Frequently asked questions

What are The Olive Retreat's COVID-19 policies?

You will be contacted 24 hours before your treatment for COVID-19 screening. This will require you to confirm the following:-

You have not displayed any flu-like symptoms in the past 14 days (to include but not limited to a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste)
You have not tested positive for coronavirus in the past 14 days
No-one that you live with/ from your support bubble/ that you have been in contact with has displayed symptoms of coronavirus or tested positive for coronavirus in the past 14 days
If you have tested positive for coronavirus at any time prior to the past 14 days, you will be required to obtain consent from your GP/midwife/consultant before your treatment can take place
If you are considered clinically vulnerable in relation to COVID-19 you will need to obtain consent from your GP/midwife/consultant before your treatment can take place. If you considered clinically extremely vulnerable you will be asked to postpone your appointment until further notice (please see NHS guidelines for information on clinically vulnerable (moderate risk) and clinically extremely vulnerable (high risk) https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/whos-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/)

If it is deemed that your treatment cannot take place at the appointed time, your appointment will be rescheduled without fee.

Upon booking your appointment with The Olive Retreat, you will receive further information via email regarding your appointment.

When should I avoid massage therapy?

Massage should be avoided if you are feeling unwell, suffering from a cold, flu or other contagious illness.

Please do not book a massage if you have any of the following conditions:-

Recent operations or acute injuries
Thrombosis
Undergoing cancer treatment
Under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Fever, diarrhoea or vomiting in the last 48 hours
Severe pain
Pregnant- first trimester

If you have any of the following conditions, please provide a letter from your GP or physician approving massage before booking:-

Cardiovascular conditions
High blood pressure
Osteoporosis
Nervous or psychotic conditions
Epilepsy
Diabetes
Skin conditions
Complicated pregnancy

If you have any of the following conditions, please inform your therapist so that your massage can be adapted to avoid that area:-

Inflammation
Sunburn/burns
Cuts, bruises, abrasions
Varicose veins
Arthritis
Undiagnosed pain/swellings
Skin conditions including warts, verrucas, rashes, eczema

If you are unsure about any of the above, please contact The Olive Retreat to discuss prior to booking.

What should I wear for my massage?

Your modesty and dignity will be respected at all times during the massage. For a full body massage, you will be given privacy to change into your underwear prior to settling on the massage bed. Please keep your knickers/pants on for the massage, but remove your bra. I will provide a modesty towel to ensure that your are covered at all times, and I will only expose the area that I am working on at that time. Please remove all jewellery prior to your massage. You are invited to bring a pair of flip flops or slippers to wear immediately before, and after your massage.

Will I feel any side effects after my massage?

Your muscles release toxins during a massage and this can lead to mild headaches, tiredness and sometimes feeling achy, hungry and thirsty after a treatment. Some clients may feel emotional after a massage due to the deep relaxation experienced. All of this is common should pass within 24 hours.

Aftercare- what should I do after my massage?

Relax! Try to embrace that wonderful post-massage feeling for as long as possible. Drink lots of water to flush out the toxins released during the massage, avoid caffeine, alcohol, heavy meals or exercise immediately afterwards.

Do you offer massage treatments to men?

Regrettably The Olive Retreat can only offer massage to female clients at this time.

What is your treatment room like?

The Olive Retreat is based in a purpose-built garden building at my home address. A quiet, relaxing, welcoming environment dedicated to massage and pampering. We also have a cloakroom in the building with a toilet and sink.

Is there parking available?

Clients may park on the driveway.

How can I book?

Submit an enquiry online, through our social media pages, or contact Hannah direct on 07792857715 for availability and bookings.

How can I pay for my treatment?

The Olive Retreat currently accepts cash or online bank transfer.

Do you have a cancellation policy?

Yes. In the event that you cannot keep your scheduled appointment, please let me know as soon as possible. Cancellations or no-shows with less than 48 hours notice will require a 25% non refundable deposit to secure any subsequent booking. I run a small business with limited hours around my family, every appointment is precious! Thank you for your understanding.

Do you have a privacy policy?

Yes. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors; this policy sets out how we will treat your personal information.

(1) What information do we collect?

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:

information relating to any transactions carried out between you and us on or in relation to this website, including information relating to any requests you make of our services.
information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our website services, email notifications and/or newsletters.
any other information that you choose to send to us;

(2) Using your personal data

Personal data submitted on this website will be used for the purposes specified in this privacy policy or in relevant parts of the website. We may use your personal information to:

enable your use of the services available on the website.
send to you details of services requested via the website, and supply to you services purchased via the website.
send statements and invoices to you, and collect payments from you.
send you general (non-marketing) commercial communications.
send you email notifications which you have specifically requested.
send to you [our newsletter and other] marketing communications (relating to our business which we think may be of interest to you by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications to be sent by emailing us at martin@massage-therapy-london.co.uk
deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website.

We will not without your express consent

provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.

(3) Other disclosures

In addition to the disclosures reasonably necessary for the purposes identified elsewhere in this privacy policy, we may disclose information about you:

to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings;
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk); and
to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset which we are (or are contemplating) selling.

Except as provided in this privacy policy, we will not provide your information to third parties.

(4) International data transfers

Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this privacy policy.

(5) Security of your personal data

We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. Of course, data transmission over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

(6) Policy amendments

We may update this privacy policy from time-to-time by posting a new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes.

(7) Your rights

You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you. Provision of such information may be subject to the payment of a fee.

(8) Third party websites

The website contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party websites.

(9) Updating information

Please let us know if the personal information which we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.

(10) Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our treatment of your personal data, please write to us by email to hannah@theoliveretreat.co.uk