Novo Spa in Yorkville

Came here on mothers days and had a pedicure and facial. It was SO relaxing and well worth the money. I wish I could have stayed there forever.
Came out feeling so relaxed. I can’t wait to go for another facial :)

We got a couple’s package called «Taste of Heaven», which included 60 min RMT massages, 15 min Foot spa, and 20 min couples shower, with access to the colour sauna.
After the whole experience I think that this is not a romantic place to come with your opposite sex partner. It looked good for those who went with their bestie tho.
The front desk crew was really friendly and welcoming. After filling some forms we were taken on a tour. We passed through the couples’ lounge, the complementary tea room, the women’s lounge, the men’s washroom (and that was was where my husby was directed to put the rope and enjoy the sauna). So the 20 min previous to the treatment we were separated… And been together hanging out in the couples lounge, would’ve implied laying down wearing a robe reading magazines… Lame…
When our therapists arrived we were taken to a different room with a spaceship kind of capsule (the infamous couple’s shower), our two massage tables, and a living room. They explained us how the shower worked, and they gave us space to put ourselves ready to be rubbed.
The massage and the foot spa were nice, long enough, relaxing and pleasant. However, operating the shower was a nightmare… A single jet splashing my eye; cold water falling from the ceiling; frustrating turnings, pushings, and the thought of «some written instructions would’ve been great», deviated on us saying F… this shower. So no real couples bounding.

Had a facial there yesterday. Everything went fine, except for the huge chunk of skin I am missing in between my eyebrows. She was very aggressive with the black head removal. Not going back

I got a Guinot Hydradermie facial at Novo Spa and it was a great experience. The facilities is relaxing and nicely setup as you would expect. For the service is always the most important aspect.
Love (Lovepreet) was my esthetician and she was great. I had the same facial at Shizen Spa at the Pantages Hotel downtown and the one I got from Love was much better. She really took the time to give a massage of the facial muscle. Also the prices at Novo Spa is cheaper than at Shizen.
I will be going back!!!

I didn’t know I was a spa person until this amazing experience. For just a few dollars more than your run-​of-​the-​mill facial, I got to robe up, hit the aromatherapy sauna, chill in the ladies lounge with some tea and trail mix, then head into 90 minutes of pure bliss. Every detail was thought of. The facial was the best I’ve ever experienced. All for $ 99. I will be back!

I just love this place! Sure, it’s not the fanciest in the city but it’s also not the most expensive in the city. Prices are relatively reasonable. It’s got the basics I need: steam room (nice smelling one at that), tea, snacks, lounging area, friendly service and a consistently good RMT massage!

What a lovely experience. Would definitely recommend this place. The RMT’s were amazing, friendly and took their time to ensure we enjoyed it and had a good experience. Couples massage was very enjoyable!

My husband and I decided to get couples massage there as a part of our anniversary celebration. We bought «Taste of Heaven» package for 2, if I recall correctly, it was about $ 300 and included body massage, foot massage, and couples shower. The place looks nice, but we had to wait for 15 min until massage therapists showed up (I guess they were running late with previous clients) and they ended body massage 10 min earlier (we didn’t say anything as we were in celebratory mood). Body massage was quite mediocre, it was too soft even though we both asked for harder massage. Foot massage was really good, couples shower was nice :-)
Overall, we weren’t impressed and decided to go elsewhere next time.

