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Jaunted Tested: Massage Bars at the Airport

May 1, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 5 Comments

Whenever we gots time to kill in an airport, we like to troll up and down the gates checking out the retail offerings. Part of this stems from a necessity like "We need to buy a pack of gum" or "We want a bottle of water before take-off" or "We really need a big bag of trashy tabloid magazines to keep us occupied on the flight."

More often than we like, this airport-trolling stems from sheer boredom. And because we're airport geeks and travel a lot, we're always keeping mental tabs on which airports have what and where.

One of the things that always perks us up is a mini-spa, a place that offers quickie massages or mani/pedis or even facials and haircuts. Yet hitting up the mini-spa is not always practical because who has the time?

But yesterday, we had three whole hours to kill in the American terminal at Newark Liberty International and guess what we did? We tested the Massage Bar near Gates 30-39.

The Massage Bar has gimmicky offerings like "One shot" which is a 15-minute massage for $21. A "Double shot" is a 30-minute massage for $39. Randomly, the bar offers a Happy Hour from 6 am to 7 am when the services are $1 off. (A dollar? Uh, thanks? If you're in an airport at 6 am, then you should get at least $5 off.)

The bar has cubby spaces to store your belongings, but if you're super paranoid about your stuff, you can ask to place beside your chair.

The chair is one of those funky therapeutic kinds you see in the mall where your knees are bent and your face planted into the headrest. Honestly, this massage is no different from the mini-massages you get at the mall. Still, it felt really good and gave us a different way to kill the time before our departure. Then again, our alternatives were eating at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Cafe or The Garden State Deli.

The Massage Bar can also be found at Seattle Tacoma, Washington Dulles, Sacramento International, Nashville International and Port Columbus International.

Related Stories:
· Massage Bar [Official Site]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]

Where: Newark, NJ, United States

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Author Photo: juliana by juliana

5 Comments

Return to » Jaunted Tested: Massage Bars at the Airport

  1. browngt5

    Jaunted Member
    May 2, 2008 at 12:33 PM




    CLT

    I've been to the one in the Charlotte Airport, too, during a long layover.  Had a 30 minute table massage.  Not the best ever, but come on, you're in an airport; it was much better than sitting in a chair with children running around and people lying all over the floor.

  1. juliana

    Jaunted Member
    May 2, 2008 at 3:55 PM




    table massage?

    really, that's interesting. do you keep your clothes on? i would totally do this massage thing again. it was nice to be away from the travel weary masses.

  1. JetSetCD

    Jaunted Member
    May 2, 2008 at 8:48 PM




    me too

    I'm used to seeing one lonely message chair in some dark corner of the internaitional departures lounge. Thus, airport messages will always have a skeevy connotation for me. Sorry.

  1. JetSetCD

    Jaunted Member
    May 2, 2008 at 8:49 PM




    whoops

    massage

  1. wearytraveler

    Jaunted Member
    May 28, 2008 at 11:40 PM




    The Massage Bar

    Am a regular at all The Massage Bar locations, as I travel frequently.  For me, its perfect, they do exactly what's advertised and don't try to intimidate you with overpriced extras.  I also like that the massages are performed by licensed therapists.  (Many of the "massage" locations in airports just give you a glorified back rub by untrained employees who have no clue as to what a real massage may be).  I appreciate the fact that regular, everyday people go here.  It's not some snooty, pampering overpriced spa putting on airs like XpresSpa. JMHO
    To be fair, one of the previous posts on this thread regarding a sub par massage at the Charlotte Airport should've have included the fact that the Charlotte Airport location is NOT a Massage Bar location, but a Body Shop location.

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