Avalon

I LOVE Avalon. I loyally return.
Pros:
–Walk-​ins readily welcomed any time (and they’re fast!)
–Best prices for PA (regular mani $ 15, gel mani $ 32)
–All nail services available plus additional waxing ones
–Amazing job done every time (I love Kim!)
–Great hours (open a lot)
–Complimentary coffee, tea, water, and candy offered
Thank you Avalon! I will keep coming back!

Avalon is a very professional nail salon. Kim or Phi did a fantastic manicure and pedicure. They’re very sweet, friendly, and efficient. I would come back here for service. I would prefer my friends and family to come here. They’re make me feel like home every times I come here!

the worst nail salon I have ever visited
1) most nail polish is old and doesn’t lay evenly on the nail
2) bad service: water for soaking was cold, massage and pedicure was rushed and much worse than at other salons, final product was really terrible looking
3) my nails didn’t last even one hour due to the bad quality of the products and application. First time that I come home after getting my nails done, and after 50 buck mind you, and I have to take everything off and paint my nails myself
Stay away from this place, plenty of better options in the area

Kim& her team of salon professionals create a wonderfully relaxing environment for a pedicure. My pedicure lasts far longer than I’d expect, which is evidence of the quality treatment. I’ve been going to Avalon Spa for several years, and with Kim’s new ownership, the spa has moved to a new, even better level of relaxation & wonderful service.

Very bad experience. The lady doing my nails didn’t know what she was doing! That is the worst thing that can happen. She started doing my nails, one hour later I left with no polish on my nails. I was super upset and they made me pay $ 15 for the worst experience. Good luck if you decide to come here. They told me to come the next day to get them fix and they would only charge me $ 17. Never coming back here, not even for free.

Came to get a mani but ended up leaving after the manicurist pretty much coughed up her lung on me. It was rather disgusting. Coughed all over the tools and all over my arms. Not to mention taking calls as well as making them during the mani. I couldn’t take it. I left after a huge, disgusting slob of saliva landed on my forearm. This is an instance I wish she wore a mask. I also didn’t understand the game of musical chairs the manicurists were playing after rotating between customers. Proceed with caution.
Case in point: non-​hygienic

I discovered Avalon Nails a few months ago after my friend told me to check them out. I have gone to them about four times since to get gel manicures and pedis. Kim does an excellent job with gel manicures. My mani lasts 2 weeks and I go indoor rock climbing which is really hard on a manicure. The salon is clean and they give excellent foot massages with your pedicure. They can get pretty busy so I would recommend calling in advance for an appointment.

These ladies are so amazing. I called the other place that I usually go to but they were too busy. So I walked into this place and they welcomed me in and worked on my feet and hands very well. Took their time and payed attention to detail. And they didn’t give me attitude or get annoyed when I asked for something different then just one color on my hands and feet.
I will definitely go back!

Wonderful pedi service, with hot stone massage! The staff here are sweet and attentive, and the environment is warm and comfortable. A great place to hang with friends and have nails done! Also, ask for Kim, she’s great!

I’ve never used the word «despise» in a review until now. I absolutely despise this place.
I was a walk-​in since Jolie was crowded on a Saturday morning. There was a brief minute of confusion when no one here spoke English well. We straightened that out and I was seated promptly. My pedicure started first and was done by an older woman. People started coming in so she kept leaving in between my pedicure. My manicure was only half way done when I was asked to wait since there was an appointment mix up. I was in no hurry so I said it was fine. One customer came and went. Two customers came and went. Three customers came and went. And then friends and family stopped by. A random girl got assigned to doing my nails and she kept complaining the polish was too thick so the woman doing my hands from before stepped over and laughed while saying «see, that’s what happens when you’re not certified.
SOMEONE UNCERTIFIED WAS ASSIGNED TO DO MY NAILS.
Anywho, the terrible experience over, I just wanted to leave after being there for nearly 3 hours.
Immediately the «special» nail polish she recommended I pay extra for chipped while I was getting in my car. Both of my thumbnails also broke in a few hours which reminded me she had taken a nail file and went ham on the tops of my nails.
I have never been more miserable. My nails are still suffering from the consequences.