I came use to use up a SpaFinder gift certificate that a friend had given me. On the SpaFinder website, this place had a 5-​star rating, so how could I not?
Located in Yorkville, I half expected this place to look a little… posh-​er than it did. When I checked in for my appointment, one of the ladies at the front took me on a mini-​tour (mini, because the spa itself isn’t actually very large at all…) I was surprised to see that the spa looked like a renovated office; all the waiting lounges, the treatment rooms and the room where the tea/​treats are located all feel like office meeting rooms, with dimmer lighting and comfier chairs. Nevertheless, appearances aren’t everything, right? For me, it was the service that mattered…
I checked in half an hour prior to my appointment, as suggested, in order for me to take advantage of the steam room and get ready. Novo Spa provides lockers, robes and flip-​flops to use while on premises. I was so looking forward to using the «Aroma Colour Therapy Sauna», which the spa claims is a «combination of sauna, steam and colour therapy», so I was surprised to find that it was a small (read: probably seats 5 – 6, at best, comfortably) sauna room, with faint aromatherapy scents of lavender and eucalyptus, and Christmas-​type lights on the ceiling that changed colour every so often (which I hadn’t even noticed initially, because the main light in the room had been left on). As it was a Monday afternoon, I was only one of 3 guests at the spa (that I saw), and the only one in the steam room, which was a nice treat and, I think, made a huge difference in how much I enjoyed it.
I also had some time to enjoy the tea in their Tea Lounge (they’ve got about 4 – 5 different teas, all different types — black, green, etc… I went with the oolong) and took it into the Ladies Relaxation Lounge while waiting for my appointment. My esthetician, Robin, came in exactly on time to get me for my 45-​minute Organic Body Scrub treatment ($ 80). Robin was really nice, and explained the product and treatment, which I thought was great. I chose the Cranberry Pomegranate Sugar, which Robin warned would be sticky and make me stick to the towels, but I would reap the rewards of softness afterward. I couldn’t smell cranberry or pomegranate, but she was right about being sticky. When I got up for the shower, I had to peel myself off the towels!
Upon returning from the shower, Robin came back to apply the Organic Watermelon and Papaya Body Butter — the website claims it’s a massage, but I would hardly have called it that. It was simply a lengthy lotion application with very little to no pressure whatsoever. At the time, I couldn’t recall if it was supposed to be a massage, so I didn’t mention it; I wish I had.
After the treatment, I had another glass of tea and jumped back into the steam room before leaving. Overall, I enjoyed the experience, although I do think a lot of it had to do with there being almost nobody else there, it was nice to have the place (almost) to myself. No major complaints from me, other than being overpriced (then again, what else should one expect when located in Yorkville?!), although no raves either. Would have given it 3-​stars, but the «Meh, I’ve had better» that comes with the 2-​star rating is pretty accurate

Novo continuous perform as the luxury day spa in downtown Toronto. Great services displayed by Front agent (Carolyn) and my Therapist (Charlotte Rae). Please try their organic facial combined with eye treatment. Amazing fresh looking after a year with them since Jan, 2013.

Novo Spa may not have as many fancy amenities as other Toronto Spas but what has brought me back for the last 3 years has been my amazing RMT Karen and Aesthetician Charlotte! Both of them genuinely care about your well being. My massage appointments are always fantastic and Charlotte has really helped with my troubled skin. She has taken the time after the last two years to understand my skin and change my treatment as my skin changes!

Actually, this would be a 3.5 out of 5 to be accurate, dunno why i can’t do half stars.
Good things first,
The ambiance and lighting really set the mood for a relaxing spa visit to get away from the hustle and bustle. The colour tone being taupe and neutral browns made it more relaxing for me, and I really liked the music. Really serene environment where I just wanted to fall asleep.
There was a nice private lounging room with comfortable chaises where I relaxed while I was waiting for the RMT therapist.
The RMT therapist (I think her name was Sarah) was good and she knew the right muscles to work on (she gave me an option for a general full body massage, or whether I wanted to work on specific places, and so I told her I had more issues on my back). The only thing was that I would’ve liked a bit more pressure, but it wasn’t so light that it wasn’t enjoyable. I still enjoyed it.
The not so good things,
I was surprised to find that the spa was located on the basement level, which did make it a little claustrophobic because of the lower ceilings, but the décor did make up for most of it.
The colour therapy sauna, which I had been looking forward to, was located in the female change room, and it was TINY, and I mean TINY — if two people sat in it together and they didn’t know each other, it would be slightly awkward cuz they’d be really close to each other. I suppose they had one in the male change room too, but I wouldn’t know, because couples not being able to use the sauna together is a bit of a let down for me. I am really into saunas and steam rooms and this one was a big let down.
When checking out, I noticed that they offered daily and weekly promos for different services, and I was a bit annoyed that the front reception didn’t tell me or offer me those promos before starting our treatment — it was the very same treatment I was getting, but because I was using a wayspa gc, they couldn’t allow me to take advantage of the promo. I guess the fact that they couldn’t give me both offers was understandable, but they should’ve given the option of whether to use the promo they had or to use the wayspa gc. (The cost actually came to around the same, which is why it was okay.)
Overall still, it was a good experience based on the quality of the massage, and because of the discount I got via the wayspa promo, it made it more worth it.

