Safety Harbor Resort and Spa

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Save yourself money, disappointment, and aggravation by not going to the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. I brought my girlfriend here for her special day. What a mistake! I'm a local, and will never visit Safety Harbor Resort and Spa again. The Safety Harbor Resort and Spa continues to disappoint, again and again in the same visit. After each incredible instance of poor service, we assumed it was an anomaly, and gave the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa the benefit of the doubt. Again and again we were slapped in the face with more poor service. The Safety Harbor Resort and Spa gave provides one star service at a four star price. I did not get the value for which I paid. I feel like I was ripped off. Safety Harbor Resort and Spa appears to be a big old institution, that runs resting on its laurels (its attractive, historic spa). During our visit the indoor pool and hot tub were closed for renovations. The help is dispirited and unfriendly and give the impression of disliking their job, and of doing as little as possible to get through the day. I bought the couples ?SpaCation package,? a one day deal. Here are the details of my experience. The day began with a 25 minute wait to check in on a line at the spa reception desk with only four people ahead of us, and four receptionists behind the counter. We were given a perfunctory ?tour? of the spa which did not include seeing the pool, and mostly consisted of a dour faced staff waving her hands in different directions. Our ?guide? walked ten steps ahead of us at a rapid pace. She did not take us into any of the areas of the spa she described, or the rooms, despite my showing interest. She apparently could not wait to get back to something more important than showing us around on our first visit here. The long wait at the reception desk, and the ?tour? foreshadowed the level and quality of service that we would experience throughout the day. Staff were unfriendly, and unsmiling. They appeared to just be going through the motions of their job, and gave the impression of being bothered when you could finally catch them to ask them anything. Only the laundry ladies and doorman were friendly. After check in, our day began with the included lunch at the Fountain Grille Restaurant. The package did not include drinks. It was, hands down, among the worst dining service I had ever experienced. The waitress had a different understanding of what food the SpaCation package included than what I had been told by ?Reception? when I bought the package. When I tried to clarify what was included she started ?yessing? me, turned her back, and walked away. The waitress was incredibly rude. She repeated her performance of turning her back and walking away while we were ordering several times throughout our meal. The waitress left the extra service on table, leaving the table crammed with dishes and silverware. There were ants running around on table (this was inside the restaurant, not on the patio). The waitress told me they have a ?full bar,? but then was only able to offer two types of craft beer, and a few domestic beer. She then brought me the wrong beer and encouraged me to accept it. Then she spilled my drink on the table cloth and barely blotted it up, walking away without an apology. When the food finally arrived, the waitress plopped down our meals without a word. She mixed up who got what, and walked off before we could say anything. She then vanished for most of meal. Later in our meal it took requests of three other service personnel to get creamer for coffee- twenty minutes later! How was the food? I would say the baked brie was a bright spot. I later tried to clarify what was included in the SpaCation package with the spa receptionists. When I finally caught their attention, they said, ?That's not a spa issue,? and pointed me upstairs to ?Reception.? No apology or explanation offered. When I finally got to speak with an ?administrator? she said she wanted all their guests to be happy and would refund the cost of our drinks, then she walked off. That was it. We both received brief massages. I would rate the massage as fair to good. It might have been better if we had bought a longer massage. The masseuse was friendly and professional. The rest of the day we wandered around the pretty historic building, enjoyed the outdoor pool, and were in and out of the steam room and dry sauna. These activities were nice because no staff involvement was required. The SpaCation included ?fitness classes.? When we checked out these classes many of them did not run as apparently no one was interested enough to show up. We participated in two ?classes.? In one of them we were the only participants. In the other, only two other people participated. It was a bit awkward. The quality of the first class was good, the second was fair. I will not identify the classes to avoid embarrassing the instructors. After our long day at Safety Harbor Resort and Spa we chose to have dinner elsewhere. In fact, rather than face the poor service at the Fountain Grille Restaurant again we grabbed a bite to eat at McDonald?s. And guess what? McDonald?s friendliness and service ran rings around the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. I recommend that you be skeptical of the overly positive reviews found on this site, and that you will find elsewhere online. Carefully consider the detailed, negative reviews you will find on the internet from locals who are familiar with how the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa operates. In summary, I was extremely disappointed with our visit to the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa and feel that I was ripped off. I do not recommend Safety Harbor Resort and Spa to anyone that expects good value, or high quality service. I waited a long time to think about this review before finally posting it, as I do not like to post negative reviews. Now, over a year later, after looking back on our experience I feel that posting this review is justified and not an impulsive decision. I still feel the same way about the visit. 2-6-2015 Update: The night after our visit I realized that the masseuse hurt my neck by using excessive pressure. Ever since my massage the vertebrae in my neck pop and click and cause me pain, which is a problem I did not have before my massage there.

