

I find it quite frankly disgraceful that unlike MB, Elemis do not even offer any gesture (e.g. products, gift vouchers etc.) when PAX, particularly F PAX are unable to book a treatment when they have 4 or 5 hours of free time. The contrast between the Spa services offered by BA and those offered by QF (and TG as mentioned by someone else) is rather extreme. I really hope that QF build their own spa when fitting out the new F lounge in T3.

stimpy

I'm saying it is an unfortunate fact of life these days that rude passengers create rude staff. Wishing for it to be otherwise is like wishing it would stop raining.

I would like staff to stand up to rude passengers, but they don't always have the Pucci Galore backbone to do that.