Carnegie Nails & Spa

Sorry, I’m not coming back. Overpriced and everyone’s attitude has gotten worse since last year. There’s no competition in the area, unfortunately, after the other nail salon closed down. I don’t get pedi’s as often as I want to, and was looking forward to treating myself. It turned out to be a lousy experience. Since when does «pedi» not include the foot wash and massage, and I have to specify that they use «water.» Perhaps it’s the same issue with another reviewer here, who said that you have to tell everyone what you want for the millionth time. I went there to spend money, and I felt like my money was not welcome. I know the place is busy but treat all your customers with the same respect and don’t rush me through like an assembly line, please. Thanks for reading.

I just came out of a deep massage with Lily and feel rejuvenated. I’d been walking around with such issues prior that I couldn’t turn my neck on either direction more than say 10 degrees. I’d put off a massage for cost sake but am absolutely delighted with Lily’s work.
Next time I have any more back or shoulder issues, Lily can save me again. I now have her on speed dial!

I was in the area and looking to get my nails done fairly quickly before heading downtown. Anyway, walk in the shop and it’s crowded which is a good and bad sign. Good– because people like it and are satisfied or Bad– could be inefficient when managing their customers and means there is a long wait…
So they sat me at a bowl, which was nice (seat cushion, chair massage) and I waited for about 7 minutes. No big deal. Once the young woman started on my nails I let her know that I don’t want to cut them only file and evenly. She filled them, not evenly and super super short. When I commented about the length she just kept saying it’s good. After a real weak foot scrub, bad leg massage and sub par paint job, she finished. Mind you, I walk in at 6pm on a WEDNESDAY, and finished at 7pm with sub par service. Wondering why? Oh ya, there is lack of communication between staff and management (if there is one) and when someone comes in the door EVERY staff member gets confused and asks what services the customer needs. Inefficient. And my girl was so preoccupied with what’s going on with the door and everyone else’s nails. Don’t bother. Only nice thing was the place, super cute. 1 star.

Lovely first manicure with my daughter. Laura and Coco were so sweet to her. We will be back!

Really nice people working here. Great pedicure that lasts a long time! A bit pricy, but I am very happy with the quality of Carnegie’s services.

I think the only reason these people stay in business is that they’re the only place in the Columbia neighborhood where you can walk in for a manicure. I’ve only been there on a Sunday when there doesn’t seem to be any management around, but both times I’ve been astonished at how rudely the ladies who work there behave toward the customers. They’re yelling and rushing everybody around. Very stressful. The last time I was there, I needed a moment to find the right red nail polish. A woman named Lily grabbed one off the rack and said, «You take this one!» When I said I wasn’t sure– that I needed a moment to decide, she yelled something to her co-​worker I couldn’t understand, but which was clearly a comment about how long I was holding her up. Really, she was pissed. Isn’t a spa experience supposed to be relaxing? Isn’t the customer entitled to take her time choosing her color? I wouldn’t go back to this place if THEY paid ME.

My husband and I went and would definitely come back again. Sally and Susan helped us out and were such a delight. They took their time, weren’t pushy with the upsell and most of all… were nice. Regular mani and pedi on a weekend will set you back $ 45 which is a bit pricey for me.

I came in here yesterday to get a color change ($ 8) and I have never been treated so poorly. Amy was very rough when removing my polish and then went so fast as she sloppily polished my nails. It literally looks like a 3 year old painted my nails. I asked her several times to clean up certain spots where she went outside the nail, and she yelled at me telling me that since I didn’t have her cut my cuticles (and purchase a full mani), this is how it’s gonna look. Then, when I went to dry them she came over to put the quick dry oil on my nails and burped on me and didn’t even flinch or say excuse me. Then, she tried to rush me out even though I wasn’t done drying. DO NOT COME HERE.

