Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa

Most appalling spa experience ever. I came right at my appointment time and I was rushed to the treatment room and wasn’t even allowed to change in the changing room or given a robe. I literally took off my coat and placed my bag on the floor and was asked to undress. When I was hesitant, the esthetician finally got the hint to leave the room and told me to undress quickly… After that, the experience just kept getting worse and worse. She spilled part of the mask in my eye and then covered my head with a towel once I said my eyes were burning, put way too much alcohol on the cleansing pads and made it go in my nose. It was just ridiculous. The facial was not relaxing AT ALL. I kept asking her to lower the steam or move it away because it was too hot and she said SHE COULDN’T because she had to do her job. How is this ok to have steam shoved up my face when I paid for a relaxing facial? Isn’t her job to make sure I am not uncomfortable and suffocating under the steam? Then she basically ripped apart my face. I don’t think she used any tools in extraction– literally just her hands and tissues. She kept trying to sell me more and more treatments which were an additional 100 each. I really just wanted to ask her to stop and run out of there. I will NEVER go back to this place again. It was SUCH a waste of money. I would rather pay double and have actually have a relaxing experience elsewhere.

The remodel has been completed and it’s a lovely improvement. The reception area has been condensed as have the treatment areas.
Mila continues to be the most professional and expert facialist! I won’t let anyone else give me a facial or wax!
Margarita is the best nail technician. I’m one of her biggest fans! She knows how to help pathetic arthritic feet! A miracle happens to me every time I see her!
I highly recommend both Mila and Margarita!

See my check in. Outstanding. Just absolutely terrific. Milan you are my hero. Treated me like a good friend. Great advice. Will definitely come back when in the city. Only wished I was closer, would see you every week!

So after the ordeal I finally called a third time and was able to speak to a manager. I was booked right away for the following day. The colorist, Oyla (sp?), did my highlights and did an amazing job. She is also very sweet and went above and beyond to accommodate my needs as a nursing mother. She truly knows how to genuinely take care of a client. My cut was fixed by Milan and she too did a fantastic job. She is a perfectionist, which I like. She understood exactly what I wanted and delivered. We did not spend much time together because of the nature of her work compared to my time with Oyla.
The disappointing part was when I went to check out and they tried to charge me in full for the services (over $ 200) when the manager I had spoken to the day before was clear on how it would be on them. I had to put my foot down and did not pay.
The one thing I absolutely cannot tolerate is when they try selling products. I believe there is a difference between educating the client vs. pushing you to buy products. I did not purchase any products as I already use what works best for me but I had to say this a few times, when I should have only said it once.

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible!!! You have a bunch of hair colorists and stylists that don’t even know what they are doing. My hair was hideous when I left but felt I couldn’t break the news to the duo that did my hair or they would crumble. Terrible customer service I waited 5 minutes before being greeted at the desk. A male manager who runs around the place teasing employees in an unprofessional manner. So I’ve heard a general manager who slouches in her office allday and of most importance… A DEAD salon. Filled with old people no young trendy or fun vibes. A lot of fake personalities here I picked up on. No good no good.

Very, very odd experience. I had a couple of gift cards that I put off using and figured I would try out Red Door for a hair cut. After researching Unilocal and seeing Lenny was the only stylist with consistently positive reviews, I booked a haircut and blow-​dry with him.
Upon arrival, he took a look at my hair, asked me what I had in mind and even complimented my dress while showing me to the shampoo area. This is where things got weird — several older women went before me who arrived after and I seemed like a collective afterthought to the women shampooing. When I arrived back at Lenny’s station for the cut, he detangled my hair then disappeared. After about five minutes, a receptionist came to the station and informed me Lenny was too ill to complete a haircut and rather abruptly informed me that they could offer another stylist. A bit weirded out, I realized I had to stick this out given my soaking wet hair, my need for a trim and blow out given the brisk Chicago temperature outside.
The only star is meant for Mark as he stayed late (it appeared he was on his way out the door when he was told he would be cutting my hair), was very friendly given the circumstances, did not rush, and did exactly what I asked with the trim. I lucked out given the disaster this could have been, but will be reserving the remaining gift card balance for products as this salon was definitely underwhelming, not friendly (excluding Mark) and all-​around strange. I realize we all get sick and can’t control when it happens, but given the other weird and uncomfortable things that happened during my visit plus the other negative reviews, it seems like this salon needs a bit of a boost in operations.

I am updating my review to add a star because immediately after posting this I was contacted by someone at the spa and offered a free service to make up for my experience. While I choose to decline, I appreciate that they were willing to reach out to me and make things right.
Also, I also want to note that my review is only limited to the nail department. The hair services offered by the spa have been nothing been great.

I see the lovely and peaceful Mirela every 4 – 6 weeks for an eyebrow tidy-​up, and she’s an absolute delight. Does a great job, knows exactly what i want, and makes the waxing/​plucking surprisingly painless (well, as painless as it can be). The waiting room is calm and dark, just like a relaxing spa should be — every time i come in for an appointment i have to stop myself from falling asleep! Love this place — just moved away from Gold Coast to Lincoln Park, but i’ll keep coming back.

