Shibui Gardens
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- By Appointment Only: Yes
5 reviews
Sausalito, CA
"I had a wonderful experience here with a customized massage to focus on my areas of tension. Great service, nice lounge area, clean sauna…" read more »
18 Reviews for Shibui Gardens
I love this place. It is my favorite place for finding great massage therapy.
I have been a customer for more than 15 years.
This is a cozy place with great service.
A group of girlfriends and I booked a dry sauna and hot tub for one half hour each (30 minutes sauna/30 minutes hot tub) this past weekend.
This was a horrible experience! I hate to say this about a place, but it is true. They were re-constructing a hot tub platform adjacent to the dry sauna and hot tub that we rented for four people ($22 ea person). The loud banging of hammers, drilling of screws and sawing of wood, electrical extension cords, wood shavings, wood planks, construction workers running around and everything else was enough to ruin any possibility of relaxing and being discreet.
While the front desk girl said this was an unexpected event, she should have notified us when we called to let them know we would be running just about 5 minutes late. Also, when I mentioned this was disconcerting to the group, she did not apologize or offer any sort of discount for our fee.
On top of this, the grounds and bathrooms are extremely cramped and need major maintenance. Ultimately, they really should close for one week and make some much needed improvements. It is not relaxing, beautiful, and is actually pretty dumpy.
I would not go back here and would absolutely discourage anyone from trying it out.
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After an 8 hour, 12+ mile hike that took us from base to tip of Mount Tam and back... we managed to find this oasis, sneakily hidden behind "Taco Jane's" and across a small street from a closed "organic tea bar".
Cozy with dark wood, warm yellow lights, rich leafy plants, and a faint hint of chlorine, we were lucky to be able to book a 1/2 hour hot tub session for $20. The place is open until 11PM on weekend nights, which includes Sunday.
After a quick shower in their bathroom with a big dollop of bath gel (easily dispensed through their squeegee bottle), and a quick clothes change, we went outside to the hot tubs. The tubs were walled off from each other so parties could get their privacy. A bell hung near each gate (they will ring it when you have 5 minutes left so no need to keep track of the clock).
The place was clean, neat, and well kept. The water was light with chlorine but not enough to feel like a swimming pool. It was hard to believe that only a couple hours ago, we were scrabbling up rocks and scraping by densely packed shrubbery, to freezing and tripping down a redwood forest trail, just trying to reach the car before the sky went completely dark.
Later on, we went home and I slept like a baby. In the morning, I woke up, got out of bed...
AND I WASN'T SORE! BOOYEA!!!!
So worth every single penny.
Tips:
1) Call in advance and book if you can (driving all this way to be denied would suck).
2) 1/2 an hour is fine after a hike (more then that and the dehydration from earlier would probably get to you)
3) Bring your own towels (they charge $1.00 for theirs)
4) Bring change of clothes (why would you want to put old clothes back on after that?!)
5) A bag to hold anything that will get wet (puddles of water in trunk not good).
6) Bottled water or juice (because you can and it doesn't hurt to do so)
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I really like this old school place. It is very funky--like rickety ! but relaxing. I had an amazing massage. The only thing I would comment on is that their hot tubs are a little over chlorinated. Bring a robe and thongs...there is not much in the way of these kind of amenities.
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The beau and I been going to Shibui Gardens hot tubs for years, usually on Saturday nights after a tasty dinner at Orchid Thai across the street. Very quaint and homey little getaway. The whole atmosphere is very laid back and welcoming. One odd thing I could do without is having the dressing rooms on the other side of the waiting room/lobby so you have to walk through a public area to get to your tub while dressed in your towel. Also, they no longer have the redwood tubs. There are two fiberglass tubs, and a roomier and nicer (also little pricier) tile tub.
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Redwood tubs are an endangered species!
That's what the front desk beatnik told me, and I'm sure he'd know. So places where you can have the full-on hippie experience and enjoy a redwood hot tub instead of slipping and sliding all over fiberglass are as rare as Thai Stick these days. But this place has one (request it in advance). Plus, it's an ultra-serene outdoor (but totally private) environment draped with vines hanging off the trellis above... ahhhh...The best time I ever had here was in the rain. Delicious. Well worth the drive to Marin.
Treat yourself to a gelato across the street after.
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I have been going here since I was a little girl, always a real treat. I love Shibui's private tubs, perfect for a romantic night out. The sense of privacy while still being outside is very relaxing.
I wish there was a place like this out in Colorado where I am now!
The hubby and I love to get away for a little R&R at Shibui. The tubs are always clean and it's quiet. I love going there on rainy nights! The people on staff are very professional and so are massage therapists.
The steam room is awesome and a must do while there!
I love taking a bottle of wine with us and relaxing in the bubbles!
Oh, this place is one of my favourites! Too bad I live too far away, so I can't come very often. I just love the redwood tubs, and the fact they are outdoors but private. I have had massages here maybe 4 or 5 times, and every time it was a great relaxing experience. I recommend reservations, as they are busy all the time. I also like the fact that they are open until midnight.
One of the original Marin hippy massage hot tub places (I can only imagine).
Now, I wasn't in Marin during the 60's or 70's, but this place gave me an idea of what it would have been like.