I had one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had at a nail salon here.
I came in for a relaxing mani-​pedi after a long day and in need of a pick me up. I especially wanted the nail technician to help me keep my new oval nail shape. While I was in the pedicure chair she reached over and grabbed my hand with the nail clippers and shouted «too long». I told her that I yes, wanted to cut them «a little» but keep the oval shape I had worked so hard to maintain myself. In the blink of an eye she had cut off two of my nails COMPLETELY (all of the growth/​new nail).
INCREDULOUSLY, she then asked if they were too short. Excuse me?! It’s too late! I was so upset. There was nothing I could do but ask her to even them out while visibly furious. The pedicure itself was fine but was ruined because I had to sit there knowing my nails wouldn’t be the shape and length I wanted. I ended up with nails that were rounded (the least flattering shape), uneven and shorter than they’ve been since I was 12. While not the end of the world, (they will grow back but not for several weeks) I did not get what I paid for.
I can’t stop staring at them and almost wanted to take the polish off to take attention away from how short they are. I got the hair equivalent of asking for a trim and getting a pixi cut. I should also mention that this stylist (Mi Mi), continually tried to up sell me a more expensive pedicure and massages at my increasing annoyance.
It was the least relaxing nail experience I’ve ever had. I almost never write reviews but I felt I need to voice my disappointment for future patrons of this salon. I’ve been here several times in the past with no problems so I have nothing against some of the other employees but I will never been returning to this place. Time to find yet another nail place in my area that isn’t awful…

This place is beyond overpriced and the mani-​pedi was mediocre at best. Actually no, it was worse than that. Save your money and go elsewhere.

Just moved to the UWS from Texas. I had the best pedicure I’ve ever had here! Ask for Laura, she’s amazing. Also had a wonderful 15 minute massage. It is very clean, the prices seem fair for how much time and attention they give, and the entire staff was so friendly. Not over-​talkative like many salons. They let you really relax. I’ll definitely be visiting again.

I created this account on Unilocal just to write how bad this salon is!!! Very bad salon and very bad service. Escape this place and never go here. They are always angry and rude and speak their native language in angry way pointing at customers, it’s obviously they talk about them and criticize. Price is unreasonably high, workers pretend to be nice while they actually are not interested in doing a good job. I came back with a badly done manicure to ask to fix it and they refused to do this and were extremely rude. One time I had a waxing done here. They never put on gloves before waxing bikini and deep bikini zones. The woman who waxed me in bikini zone did it so bad and unprofessionally, it took her 2 hours (!!!) to wax bikini zone and she still couldn’t finish it. She touched me in my genitals with here bare dirty hands, she didn’t even wash them. and after this procedure I got an infection. I asked her many times to put on gloves and not to touch me in my genitals but she still kept on doing it and refused to put on gloves. Hence I got an infection and the salon didn’t take any responsibility for this.
They are always rude, ask for big tips and I never had a good experience here though I visited this salon very often as its the closest salon to my school and I had no other option. Never, NEVER go here! I really believe this salon must be closed.

Decent job. Poor service, and unreasonably expensive. $ 32 for pedicure. Elsewhere in hipper neighborhoods it’s less than that for mani/​pedi. Never returning.

While they do a good job, is prohibitively expensive. Plus they need to clean the old polish out of their nail dryers. For what I paid, I’m not thrilled to have gel stuck on my finger tips.

A little on the pricey side, but I really enjoyed my mani from Sue. She was so precise and professional, as well as warm and friendly, which made the overall experience pleasant. Sue actually made up for how I waited over 15 minutes before anyone sat me down to soak off my shellac. Granted, it was after 7 on a Wednesday and they were overrun with the after-​work crowd, but Sue’s attentiveness, nice conversation, perfect manicure, and even how she helped me take my laundry out and hailed me a cab are all reasons why I would come back here.

I created a Unilocal account just to write a negative review about Carnegie. That says a lot about this place. And after reading many reviews about its rude service, I know I’m not crazy.
I entered Carnegie today with 2 gift certificates a coworker had given me for Xmas. Each certificate was valid for 1 manicure. I wanted a mani and pedi (total was $ 45) and asked if I could combine the value of the 2 certificates ($ 26 total) and pay the difference. The lady went to the manager to ask if that was okay. The manager said no because the paper gift certificate that was handwritten on had expired 6 DAYS AGO. 6 days. I looked at her and said «are u serious? This just expired 6 days ago. I didn’t even notice there was an expiration date until you pointed it out». She just kept saying it already expired and started talking about it with the 3 other ladies who we’re giving customers massages. They were talking in their language so God kens what they were saying.
Then the original lady I spoke to about this walked away and everyone stopped talking to each other. Then I said «soooooo you’re really not going to let me use an already paid for gift certificate because it expired 6 days ago?» The manager then told me that I need to sit in the other side because I was in the massage area and it was a relaxing area. This ticked me off even more, but I kept my cool and sat in a chair. Another lady came over to talk to me and when I responded to her, she shushed me. Yup, she shushed me. And then told me I could only get one manicure and the other gift certificate had to be thrown out.
I wanted a mani and pedi and was not going to pay an overpriced $ 34 for a pedicure. More importantly, I did not want to give this place ANY of my money after their rudeness and absurd rule. I understand things expire, but this expired 6 days ago. Come on now. So I left and went to Lilac Nails on 110^th and CPW… My favorite nail salon in the neighborhood.