Woah, What’s up with the low reviews?! This place is great. It’s been around since the 80’s and they know their shit. Seriously, I would come here every day for a facial if I could but I’m afraid my skin would fall off!
The surroundings are lovely. You feel pampered the moment you step through the red door. I’ve had the hot stone massage, a bunch of facials, manis, pedis, yep I would live here if I could. Oh, yes I would because you can eat here too and once I feel asleep while having a massage so yeah it’s doable for me. Remember, some guy once lived in IKEA for a month? Amateaur! This is where you want to live for a month, not IKEA!
Yep, I’ve come here alone, with my sisters, with my husband and all have enjoyed the services. Seriously, what is not to love?

This is a great spa and hair and nail salon, if a little pricey. I use Martin for hair and he is great and Margarita for acrylic nails who does a great job as well.

My mom and I came here the day before my wedding for a spa day. She had gone to the Red Door location in DC and been really impressed, so I booked us packages at Red Door Chicago – 50 minutes hot stone massage, spa lunch, mani/​pedi, and makeup. I was going to meet my fiancé later and have professional photos done, so I was excited to see how the makeup would turn out.
The spa itself is really beautiful: lovely, quiet space that wasn’t crowded. Once we checked in, we got changed and headed off to massages. My massage therapist was named Veronica and she was WONDERFUL. I will go back in the future just to see her. She was able to work out a lot of tension in my neck and upper back, and I left feeling more relaxed than I had in months.
Unfortunately, that was the last good part of the day. My nail technician was named Emily, and she was absolutely terrible. My toenails were super uneven, and looked like I had cut and shaped them myself (they also chipped 3 days later.!). I got a no-​chip manicure, and she did a horrible job. I had a hair stuck on my thumbnail that she could not even see, so she had me pull it out of the wet paint myself, which messed up my other fingernails. She attempted to fix mistakes 3 times, which took an hour, and then since we were already behind, I had to just leave with my nails looking bad. She was also extremely pushy – she kept trying to pick out colors for me, and I had to tell her «no, please let me choose one». When we came to the paraffin, she asked me to remove my engagement ring, which I did. She then said, «wow, it’s lovely!» and grabbed it up off the table to inspect it. I about had a heart attack, I really wish she wouldn’t have grabbed at my jewelry like that. My mom had a nail technician with a blue streak in her black hair who did an amazing job, but unfortunately I didn’t get her name.
My makeup was done by a guy, whose name I also don’t remember. I was really excited, because a couple of other people mentioned how good he was to me. When he asked how I wanted to look, I told him that I would be on camera later and said that I normally did very natural makeup. I guess very natural translated to Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle because I looked effing atrocious and fifteen years older than I really am. I had to rush home afterwards and wash my face and redo my own makeup because I looked so awful that I wanted to cry.
So one star for the spa décor and one star for the massage. I really want to book a massage for my husband with the same therapist, but I would never come back here for anything else.

Made an appointment for a 50-​min Swedish massage, manicure and pedicure. The dressing rooms were nice with bathrobes and slippers provided, along with showers, changing rooms, toothpaste, hair spray, you name it — but were kind of cramped.
Waited 10 minutes in the calming waiting room for my massage which was very relaxing and fairly average. The massage rooms are small as well but they do a good job with the jasmine smell and faint music.
The manicure/​pedicure is what I could have passed on. It wasn’t calming at all and was kind of jarring coming from the serene area of the massage. Also, still being in my bathrobe around other people just doing a regular mani/​pedi stop was awkward. My manicurist wasn’t good by any means, so much so that I’ve had far better at any small nail shop within the city. She also did my pedicure and just seemed bored by the whole process, not doing any massaging or anything.
I wouldn’t suggest this place to anybody, there are a lot of other places in the city to try. My girlfriend is looking for a place to hang out before her wedding and I told her to steer clear, this is more a place for the Gold Coast residents to go on a weekly basis for their mani/​pedis, not necessarily a spa retreat.

Came here for the spa week special and have to say: of the many facials I’ve had in the US, this is the first that feels & looks different afterwards. It was my first time there, and since the male host at the counter couldn’t enter the ladies changing room, I had to figure out where to find the things I needed (robes/​towel etc). My aesthetician was pleasant enough, but I thought it was a bit odd she didn’t take off all of my eye makeup (liner/​mascara) for the facial. Nonetheless it was super relaxing and I actually dozed off a bit. The spa was quite and relaxing as well. I’d happily return.

