So… Worth the Money


This afternoon I spent eighty minutes getting pampered and massaged at the The Sanderling Spa in Duck, North Carolina. The masseuse assured me that the massage would boost my immune system, improve my overall circulation, and balance my chakras. I don’t know about all that, but when the massage was over I did feel like a large, oiled noodle.

The total cost was $204. The stone massage cost $170 plus a $34 tip. Every year my mother-in-law gives me a gift certificate for Christmas and every fall I use it to spend an hour or two at the Sanderling. This year it covered everything but the tip.

5 thoughts on “So… Worth the Money”

  1. hi, I grew up in a country without a formal tipping culture. I live in chicago now and I accept the fact that 18% is standard for restaurants and that taxi drivers are tipped.

    reading that a $170 massage gets a $34 tip blew me away though. I don’t know how much spa workers are paid. Are they paid by the hour? Do you know? It would be ridiculous if they were paid minimum wage for one hour’s work that someone else is paying $170/80 minutes for!

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  2. anonymous — The standard tip for spa services is 15 – 20%. The massage was exceptional so I tipped 20%. Here is the money list for tipping on CNN Money.

    I’ve heard that it’s a 50/50 split between the masseuse and the spa, but I don’t know for sure.

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  3. I’ve only ever had one paid massage(while pregnant with baby #3), and I wasn’t that impressed. Maybe it wasn’t the chakra balancing kind. And it wasn’t $170 either, so maybe that was part of the problem! lol

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  4. I have never had a massage that was not worth it. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $120 for one, but I am usually so blissed out afterwards that I would probably give them any amount of money without blinking.

    Glad you enjoyed it!

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  5. if it really is a 50/50 split between the masseuse and the spa, that’s pretty ridiculous. Again, I’m saying this as someone who comes from Australia, definitely NOT a tipping culture. If it’s a 50/50 split, I hope spa workers are paid fairly.

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