The Spa at the Hazelton

A friend bought me a massage here for my birthday… i was initially reluctant because i see my regular therapist every month and am pretty loyal as he knows my body and the kind of therapy i need for my injuries. I have a herniated disk and will be having spinal fusion surgery so i figured I figured I would just ask for a relaxation treatment that would avoid my lower back area to be safe. My therapist was Chrystal Cucksey and immediately upon meeting with her she began assessing my needs and was extremely knowledgeable about my injury and what type of treatment would suit me best without causing undue pain. I didn’t even have to tell her! It was like she had been treating me for years! I was extremely impressed by her professionalism and expertise. Pressure and technique were the best i have experienced, particularly on my first visit. It was therapeutic and relaxing and i can’t recommend her enough. Besides being a fantastic therapist she also made me feel comfortable and put my mind at ease right away. Just a great experience all around. I highly recommend seeing Chrystal. Probably the best massage I’ve ever had… i might have found myself a new therapist! Sorry Ian!

I enjoyed my time at hazelton spa. I read some of the reviews and was skeptical to go but my friend had already booked us appointment. Though the place was not overly lavish, I still enjoyed the facilities and services. The «cramped» waiting area people referred to was a small waiting space off to the side with 4 arm chairs. Because the elevator stop is exclusive to the spa there was no traffic so I didn’t mind a small waiting area. I was only in this space for about 5 minutes anyways where they gave me a cute pot of tea and almonds. The staff were very nice and the Swedish massage was good. I was also able to use the fitness centre, small pool, espresso bar/​machine and eucalyptus steam shower. The last I enjoyed the most. The locker room was very clean and modern with plush seating. I felt like I had my own amazing bathroom. I would highly suggest you go with a friend though because the facilities are small so you will get bored of them quickly if you don’t have a friend to sit with and catch up. The place is slightly more expensive but my friend and I spent almost 3 – 4 hours at the spa including our one hour massage. I thought this made it worth it.

Remember that old song from the musical A Chorus Line. .“Dance 10…Looks 3″? Well that is kind of how I felt at the Spa at the Hazelton although my version of it would be «Services 10. .. .Facility 3».
Just know if you are looking for the total relaxing spa experience– you may not find it here. But you will get an outstanding massage or other service.
After staying in the Hazelton Hotel– I had very high hopes for the spa as upstairs in the hotel– my every wish was accommodated. So when I took the elevator down to the basement level– I was a little surprised that I was not warmly greeted– rather I was asked what size shoe I wore and then the receptionist walked me into the small but functional locker room, pointed out my locker and left.
I chased her down and asked where the waiting area was for my treatments and she said I needed to come back out to the reception area. Hmmm. .. .seemed odd but okay.
Now I go to spas all around the world so I was familiar with the lock on the locker and how it functioned– but even a spa I go to all the time still takes the time to ask if I am familiar with the locking system. And forget reading the instructions on the inside of the door if you are a glasses wearing gal. A great spa makes everything effortless and that was just not the case here.
I got changed and went back out to the reception area to sit and wait for my services. Again– this was a bit odd. There were 4 small seats squished into an alcove right by the check in area. So there were people coming and going the whole time I was trying to relax to anticipate my services. And then forget about relaxing there when you are finished. .. .the seats were full so there is no place to relax after your services either. They really need to invest in some type of space for this.
The other thing I never even found was the pool and wet area. Turns out it’s on another floor– so if you were thinking of a swim after your services– you will need to go upstairs. Another miss for me although there is a steam room in the spa area.
Okay– so enough of the down side– let’s move on to the stars of this spa and those are surely the services!
I started with their scrub. Sarah, the technician was as great as the service as when we were finished– my skin felt like a baby’s skin! And then after a quick shower– she massaged some wonderful hydrating lotion into my skin and sent me on to my next service.
If there was any downside here– it was that the shower to rinse off in was back in the locker room area versus being in the actual service room which most places that offer scrubs do. I had to put my robe back on– walk past the reception area and into the shower and then back again to finish the service. And while I was escorted to the shower and given a new robe and slippers– it still isn’t as nice as just stepping off the table, into the shower and back onto the table.
My next service was an hour long deep tissue massage. Elizabeth was my therapist and she was also great! She took the time to listen to any issues I was having and then spent the next hour working on those areas. She also spent time after the service suggesting some things that I can do at home to relieve some of the stress in my shoulders.
At this point, I would have liked to sit and relax somewhere with some hot tea but as I mentioned earlier, there really isn’t a place here to do that so I just got dressed and left.
All in all? Great services in a just okay location. And I guess I expected a little more than that from the Hazelton.