One of my girlfriends and I had our birthday spa day along with some of our closest friends earlier this month. It was a group of 7 girls in total and most of us chose 2 services each.
I made the arrangements just a couple of weeks before our date and was excited to learn that their private room had not been booked. I worked with Chenae on coordinating all of the appointments and she was great help.
The spa itself is beautifully decorated and has a lavish feel to it. I had been to their other locations before and always enjoyed their ultra lush shared lounge. For this occasion I reserved us a private lounge so that we could hang out between our services. It wasn’t as cozy and lavish as I had hoped but it was a private room with plenty of seating and attentive service so all in all we were happy to have uninterrupted fun.
Though we had to wait a few minutes before they took us back to our private room, once we got there it was smooth sailing. We changed into our plush robes and slippers and sipped on our beverages while the staff brought back plenty of water and ice for our champagne and snacks and continued to check up on us and clean up throughout our stay. Very attentive. We had an amazing view of Michigan avenue as well.
All the girls enjoyed their treatments (massages, facials, mani/​pedis and haircuts). We had so much fun hanging out and stayed for a while after our appointments deciding to make this at least a yearly thing.
Our dinner wasn’t until later that night so we were in no rush and most of us got ready at their fully stocked bathroom/​changing room. One of the staff told us we can have food catered there. That is something we will keep in mind for the next time.
The only semi-​negative thing was getting to the place. You have to park at the Westin and then walk around the corner to the location. In summer time I wouldn’t mind one bit, but in bitter February cold I was hoping for a valet. It’s in the same building as the Louis Vuitton store ;) — the good thing is they validate so that you don’t have to pay the full price ($ 13). Still, once inside everything else, including the cold, disappeared.
Loved the experience and would go back for other services.

I first went to the salon to get my hair colored and it came out awful. I won’t mention the stylist’s name, but he knew I was U happy with my hair and told me to sleep on it and think about it. A week later I still didn’t like it so I called the salon. They were awesome about rebooking me with Amy, who I absolutely adorable and awesome at her job. She fixed my hair and I was very happy with it. I will be seeing her again for a touch up. :)

Meh. It wasn’t as good as it looked. Gorgeous spa. Mediocre services. When you walk in, there is definitely a WOW factor. My sister and I went here. She got a back facial and a manicure, I got a facial for your face lol and a manicure. Let’s start from the beginning, you get there and wait in the waiting room, where there are magazines, fruit, water etc. Very calming area. The changing rooms are nice and fully stocked with everything you need to get ready to go back out if you don’t want to go straight home. Beautiful sleek changing rooms. Impressive.
Moving on, my facial was great. It was very relaxing, however, the lady kept complimented me on how beautiful my skin was, so kiddos on that. I actually fell asleep it was so relaxing. My sister and I went out that night and something about that facial made my skin look ridiculously rich and healthy. It was flawless. Now on to the manicure. UGH, not happy about this. They did not clean my cuticles how I like. Honestly if was exactly as if I were home doing my own nails. Nothing special about it at all. For the price, I was disappointed. I have mixed feelings about whether or not I will go back. I think I will go back for a facial, but nothing else «wow’ed» me.

Michelle did a beautiful job on my updo for an event. She took in all of my picky feedback and was so great about fixing little details for me regardless of how long it took. I will definitely be back as she was very friendly and professional.

I came here recently for a spa day with my mom. We each got much needed massages (90 minutes!) and felt well taken care of and completely relaxed. The spa itself is small, but very clean and comfortable. The staff was very polite and helpful. I would come here again.

I’ve never been to a what I would consider upscale salon like this before so this was very luxurious for me. I got the intensive repair pedicure with a french tip finish. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted and checked in immediately. Margarita was my esthetician and she was very friendly and did a great job. She used a bamboo scrub on my feet and it smells and feels fantastic! Unfortunately, they don’t sell that at this location. It’s called Gehwol soft feet foot scrub bamboo exfoliate with jojoba oil. I will probably buy some online. I will definitely be coming back.

RDS has been my go-​to for massages. I usually receive great massages, except for my last visit… Felt like the girl was just moisturizing my whole body. There was zero pressure & when asking for pressure, she would do so and it would quickly fade.
Staff is always nice and attentive. Spa is always kept up. I enjoy cracking jokes with the cleaning ladies… They are so very nice and friendly!
I’ve never had any other services but look forward to trying & enjoying everything else RDS has to offer.

I had a facial today and I must say it was probably the worst facial I’ve ever had. That is even including facials while in school from students learning to be estheticians.
The esthetician probably said two words the whole time, didn’t analyze my skin just immediately started putting products on my face without telling why, what is in the product or why it’s beneficial to my skin. The $ 125 facial included a total of 3 products used the entire time and the esthetician used the brush directly in the container and dipped it multiple times into the same container that has been used on several other clients-​This is not only gross but I know it violates Illinois sanitation laws!
I asked about the exfolliant she was using on me and what beneficial ingredients were in the product. Her exact response was «Pumpkin». So was she suggesting that I can go buy canned pumpkin at the grocery store to use directly on my face?
The face and shoulder massage was basically useless I felt like she was barely touching me.
Save your money and go somewhere else. There are lots of great spas in Chicago that you get better service and explanation of what the «professional» suggests.
I even asked her recommendations for skin care products because I came with the intention of finally buying a complete home skin care regimen. Her exact response was «Use a foaming cleanser, an oil free moisturizer with SPF 15 and if you want you could start using an eye cream.» I wanted specific products/​ingredients etc and I got nothing.