Adolf Biecker / Philadelphia

08/04/10

I love my beauty team!

by MeriBlake at Citysearch

The atmosphere is amazing there, you are hovering over the park, watching the people running around in the heat while you sip your tea and get pampered. Erica does my highlights and introduced me to balayage, where she paints them directly onto your hair instead of using the foils, it takes about half the time it used to take me to get my foils and is more natural looking. Jen cuts my hair, she is really creative and always feel amazing leaving her chair with a great blow out. On the spa side Rachel does my waxing, she's thorough and has a gentle touch, have gotten a few facials from her and she used hot stones which was an amazing treat! I love my girls there, they spoil me and help me stay beautiful.

07/11/10

Great colorists and stylists!

by renee1228 at Citysearch

The Adolf Biecker Spa & Salon is, by far, the best salon in the city. With every interaction, I am met with diligent staff members and highly skilled colorists and stylists. The salon has all the great services of every high end salon in New York City and the great part is, the staff at here is so warm and welcoming! Being new to Philadelphia, the salon staff made my first visit earlier everything I expected - I experienced high level quality services, a lovely environment, warm staff and a perfect location on Rittenhouse. I would recommend to anyone to visit and compare themselves. You'll see what I do, a great salon and spa..

• Pros: Excellent services
• Cons: No cons!

02/12/10

Terrible Massage From Roberta

by milkshakekitty at Citysearch

Steer clear of Roberta. I had the worst massage ever at Adolf Biecker today from Roberta. It had been a rough week, and I thought I would cut out of work early on Friday afternoon and get a massage. After striking out trying to get an appointment at Rescue (my usual massage spot), I tried Adolf Biecker, figuring that it was nearby and in a nice hotel, so it should be good. Um, not so fast. The facilities were ok, but the real problem was Roberta.

Oh, Roberta. I am hesitant to trash someone's ability to practice her chosen profession, but I would hate for someone to waste $100 and an hour on this massage. The word that comes to mind in describing the massage is unskilled. It honestly felt like my husband (who is an attorney, not a massage therapist) rubbing cold sunscreen on me. It was weird when she started with my feet, and it just got worse. I was laying there thinking, "What is she doing? Is she a professional massage therapist? Was she trained? Can I stand this for a full hour?" At one point she had my hand pinned back to the middle of my back. It wasn't painful, just annoying. When I felt her pressing into my kidneys, a big massage no-no, I knew it was time to go.

I decided that I would tell Roberta that I had to go to the bathroom. I came back and explained that it just wasn't working for me. Frankly, she did not seem surprised. I would guess this was not the first time it happened to Roberta. When I checked my watch back in the locker room, I realized that I had only been in the massage for about 20 minutes.

I asked to speak with the manager. I told her that I have been to a lot of massage therapists at different spas in Philly, and I had never ever even considered walking out in the middle. I told her that Roberta's touch felt unskilled and amateurish. I asked whether they had confirmed that Roberta had formal training.

The manager responded that Roberta had several years of experience, which is not the same as training. The manager swore that Roberta had regular repeat customers. Maybe it was just a bad match between me and Roberta, but, like I said, I have had a lot of massages and this is the first time I ever considered leaving. The only bright spot was that they did not even suggest that I should pay for the service.

• Pros: I didn't pay.
• Cons: Unskilled masseuse.

05/26/09

Do Not Go Here for a Bikini Wax

by KLC178 at Citysearch

Do not go here for a bikini wax. I had a horrible experience. I ended up with a major burn and worse of all I had major bumps worse than anything I had every experienced with shaving. And they didn't get the hair at the roots, so there was stumble coming out of the bumps. It was extremely painful and looked horrible. It truly impacted my ability to enjoy my vacation. I could not wear a bathing suit because of the bumps/reddness. I could wear jeans due to the pain; nor could I go running or biking of any of the other fun things that one normally does on vacation.

I have had numerous bikini waxes before at other spas and never had any issues. When I called I was basically told that this was normal, that I should put on ice and neosporin. I was told that all the bumps should be expected. I always got bikini waxes to avoid the bumps from shaving. what a waste of money.

• Cons: Poor quality services

09/15/08

worst brazilian i have ever received

by jeh203 at Citysearch

To start with, the receptionists were decidedIy unfriendly. I don't expect to be wined and dined, but at a reputable high end salon and spa, I do expect more than indifference from your employees.

I waited for my service in a "relaxation room". Unfortunately, I waited for about 30 minutes before my esthetician arrived. That is an unacceptable amount of time to wait for a service.

I was then subjected to THE most painful brazilian wax I have ever experienced. I know it is not a comfortable thing, and I always prepare by taking ibuprofin beforehand to counteract the pain and inflammation. It did not help. I'm not sure my technician really knew what she was doing. She did not wait for the cold wax to harden before she tried to pull it off, and as a result I had to sufer while she attepted to pick the edge of the wax. The was a lot of ripping and tugging with very slow results. Also, she did not do a complete job. Once she managed to, painfully, remove the hair in the front, I was not asked to flip over to remove any hair in the back. Of course, after the pain I didn't want to persue it. When I got home and inspected her work, I discovered a very obviously uneven job. VERY OBVIOUS. Unfortunately, she never had me inspect her work with a mirror, or else I would have requested that the one side look the same as the other.

I did not spend 55$ to recieve a horrid service, with terrible results, after waiting for nearly a half hour past my appointment time. I expected far better than that. If I wanted someone to do a crappy job, I would have just gone to one of the nail shops on Sansom St.

Don't waste your time or money, you'll be as disapointed as I am.

• Cons: terrible service, unfriendly receptionist, overpriced