You go through a funky little garden area to find the entrance to the office & the people are all kick back & very nice. The hot tub is HOT! as is the sauna. I've never had a bad rubdown here, but I always describe what I like when I make my appointments. The staff & I have always been perfectly paired.
Oooooh. Aaaaaah. Enjoy!
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This will be my first review that really criticizes a place. Actually, I am hoping they can do better because I felt that the place has a lot of potential. It is important that I speak up to protect those who may fall into the same trap I did, though. If you want an actual massage, it is important to specify this when you are making an appointment. Tell them you want some deep pressure, and someone who gets a lot of return clientele.
The reason I mention this is that I went here based on recommendations from Yelp, and have to say that while I loved the hot tub, I was very disappointed with the massage. It was so bad that I was actually irritated afterwards. I hate paying that much money to leave feeling irritated. It is really quite reasonable pricewise, too, as far as massages go. But honestly, I would not pay anything to go through that again. It was obvious to me that the woman just wasn't really trying.
Her hands stayed cool through the entire massage. Rather than give my entire body a brusque rub down, she worked on little individual areas, veeeeerrrry slowly and meticulously, as though she were memorizing the muscle groups. She messed with my joints, making sure they bent both ways. It was almost like being dissected. There was no discussion that usually starts with "how do you like the pressure? do you have any injuries or areas you want me to focus on?" She didn't ask me anything. My entire back got a brief nod, while the ball of my right foot got a lot of attention. I kept asking myself "why?" She would disappear at random points during the massage, and I would ask myself what she could possibly be doing (getting oil? itching her nose? sketching out my anatomy?) I got off the table feeling cold, irritated, and in need of an actual massage.
My friend that I went there with said his massage was wonderful, though. His masseuse was actually trying to do a good job (he mentioned that she appeared quite winded at the end!) Effort is always really appreciated, as a massage is a luxury that some of us treat ourselves to once in a while. He had that ruddy, happy look when he came out, which made me feel like the 3 star rating could easily go up to 5 if I had even slightly that much fun there.
I went here yesterday for my Birthday! I enjoyed the hot tub soak first. It was SO HOT. Didn't really think about the fact it was near 80 outside, and I was sitting in a 104 temp hot tub outside! duh! sweat out the toxins or some shit like that.
My massage was relaxing, just what i needed for MY day. I'll go back for sure. Its a funky little spot. Its not all "spa" with low lights, trickling fountains, and chime music. Its a great place to have a fantastic massage and relax. I'll also be going back just for the hot tub experience.
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Don't go for the full hour...the tubs are hot...I like my showers scalding, but this tub was just BOILING. Half hour is great.
This is a wonderful place. Warm, welcoming with a lovely staff, I love to come here for an hour massage and get the free 1/2 hour hot tub beforehand. It is a gem tucked away in San Anselmo and I recommend it completely. I've had probably 10 massages there over the years and have NEVER been dissapointed. Every masseuse was really great. Shibui Gardens is the only place I can say that about, really. Go, relax and enjoy.
I love this place, it's so cozy and reminds me of big sur. The people working there are unobtrusive, and its pretty small, maybe 6 or 7 units. One of them (#2) has a synthetic tub and a door directly to the sauna which makes nudity totally comfortable. It's also one of the most affordable hot springs/hot tub/sauna places I've been to. They also offer massage by appointment, and are generally open pretty late, especially if you call ahead.
This was the perfect spot for my husband and me, after taking the 3 mile hike along Cataract Falls. It is a small establishment and very nice without being too fancy. There are lots of plants, which help make this place with its old wood and brick more relaxing. When we pulled into the parking lot, we already knew we'd like it. They recommend a quick shower before going into the tubs. There are bathrooms indoors, just like bathrooms at home, where you can take a hot shower. Or, you can take a cold shower by your private hot tub. We got the combo, which is a hot tub connected to a sauna, which gave us privacy and made it really comfortable to sprawl out. Since they don't have a cold plunge, like they do at Frogs Spa down the road, I used the cold shower to obtain the shock factor I so enjoy. We both felt very relaxed after our half hour. It was wonderful. I felt like I was on vacation. This is the type of place you might find at a small hotel on a tropical island.
Relaxation at it's finest. And hot tubs too! I've had plenty of massages, and of course I always want more. I've had soft Swedish massages, flexy Thai massages, painful amateur massages, and my favorite of favorites, the deep tissue massage. Shibui Garden's masseuses know how to work those evil knots out my back in the most delicate, wonderful way. Some times I'm tempted to jump off the table at the end of the massage (which always comes far too soon) and give the masseuse a big, wet smacker on the lips. But of course, I demurely contain myself. I've only had two massages here, but I dream about them often. A half hour hot tub to turn me into a jellyfish, topped off with an hour-long rub down. Oh it's absolutely heavenly. Afterwards, I always feel like I'm a foot taller and 10 pounds lighter. Unfortunately that last time I wanted to get a massage, Shabui was closed due to flood damage. But I'm sure it's up and running now, which means I'll have to make some time for some magic fingers soon.
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this place is one of my favorite haunts in marin. i'm only giving it four stars because they replaced the original japanese redwood tubs with conventional fiberglass ones. still though, incredible staff, best massage ever (book with adrian, she's the bomb) and if you've had a stressful day, you can just pop in here spontaneously and leave totally relaxed with a 15 minute soak. oh, and if you're hungry, there's taco jane's next door. what more could you ask for?
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