I should start off by saying that the actual services (two 60min massages) were excellent and I’ll get to the not-​so-​great stuff afterwards. I brought my cousin to the spa as a birthday gift. My registered massage therapist, Assia, and my cousin’s, Crystal, were excellent. They were professional in demeanor yet friendly, and the actual massages were fantastic. I can’t say enough about the quality of the massages.
What left me with a bad taste in my mouth was the receptionist (whose name also happened to be Crystal). Upon our arrival she was on a personal call and didn’t even look up to greet us until she was done several minutes later. When she did, she wasn’t welcoming but rather just walked us into the change room to show us how the lockers worked. Once she left, my cousin and I were confused as to what we were supposed to do in the 30mins remaining before our scheduled massages. There was a steam room there but she didn’t show us how it worked. There was a swimming pool on another floor but she didn’t even offer that as an option let alone tell us how to get there. She didn’t offer us water, tea, etc. and when we asked for some, she merely pointed us towards where they were found in a rude manner.
Those are just a few examples of how her behavior was not at all fitting to a high-​end spa. I’ve been to Elmwood and Stillwater before and have always been treated very well by all the staff. When we were done our services she didn’t even ask how it went or if we needed anything, only told us how much we had to pay.
As much as we loved our massages, at $ 130 each and considering the lack of service (and the fact that that the spa itself doesn’t have much to offer in terms of amenities or ambience), we won’t be going back. This is a shame since this is due to a poorly trained customer service representative at their reception desk.

So, I’ve been to a few «best of Toronto spas» that I’ve read about online, such as Elmwood, Shizen spa, Stillwater spa, Windsor Arms spa etc. so I wanted to check out this one at the Hazelton hotel since there aren’t that many review of it online.
I went with a girlfriend and I had read online that the spa was tinier than other spas around the city, so I went in prepared to expect that.
The semi private waiting area is pretty small; only four seats next to the reception desk (there is a bench at the reception area if the four seated waiting area is full). It was a hot day so they were accommodating to give us chilled bottled water (we also left with another bottle to go!), they offered us tea which was a Hazelton herbal blend and they brought over whole almonds to snack on. Pretty nice!
Inside the ladies change room there are two sinks with amenities of hand lotion, mouth wash and it’s light up well and very clean in there. There are the usual luxury items; tooth brushes, disposable combs, and a small TV to watch in the waiting room, while you’re wearing your fluffy bathrobe and waiting for your appointment. It was pretty private, not busy or cramped unlike Elmwood spa which I have found can be sooo busy and cramped at times the ladies change room is as busy as the gym at the YMCA. :(
I got the black lava scrub which was both exfoliating and moisturizing and they assistant really massaged it in, was very helpful along the way with showing me to the showers and rubbing in some moisturizing body lotion.
Yes, this place is pricey, it’s a boutique hotel and it’s not meant to be cheap. If you have time, included in your treatment, you can take a couple of laps in the pool (yes it’s smaller, pretty narrow and not olympic sized for sure), use the fitness area which probably had 7 machines/​treadmills to work out on or go to the steam room. But my visit to this spa was good because of the excellent service and the black lava scrub was both a scrub and felt like a relaxation massage all at once.
So, this would be very a pricey splurge and for me, not one I could go to on a regular basis. But if it’s treat time and you’re willing to splurge, then this place would give you a good experience as long as you know this is not a gigantic spa like others around the city. I recommend buying a Wayspa certificate when they have the 20% off sales because you can use Wayspa gift cards at this spa.

pros: service is great and the people are fantastic. L’occitane products.
cons: the spa with their price range should have more amenities like a pool (at least a little hot tub). The locker room is really small (intimate if you will). The «lounge» or the waiting area is TINY! and not private at all– it’s located RIGHT next to the check in area and anyone walking in can see u «lounging» or waiting for your service. the walls are paper thin in the massage rooms– I can ALWAYS hear what’s going on outside and every conversation.
I like this place because it’s brand new and always super clean but it needs a better lounge area– seriously, where am i supposed to go and relax after my treatment? Can i grab a cup of tea and sit around for a bit? I think for me, this place could be soooo much better only if it had a better lounge like the stillwater spa– where u can sit, have a tea, have some fruit and relax before/​after your treatment instead of rushing in and out like you’re at the gym. This is a spa! Come on, how can you have designed a spa without a proper relaxing/​lounge area?

Don’t even bother. Hugely overpriced, tiny, cramped basement location and lacklustre service. I was one of 4 clients and they still didn’t have flip-​flops or a robe to fit me?
During my one hour massage, the masseuse spent a good 15 minutes fiddling with the malfunctioning sound system to try & drown out the sound of the receptionist yakking on the phone, which you could hear very clearly through the paper-​thin walls.
If you want to charge 50% over the going price, you damn well better have the goods to back it up. Never again.