I got a manicure & pedicure done by Tamy and Lily today. It was fantastic. I was there for an hour and a half because they did great, long massages and it was included in the mani/​pedi price of $ 40. They even stayed past closing time to finish my treatment. I dont usually write Unilocal reviews, but these women were great. So nice and thorough. I am definitely returning.

Lily gives the very very best neck massage. It is the best ever. Only 1.00 a minute. She also gives a great pedicure. Kim is the best for Shelac nail

I’ve never been one to commit to any one thing in life, and nail salons are no exception. You’ve got to be some kind of extraordinary to get me to come back every two weeks to your salon and your salon only. Avalon, however, has changed me as a human being. I don’t have a single bad thing to say about this salon, so let me start going down my list of pluses.
Service: Critical at a nail salon because that is one of of two things (other obviously being how good my nails look at the end) that will either make me stay or make me walk out the door. Kim is my girl, she’s the sweetest lil thing, always asks me how I’m doing and remembers every little detail of our convos as she’ll bring it up the next time I see her. She always makes it a point to ask why I haven’t found a boyfriend in a matter of two weeks, every single visit, which I think is hilarious because I only wish my life worked like that.
Now, obviously, nails: Never have I ever seen such a wide selection in nail color, and that alone made me realize this was no ordinary nail salon. Although it takes me several minutes to pick a color (and also change my mind at least 2 times before making a decision), it makes me so incredibly happy that they have such an array of colors, and I mean *actually* have them and not be «out of stock» of every color that I want. Results are also A+, nails are in pristine condition for 2+ weeks. Not a single complaint on that front.
One last thing, it’s really nice how understanding and accommodating they are with time constraints. I’ve never come in a rush but I’ve seen women who were like «I have to reach the train in 45 minutes and I have to get this, this and this done» and like 3 women hop on board and get everything taken care of, no questions asked.
Highly recommend Avalon if you’re living/​working in Palo Alto.

Well I thought I was going to have a nice, relaxing day at Avalon but it started off all wrong when I walked through the door. First off let me say I made the appointment online, to get a discount. In fairness the owner John Tran responded quickly to thank me and confirm my appointment.
I made this appointment because it’s close to my job and I was pressed for time. I have a confirmed appointment, so I decided to show up about 10 minutes early. As soon as I walk in, I go to pick my color at and was told we need to reschedule. They turn off the open sign too! Of course I’m asking why, when I have a confirmed appointment. She was telling because the owner said so. Meanwhile he’s lurking down the hallway and watching what is going on in front. I brought it to the ladies attention that they had my information so they could of called me so I didn’t waste the trip. She proceeded to tell me she wanted to see me, but it was the owner who was saying no. She told me to «come tomorrow» «come in an hour» I would of left but I needed them done, I should of left after I was getting the run around.
Meanwhile the owner comes marching to the front and in an irritated tone tells me repeatedly «I just need two minutes, just two minutes» and yes the middle vein in his forehead was popping out. I then preceded to ask if he was the owner and to remind him he confirmed my appointment. So he finally said they will see me. Not a good feeling, I figured I would get half a job or nicked.
Reason for the stars is because Lily did a great job with my mani, pedi. Unfortunately whatever problem he had with his one employee, he decided to yell at her (not Lily) right during the most relaxing part the massage. There was another lady there too. Then he follows her to the front of the business (outside)and yells at her there. I don’t understand their language but he was pissed. Mr. Tran you are the owner and represent your business, what I encountered on this day was BAD. You are NOT representing your business well at all.
Thank you Lily for salvaging some of my appointment. Checking out I did not get the discount for booking online. The lady that was there with me just received a polish change (no mani or anything) and she paid $ 32! Yeah she wasn’t’ happy. I hope the owner realize his actions and stops that from happening again. I like the location but not feeling the owner!

