XpresSpa at the Raleigh-Durham airport (Terminal 2)

I plan to blog about current massages but I thought this one that I got about a month ago was worth and entry because (1) it was a massage "first" for me and (2) I doubt I will be going back here for a long time. The XpresSpa at RDU's Terminal 2 was the site of my first airport massage. I was leaving Raleigh to go up to NYC to visit an old college friend for the weekend. This was definitely a vacation and I was feeling indulgent enough to pay for a $90 massage.

The spa is pretty small. Like most airport shops, it is pretty much open to the terminal (rather than having an entry door). It seemed like most of their business was mani/pedis and the chairs for those were taking up most of the floor space. The clients that were there, maybe having just gotten a treatment, were talking loudly and had their luggage kind of in the middle of everything. It didn't create a great ambiance. I asked about the massage and they said I could have one at 5 PM which was in about 20 minutes so I left to make a phone call and returned at five.

I was shown into the massage room which was small, had an irregular shape and a little closet for your clothes that reminded me of something you would find on an airplane (I guess that's sort of appropriate but, of course, I was not on a plane yet, so maybe not). You could hear some of the outside noise, both on the runway and in the salon which did not surprise or bother me.

I made a comment to my therapist about them being busy and she said they always were. Everyone there seemed harried. I could tell this was probably not going to be a great experience. It just seemed like a place where everyone was overworked. My massage was not memorable. It seemed like she was just going through the motions. Pretty light pressure and not very therapeutic. And, I didn't feel annoyed just because I felt like it wouldn't have been reasonable to expect more from this person at this moment. It's quite possible that this person gives great massages in a different environment.

Overall, I did not have a great impression of the XpresSpa and would not bother going back. It was kind of depressing. It's hard to relax and feel great when you feel you are contributing to the suffering of others. Plus, the massage was just pretty darn bland.