This is my go to nail salon. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is pricier than your average spot at $ 44 for a mani/​pedi, but I don’t mind. I’d rather pay a bit more at a spot that clearly takes hygiene seriously than have my arm fall off in a month because of an infection I got at a random nail salon. Their polishes are exclusively OPI and Essie, and I’ve never found one to be old or in need of replacing.
I’ve never had to wait and I’m generally always happy with the job done and the services provided. I’m a sucker for the massages and I always end up adding 10 minutes here and there. They also offer a short complimentary massage while you’re drying.
The women working here are always friendly and provide great service, especially in the winter, when they go the extra mile to protect your pedicure from your socks/​shoes.
Lately, I’ve been traveling internationally a lot. Every time I have to get my nails done, I am always reminded of how much I love Carnegie.

Pros: Located in a very convenient location, Carnegie Nails & Spa is very clean and a wide variety of polishes to choose from.
Cons: VERY pricey compared to the other nail salons in the area. Over $ 30.00 for the basic pedicure? Thanks, but no thanks.

I came here a couple of days ago to get a spa pedicure. I had a lady named Susan who was very friendly, and handed me the price list to choose from. I decided to go with the Green Tea Pedicure.
They have a really, really, really extensive range of colors, to the point where I actually found it hard to choose. Totallyyyyyyyyy awesome!
This was the process (in no particular order, because I don’t remember… it was way too relaxing):
— Taking off the previous color.
— Scrub crystals used to exfoliate your lower legs
— Green tea clay mask for your lower legs.
— Callus treatment (they soak your feet into the callus gel, which actually feels really nice. They’re super meticulous about your cuticles and whatnot, so that was pretty refreshing.
— Scrub part 2 to get rid of the clay.
— 15 minute massage (Susan went 20) for your legs. Susan has so much stamina; she used just the write amount of pressure, and I totally felt like I was on cloud nine, especially when combining that with the kneading from the pedicure massage chair.
— Getting your pedi done.
It was 71.25 for all of that, and it also included a really brief neck/​shoulder massage at the drying table because I opted out of the chair massage (extra $ 10) because of the reviews that I read on Unilocal.
I kind of had to rush the drying process a bit, but Susan was even accomodating then; she took the drying oil and wrapped plastic over it so that it wouldn’t stain my socks. Super sweet! She always had a smile on her face, and it really made me feel comfortable.
It’s a little expensive, but with the work that they do, I seriously think it’s worth it. Perfect way to relax after a couple of weeks of abusing your legs and your feet by walking around in uncomfortable shoes in NYC.

After striking out with Golden Nails, I then tried Carnegie Nails & Spa which had even cheaper manicures at $ 12. Again the first manicure I got here was good and was with a woman named Cindy. She was good and skilled with cuticles and nail painting and didn’t rush through the manicure. I made an appointment for the following week at the same time with Cindy. I continued for weeks coming at the same time and day and then one day when I showed up Cindy was with another customer. I was not late and I was even 5 minutes early. She had completely disrespected my appointment and that I had been coming for weeks. They claimed I didn’t have an appointment and the other women said they didn’t remember me at all.
Another weird thing is that after the manicure and when they take you to the drying table, they start to massage you without even asking you. I’m not sure how this works here, are they charging for this or just trying to get more tip? Anyway, I just asked them to stop each time.
So this place was kinda weird. Don’t bother with making an appointment since they don’t honor them anyway. Probably fine to just show up and if you like to request someone, Cindy is good, just not good for appointments ahead of time.
Note that they only accept credit cards when you spend over $ 20.
The search for a good manicure continues!