Im going to start off by saying that i had a really great experience… up until it came to paying
I started off by searching Unilocal for a good nail salon in between my doube shifts after searching I decided to give avalon a try since it was 2 blocks away from my job. Online I saw that they were having a 20% off promotion for first time customers. I called let the owner know about the special and asked if they had availability to come in i made an appointment for 330. I walk in at 315 and check in the owner made a snarky comment and said oh your early.
Brushed it off now I was here for a shellac manicure and was surprised at the limited selection of colors. Not to mention i only recognized 2 of the gel brands.
The lady that worked on my hands did a good job i really liked her but i did have to remind her to add a second coat to my nails as the first one was very uneven on 1 hand. She was nice about it. When she finished she offered me a pedicure being that I was relying on my 20% off coupon I said why not she offered me the medium priced one that promised you massage and hot stones. The massage lasted no more than 20 seconds at best and the hot stones as well. This might have been because one of her regulars had arrived, without appointment. I was looking over the menus and thought how weird it was that they have to remind you after every service listed that it is finished off with a high quality nail polish.
All in all I am satisfied with my nail polish I’m a bit afraid the shellac wont last.
When it came to paying I mentioned the 20% off to the lady that did my nails she told me to hold on. She came back and told me that the 20% off was only for appointments. I told her I called and made an appointment and mentioned the 20% off when booking the appointment knowing that it was within the hour I asked if it would be ok to use the coupon. The owner said yes just come in at 330. She comes back one more time and says oh no the owner said you were supposed to book an appointment on line the 20% off is only through online reservation requests. At this point I asked to speak with the owner where I not only show her their own advertisement but I point out that no where does it say the coupon is for online appointments only. At the end she said you can use the 20% off next time (this seemed very sketch being that I had a feeling if I did this she would have pulled the same sorry you can’t use the 20% off coupon excuse). Seeing that I was very upset she reluctantly gave me 10% off. Well something is better than nothing… but I’m never going back again.

There are plenty of other great nail salons in this area. No need to put yourself through this experience.
1) Lady who did my manicure was so rough she literally cut me and I started bleeding. During the process, you would think she would be aware that she cut me (esp since I informed her and said «ouch!») however she didn’t seem phased at all and continued through the process and it hurt like hell.
2) The gel polish she started my right hand with was thick and old and «bubbly.» You would think that as soon as she opened the bottle she would realize it’s a bad bottle and she should get a new one or tell me to pick something else. She waited until my whole right hand was finished before she asked me to pick a different color. (Mind you, I’m on my lunch break and specifically told her I only had one hour). She had to remove all polish from my right hand and start ALL OVER AGAIN!
3) The finish product is horrible. As I sit here on my computer, I do not dare look down at my fingers because of a horrible job this lady did. Polish is all over my cuticles, super messy and my finger is STILL bleeding.
4) Avalon’s nail polish colors are super outdated and just overall bad quality.
5) Shitty quality of service. The lady who did my nails was continuously reaching over me grabbing stuff, breathing super loud and burping. It was just gross.
I would give this place zero stars but I’m giving it ONE star because…
1) It’s not possible to give zero stars
2) I did like the older lady who did my toes. Although the color she recommended was terrible (I asked for white, she put silver on my toes), she was very sweet and accommodating.

I love this place. Their customer service is incredible and it is very clean. I’ve been there at least ten times and have never been disappointed. I’ve gotten manis, gels manis, and pedicures and they’ve all been perfect and pretty quick too. They did a great job with my seven year old daughter’s mani pedi too. I even got my husband to get his first-​ever pedicure!

I got my nails done in this place today for the first time and I just loved it. The staff is very friendly and professional. The prices are very good and they have nice promotions (happy hour and student discounts when you book online). I uploaded pictures of my nails for your reference

Tried out Avalon a few weeks ago and was so pleasantly surprised by the quality and great customer service!
My mother and I had a great manicure/​pedicure and really enjoyed the environment. They did a great job on our nails and we are actually heading back now for another appointment. I would totally recommend Avalon to anyone in the Palo Alto area looking for a great nail salon to frequent.

new owner! very clean and friendly! I got my nails done by Diana and she did an exellent job. very gentle too! will come back to see you again for sure Diana! thanks