Downtown Asheville · 35 Haywood St

The massage Asheville talks about.

A private sanctuary one flight above Haywood Street. It begins with a quiet welcome. It ends with a nervous system that finally lets go.

Reserve the 90-Minute Discover the Ritual
★★★★★  5.0 · 140 Google reviews Official massage partner of The Restoration Hotel One private room. By reservation only.
“The moment you walk in, you're transported to another world.”
From 140 Google reviews, rated 5.0
The Arash Experience

Not a service. A ritual in three acts.

Most massages start on the table. Ours starts the way guests are welcomed in Arash's family: warmth first, then the work. It's why people don't describe us the way they describe a spa.

I.

Arrive · The Chai Ceremony

You're welcomed with a warm, caffeine-free cup of chai, poured the way guests have always been greeted in Arash's home, or herbal tea, water, or simply a quiet moment if you prefer. Every ritual beyond the massage itself is optional. The room does the rest: a sanctuary designed to settle your nervous system from the moment you arrive. Your breath slows. Your shoulders drop.

II.

Restore · Deep Restorative Massage™

Slow, deliberate bodywork built around how the body actually calms down. Slow pressure and sustained warmth are the two signals the nervous system reads as safety: they shift you out of the alert state you arrived in and toward the state where heart rate settles, breathing deepens and muscles stop bracing. Steamed towels, warm jade stones and weighted thermal therapy are not decoration. They are the method, and the reason 140 Google reviews read the way they do.

III.

Integrate · Sound & Stillness

A few resonant notes close the session, a short moment of sound and stillness, so the calm you found on the table walks out with you. No rushing, no fluorescent lights. Your time here is protected on both ends.

A warm cup of chai poured before an Arash Massage session in downtown Asheville
The Chai Ceremony · An Arash Tradition
The Method

Deep Restorative Massage™. Deep, without the bracing.

Most deep work is a contest. The therapist pushes, the body pushes back, and you leave sore and call it progress. Deep Restorative Massage™ is built on the opposite premise. Slow, sustained pressure gives muscle and fascia time to yield instead of forcing them, so the work reaches further with less force and the body never has to defend itself.

It adapts region by region. Firm and specific through the shoulders and hips a desk has been rationing, broad and slow where the system needs to settle, gentle where it must be. The same method reads as deep tissue, Swedish or prenatal work depending on what your body asks for that day. You set the ceiling on pressure. It is read continuously, not requested.

Warmth does the rest. Jade stones and steamed towels raise tissue temperature and lower resting muscle tone. Weighted thermal therapy gives an over-alert nervous system the steady, even pressure it reads as safety. The session closes in stillness so the calm has somewhere to land. Deep is not the same as painful. That distinction is the whole method.

Every ritual beyond the massage itself is optional.

Arash Bains warming oil between his palms before a Deep Restorative Massage™ session
Experiences & Reservations

Two ways in. One is the full story.

Every ritual is private and unhurried, and the calendar stays small on purpose. When the week is spoken for, it's spoken for.

The Signature · Most Reserved

90-Minute Arash Massage

The Complete Ritual · set aside about two hours
$225
  • A personalized wellness consultation over a cup of chai
  • Deep Restorative Massage™ with extended hands-on time
  • Full-body jade stone ritual, warmth that works deeper
  • Arnica steamed towels and weighted thermal therapy
  • A closing moment of sound to land the session
Reserve the Signature
The one guests write about. First visit? This is the one to reserve.
Inside the 90 →
The Essential

60-Minute Arash Massage

A Complete Reset · set aside about ninety minutes
$160
  • A personalized wellness consultation over a cup of chai
  • Deep Restorative Massage™, focused where you need it
  • Steamed towels and signature aromatherapy
  • A closing moment of sound to land the session
Reserve the Essential
Sixty focused minutes. The jade stone ritual and thermal suite live in the 90.
Inside the 60 →
For Two

Couples

The same ritual, side by side. A therapist for each of you, ninety or sixty minutes, two tables in the one quiet room. Now reserving for two.

Reserve for two Inside the couples session →

“Rituals are always an invitation. Everything beyond the massage can be adjusted or simplified to match what feels best for you that day.”

