Casbah Spa

I have lived in Fort Lauderdale 15 years - passed this place a million times and never been - my boss gave me a gift card here so I had a facial, massage and my lashes tented. Everyone was incredibly nice and hospitable. Greeted me with a glass of champagne. Both therapists were extremely thoughtful and made me feel comfortable and relaxed. The location is a bit small so if you are there during a busy time the women’s locker room can feel small.

I do not recommend Casbah Spa & Salon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I scheduled an appointment for a haircut and style three days in advance. I received multiple text messages and phone calls to confirm my appointment which I confirmed. When I arrived for my scheduled appointment the spa director checked me in and said my stylist would be right with me. Approximately 15-20 minutes later the spa director approached me again and told me the stylist relayed, “he DOES NOT do ethnic hair.” When I asked the spa director what that meant she said, “they don’t do ethnic hair” in the salon. I asked her, “Aren’t stylist trained on textures of hair rather than one’s ethnicity?”. Hair comes in all textures: straight, curly, coarse, fine, etc. It doesn’t matter a person’s skin color. I asked why they would make an appointment without asking my ethnicity (especially in south Florida) knowing this is an ethnically diverse area without asking my ethnicity if they didn’t do ethnic hair in their spa? She had no response. I told her “this is very disheartening and disappointing and I would have trouble setting up another appointment so close to the holiday.” She had no response. I decided to try and show the Casbah Spa a little grace so I phoned them the next day (around 1:00pm) and asked to speak with a manager. Surprisingly it was the same spa director from the day before with whom I had spoken to. I asked if she cared about customer service and if so why I hadn’t received a call regarding the incident the day before? Her response was the same, “the stylist DOESN’T do ethnic hair!” I explained that I lived above the spa and my boyfriend and I had frequented Casbah more than a dozen times for other services such as mani-pedis, massages, brow waxing, etc. but after this incident we hadn’t planned on returning. She had no response, dead silence. I asked why she had no apology or anything at all to say? She said nothing. I am shocked and appalled that in 2023 we still have establishments that blatantly discriminate against people of color and don’t have any remorse while doing so. I normally wouldn’t leave a negative review but I feel it’s important to warn any and all people with higher concentrations of melanin in their skin to avoid Casbah Salon as they “DON’T DO ETHNIC HAIR.” It truly breaks my heart. To the owner, Nicole, to be clear no one including the spa director offered to rebook my appointment that day or the next day when I phoned. I was already a client in your system so I’m not sure what other information I could have provided other than my race which no other salon has asked and I have never had to provide. The previous stylist, Eliseo, was reluctant to perform the service for the same reason that I was told was the reason for this visit being declined in person. He performed the service anyway and was surprised that working with ethnic hair wasn’t as difficult as he had assumed. When I booked this appointment I didn’t ask for the same stylist because I assumed that you had other well trained hair stylist that might not be reluctant to do non-white people’s hair.

THE absolute BEST massage I’ve ever had!! I booked a 50min deep tissue today 8-26-23 with “Natalie”. I get massages very frequently back home and everytime i go away on weekend trips so I can certainly measure her up. There was no stalling doing other things during my massage; she got right to business and never stopped!! Full 50 min with her hands doing stretches while massaging at the same time which felt amazing. She hit every inch of my body and worked out all the knots! I will certainly be coming back to see her next time in town!