Huang Ah Ma - The Oriental Spa Chamber - Singapore, Singapore

To describe this establishment in one word, it would be 'half-baked'. This is a feeling you get from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. The front desk is confused about how to welcome guests despite having a pre-arranged appointments. The receptionist, manager and therapist argue loudly in Chinese for a good 5 minutes before the guest is actually told what to do or where to go. The feeling one gets within the first 5 mins of arriving is of utter chaos and confusion. The layout of the place is somewhat dingy and dark. The bathroom does not even have a mirror. The sauna is a cramped make-shift capsule in a corner in which one feels exposed. Most of the staff can barely speak English, not even enough to get by with foreign customers (who are probably the majority of customers).

As for the massage itself, while it was cannot be rated highly, it was definitely not one of the worst I had. It was very firmly somewhere in between. The therapist was attentive and firm but could have improved a lot. The problem is that she spoke absolutely no English! Not even to save her own life. She kept muttering things in Chinese to me. Despite the appalling lack of communication she somehow managed to avoid a complete disaster and sent me off with a half-decent experience.

The problem is not the lack of English, overall service or layout and ambience. The problem is that you do not expect such shortcomings from a place like this and at prices such as these. And certainly not in a supposed high-end hotel like this one. The marketing is deceptive. You expect a lot more but are left disappointed. One thing is for sure, I am never going back there.