Nothing special. It is not a bad resort. Just that it is 2*/3* and nothing more.

It was difficult to make a phone reservation. It took a while to be connected to the spa and then the scheduler had a hard time booking my services on the computer and her attitude became short with me! The massage was relaxing but I didn't get much of a foot treatment. A little cream slathered on but it was supposed to be 25 minutes long. I originally went to the pool area to have lunch outside - it was a beautiful, sunny day but the Tiki bar attendant was playing light opera instead of and quot;islandand quot; or summer music. She never came to the table with a menu or asked if she could help us. We went inside to the restaurant. I ordered shrimp salad on a croissant. I received a croissant and what appeared to be ground up shrimp with a remoulade sauce so it was like a smear on the croissant. I won't ever order that again. Leaving the spa I stopped to make a reservation for the end of March. It took the scheduler about 20 minutes and she kept making mistakes. Finally I received a print out confirmation and left. Today, exactly one week later, I received a nasty call from the spa reminding me I was late for my appointment! I couldn't believe it. The reservation was messed up and the scheduler had to put me in for my March date. It is a beautiful resort and spa but the staff is not well trained and they tend to get snippy with the customer.

I spent a wonderful 3 hours being pampered and made to feel special

Upon arriving at the Spa no doorman assisted through the first set of doors (2nd doors are automatic). Several people at the front desk did not attempt to help or obtain help for me with my suitcases, though they had full view of the entrance and no other guests were being serviced. The room was musty smelling though the view was beautiful of the bay. A half used bottle of shampoo was on bathroom sink which was rectified when we finished having dinner in their cafand eacute; and apologies made for the oversight. Dinner was good but over priced for what was served and the presentation. The wait staff was mediocre and very disengaged. We had breakfast with friendly staff but over priced again for what was offered. Three bugs were in the tub, one under the sink and one in the dressing area in the AM. Mold was noted around inset lighting fixtures and repainted ceiling tiles. Housekeeping services did clean the bugs, but remnants of the stepped on bug still remained on the tile floor. This was noted to front desk receptionist along with the concern about the mold and musty smell. Environmental Services did apologize and re-clean the floor area apologetically stating that the mold was another department. Two complimentary continental breakfast vouchers were given. We left the room on the third day for four hours at noon and on return at 4PM the room was still not cleaned or made up. We had not placed the 'please do not disturb' signage on the door. At this point we were over the poor service and high expectations. I noted no toilet paper and called the front desk. We waited 40 minutes; finally I went to desk in person calmly and friendly and asked again noting that a previous request for toilet paper had been placed. Environmental Services came with TP. She noticed the room had not been serviced and offered to clean. At that point, I declined the offer as it was too little too late. Upon checking out, there was no attempt or offer to assist with bags or door again though valet services were present. We have stayed previously at Safety Harbor Spa and were very pleased. We have attended many functions including New Year's Eve parties over the years and used their spa services. We lived in Safety Harbor for 13yrs and have always been very proud of the Spa. This was very discouraging and we will not return.

The room was very nice although the view wasn't great. My husband and I both had massages and pedicures and I also had a facial. We had a wonderful time and everyone was very nice.

It was great when I went to them. I had a massage, a facial, a steam. It was great. The people were very friendly and cooperative. They explained things and everything. They have different pricing for groups, so if you were to a girls day out or something like that.

Safety Harbor used a line of products that they sell there for my facial, it was a multistep process. I do not know the full details, I just let them do the facial. For the massage, they asked how much pressure you like, the areas that you need them to focus on, and they gave you an option of the aromatherapy scents that you wanted. There is a locker room that you change into with robes and flip flops. Once you are changed you wait in one of several different waiting areas, where there are refreshments available, until they come and get you for your appointment. This is all included in the price. They have all kinds of packages with many different kinds of massages and facials. Safety Harbor is very professional, relaxing, and it is an enjoyable experience.

The experience was wonderful. They get all A's.

I give them the highest ratings across the board.