Ï feel less stupid now...
...because that is the ONLY sauna I went to in HK
...and I did not "push the envelope" combination of language barrier and ...being shy
So THANK YOU for a very detailled report! I would love to Rate it with 10 Karma but I am small fry here.
My Windsor massage was very good for sure and the HJ as well,
but with all the "decorum"before and after I was feeling ...out of place," not knowing the "codes"
People were very friendly to me (gweilo) but without any damned roadmap... the "upside" was limited.
Considering the services around (drinks, sauna, steam, resting place), the pricing was not crazy.
In term of local (none-Thai) massages with some extra (pretty much all),
the only one I remember as stellar and VERY CLEAR from the start was with Joanna (when she was in business ~10Y ago).
In the (none-Thai) massage +++ categories, there were some good ones in Wanchai but all had the same challenge:
QUICK BUCKS / BAIT & SWITCH...turning into frustration.
While now for me it's 100% Thai massage, there was a time I was visiting some Chinese massages with FS
(all are NOT so that makes it complicated to sort out between +, ++, +++, what the boss expects / tolerates and the masseuses could /would / can / might do: not very straightforward).
The way to avoid problems I flagged above was ...PLAYING POKER, keeping your cards close to the chest,
i.e. NOT ASKING FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN a STRAIGHT massage,
while showing my body liked the massage (that's it!) and my wallet (tip) too.
If one masseuse seems potentially responsive, ask her name and ...invest on her!
After 2-4 times, she will be the first one to move and FOLD !!!
On Hennessy Road, in one of those places (gone!), I had a regular masseuse good for massage and the rest too.
Easy, simple, negotiation and headache free.
If a (beautiful) Thai masseuse from the MANDARIN ORIENTAL SPA in Central can, after several sessions, accept to go for a FS onsite (I came ...covered) and then give me her address (she already gave me her phone number to book massages with her)
o have fun in her room during her dayoff
..then it can happen anywhere!
For regular clients that are tipping well (in front of the boss = acknowledgment of quality) and friendly (joking),
it is tough for masseuses (Thai included!) to stay idle - strictly business.
Quite a number of Thai masseuses that could not do more (maybe HJ at most) in their shops,
after while either
a) gave me their address (one was in Wanchai in front of the massage place and equipped with a table) or
b) will ask for a quiet room to a friend running a massage place...on their day off or ...before their work hours.
Because of coronavirus and limitation on short term visas, this industry has been seriously shaken so togther with ...lack of practice in those places,
I am out of contact / addresses.
For me, it's straight ~strong Thai massages or visiting "friends" at Hing Loong or my Indonesian Wanchai regular, pretty a monk's life!
#BoredToDeath