M’eh.
Based on online reviews, I had high expectations for this spa. Given the higher cost, I was surprised that the treatment rooms and lounge were basement level. The website made the colour therapy steam room sound really awesome, but it was just a two-​person sauna with coloured lights. A bit of a let-​down. While I was waiting for my massage, the therapist found me in the treatment room and asked if I would mind waiting an additional fifteen minutes because her current client had been late. I didn’t like that. The massage itself was very enjoyable, though.
No major offenses, but I think I can find better for my money.

Got a pedicure by Angie, and my feet feel nice and refreshed! Love the chocolate scented masque, it feels cool after it sits for a while. Foot massage felt great for my poor tired arches. Angie was precise and my purple toes look perfect for my vacation coming up soon!

My boyfriend and I had the luxury for two couples package. The overall experience was fantastic and very enjoyable. We arrived, got changed into our bathrobes, hopped into the sauna for about 10 minutes, and then relaxed in the couples lounge with hot tea and biscuits until our RMTs got us.
We absolutely loved our massages from Sarah and Kelly. My boyfriend had tons of knots in his back, and Sarah did a phenomenal job at getting through each knot. Kelly gave me a really nice relaxing massage, which is what I really enjoyed most, I felt at bliss during the entire 60 min massage.
After the massages, they instructed us on how to use the jet shower. While we really appreciated that they took the time to explain how to use it, as it was a pretty complicated jet shower and it made our experience so much better, we still struggled with trying to make the other settings work. I’m convinced that the jet shower only had three working settings, and the majority of the jets were broken. My friend who also tried the jet shower there in March 2013 (8 months before my visit) commented to me that it wasn’t fully functional. It was a bit of a disappointment, as I was really excited to use it and hopeful that they’d fix it by now.
Nonetheless, the remainder of the package was fantastic. We enjoyed two glasses of sparkling wine, chocolates and a rose in our bathrobes in the private lounge.
We were both so relaxed, and truly felt like mush (in a good way).
We still recommend the spa, especially our RMTs. I emailed the spa my review and left a comment about the jet shower, and hopefully they’ll do something about it!
Looking forward to return

Rather than buy each other something for our birthdays that we don’t need, Gord and I treat each other to treatments at a spa. Saturday afternoon we went to Novo Spa for my birthday … we’d never been there before.
After we changed into our robes, Gord and I met up in the couples’ lounge. There was a room down the hall if you wanted tea, cookies or apples.
The first thing we did was have a couple’s hot stone massage. We’ve had a hot stone massage once before and it wasn’t done right … the stones were wet and drippy. This time it was awesome … Irena, my massage therapist, spent a lot of time in my lower back (it’s been burning lately) and the hot stones added to the experience.
Next up was a pedicure. I chose Opi’s Purple with a Purpose for my toes. Lovepreet did my pedicure and did a great job.
We went back to the lounge afterwards to relax and let our toes dry.
It was a very nice experience. The ladies at Novo Spa were very friendly and I would recommend this spa.

The only word that comes to mind to describe this day spa is ‘decent’.
The staff was friendly and the ambiance was alright. But the hot stone massage was mediocre, though appreciated as desperately needed. Got a couple’s suite and there were no extra touches (champagne, etc) as mentioned by other patrons.
My main grievance is that the saunas are in the changing rooms and tiny at that. This means the «couple experience» cannot be extended to the post-​massage, sauna relaxation time. This was sorely missed as other Toronto day spas do have roomy co-​ed saunas that cater to couples and pairs/​friends.
Given the Yorkville location (and price tag), I was disappointed. Wouldn’t return to Novo unless unable to get pencilled in at more preferred spas.

This spa might not be the fanciest spa in the city, but I had a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon here.
We had an afternoon appointment for a couples spa treatment.
The Luxury for Two is an hour and a half treatment with an RMT for $ 278.
Upon arrival we were whisked away to the change rooms.
The ladies change room is a simple small space.
They showed me my locker and provided me with slippers.
No complaints about the robe or slippers. =P
I do wish that there was more seating in the change area.
There were a few chairs… that’s about it!
The shower facilities are basic… as in there is a single shower stall.
It was clean and equipped with liquid soap and shampoo. I hopped into the dry sauna for a little bit. It was enjoyable and it had cute ceiling lights.
I wandered into the waiting area and while waiting for my date, I helped myself to some tea and chocolate chip cookies. They have loose leaf tea from the Tea Emporium and they poured me some strawberry infused water.
When it was time for the massage, we were warmly greeted by our RMTs. The massage therapists were all smiles!
The Luxury Couple’s Suite is probably the size of two small massage rooms. There were two massage tables set up in the center of the room. The right side of the room had a small private seating area and the colour therapy shower was at the back of the room.
The 60 minute massage didn’t disappoint!
I really liked my RMT. They use a minty massage oil and place warm towels on your feet and eyes.
When your massage is done, they leave you with two glasses of champagne, a plate of truffles, and a beautiful long stem rose.
30 minutes isn’t a whole lot of time to enjoy… the couples shower and finish your sweets! So, use your time wisely.
Anyways, the shower isn’t huge but still fun!
I liked changing the colour of the lights! It’s like a therapeutic disco shower. You are able to choose water from the shower head, rain shower, or surrounding water jets.
They politely knocked on the door when our time was up.
We were moved to the couples lounge to relax, have more tea and finish our chocolates. They couples lounge was the mens lounge. I think we were seated there because it was empty and more private.
Overall, we had a very nice experience here. Everything was super clean and the service was great! It’s a nice spa and it seems comfortable for straight men who are working their way up to weekend warrior treatments. For the price point, I was happy with Novo. :D

Decent place for spa treatments. 3.5 stars out of 5.
My mom got me a gift certificate to this spa (must have been a Groupon deal), so I booked a massage. The spa offers all of the regular services: massages, facial treatments, hair services, waxing. Prices seem to be very reasonable (i.e. 60 min RMT = $ 99) especially for Yorkville. The relaxation room is nice, and they offer you a nice hot tea and cookies (although not healthy ones, I think they were PC brand) after your treatment. My RMT massage was very good.
I didn’t get the Aroma Colour sauna. The different colours are supposed to enhance my relaxation? I will need a better explanation the next time I go…
Overall the space is small and concise, but very clean. I like that they have sulfate-​free shampoo and body wash in the shower. The only thing is, something felt like it was missing. Maybe it was a little cold potentially clinical; not as intimate or relaxing like other spas? I can’t put my finger on it! However, I will say that when I went during the week and had a 4 pm appointment, there was hardly anyone there. So it was nice, in some ways, to have the place to myself.

I pride myself on reporting on the good, the good-​er, and the best. Of course, we all know that there is also the ugly and bad.
In my search for a new place to get RMTs, my dearest friend suggested Novo. This «premier spa in Yorkville» had so much promise. They even recommended we come early to take advantage of their «Aroma Color Therapy Sauna». Cool right? So not.
Our massages were booked for a Sunday afternoon and save and except the treatment, it was disappointing.
I took issue with their «Aroma Color Therapy Sauna». Talk about false advertising, this complimentary service is a 3′ x 2′ box with coloured christmas lights. Huh.
Upon check-​out the RMTs mixed my friend and I up and we consequently didn’t have the right therapist on our receipts. The receptionist tried to rectify the mistake by whiting out the first name (because she somehow concluded my friend and I had the same last name!!!). When I advised her that an insurer would not accept a whited out receipt, she seemed confused. After a brief pause, she told me that my therapist was in tomorrow and they would mail me a correct receipt. I told her that I would just pick it up that afternoon. She then asked me to call and ask them to do that. Ask who? Didn’t I just ask her?
This painstackingly annoying exchange could have been avoided if staff communicated. I saw my RMT head out as I came up to the counter. Mistakes happen, but it’s how they’re handled that determines the professionalism of any establishment.
I called a few days later to confirm my receipt was ready — that’s how much faith I had in the competency of the staff. And my doubt was not misplaced. The guy stated he no idea what I was talking about. He put me on hold only to come back and tell me that there was no record of me having seen the massage therapist I indicated. I told him that the mistake had obviously not been rectified but that I would leave it to him to figure it out. He told me I could pick my receipt up tomorrow. How much would you like to bet that when I go in tomorrow, it won’t be ready. Fooey!
Update: I went in and it was ready. Of course it took the girl (same one I saw Sunday) some time to figure out who I was and what I was talking about. I guess I have a forgetable face.