Gift cards available. Give someone the ritual.

Gift Cards

Arash Bains performing Deep Restorative Massage™ in his downtown Asheville studio
Our Story

Built on hospitality.
Proven by a hurricane.

Arash Bains grew up in a tradition where a guest is welcomed with tea before anything is asked of them. In 2024 he brought that heritage to a quiet suite above Haywood Street and built something Asheville didn't have: a sanctuary where the hospitality is the treatment, and the bodywork proves it.

Months after opening, Hurricane Helene tore through this city. Arash didn't close. He gave first responders free bodywork, cut prices in half for neighbors while the city dug out, and started a Community Care program that still runs today. Asheville remembered. That's why the reviews don't read like spa reviews. They read like thank-you notes. And it’s why The Restoration, one of downtown’s finest hotels, made Arash Massage its official massage partner.

“Healing doesn't start with pressure. It starts with presence.”

Explore Asheville · Asheville Chamber · Go Local Asheville · Good Neighbor Podcast

The Community Care Project →
Inside the Arash Massage sanctuary in downtown Asheville Warm curtains and soft lighting inside the Arash Massage studio The treatment room at Arash Massage, prepared for a session
If You Are Searching for an Asheville Spa

A sanctuary, not a spa.

If you are looking for an Asheville spa with a sauna, a salt room, body scrubs and facials, we are not that, and Asheville has good ones. Arash Massage is one private room in the heart of downtown where the only thing on the menu is massage, done with unusual care.

That narrowness is the point. A spa is a building full of treatments. This is a room built around one: slow, deliberate bodywork that works with the nervous system rather than against it, in a space where every surface, sound and degree of light was chosen to help the body settle.

“I get massages all over the world. Arash is very talented. If any of you are lucky enough to work with him, you will be very grateful.”

John Mackey · Co-founder of Whole Foods Market
Said in person, to a room full of people. Shared with his permission.
Words of Our Guests

Five stars, 140 reviews and counting.

Real guests, real names, pulled word for word from public reviews. Each one links to the original.

On Community Care
M
Mark Wagner
Google review
★★★★★

“In the wake of Hurricane Helene, Arash Massage generously offered free services to first responders like myself, and I was blown away by their kindness and professionalism.”

Read the full review →
On the chai welcome
J
Jennifer Moore
Google review · Local Guide
★★★★★

“He asked me questions while sipping on our hot tea about my areas I feel pain and for him to focus on. He was very in-tuned to pressure points applying the perfect pressure. The hot stones felt amazing.”

Read the full review →
On the room
K
Kristen Taylor
Google review · Local Guide
★★★★★

“The space was surrounded by live greenery, a water fountain, and other calming features, which created a private and peaceful setting. … The whole experience felt like a healing oasis tucked away where you would never guess you were only steps from the busy city.”

Read the full review →
On the bodywork
S
Susan Terrell
Google review
★★★★★

“The most amazing, effective, energy filled and intuitive body work I've experienced in many years of having massage.”

Read the full review →
At The Restoration Hotel
B
Bernard Meyer von Bremen
Google review
★★★★★

“Rebecca and Nicholas provided excellent in room massage therapy at The Restoration Hotel. Both were very attentive to hearing our needs and fulfilling those needs.”

Read the full review →
For two
M
Michelle Armistead
Google review · Local Guide
★★★★★

“The 2 hour experience was delightful and luxurious from start to finish where even the smallest details made us feel like royalty.”

Read the full review →
5.0
★★★★★

140 Google reviews. Rated 5.0 on Google.

Read them all
The Community Care Project

Luxury with a conscience.

Born in the days after Helene, our Community Care program keeps healing within reach for neighbors who need it. A sanctuary should belong to its city.

Learn More
Good to Know

Questions, answered.

Where are you located in downtown Asheville?

35 Haywood St, Suite 203, one flight up in the heart of downtown, one block from the Grove Arcade and around the corner from Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Street parking on Haywood and the Rankin Ave garage are both close.

What should I expect on a first visit?

Come a little early. You'll be welcomed, offered a warm cup of chai if you'd like one, we'll talk through what your body needs, and then the session begins. Allow about two hours for the 90 so nothing feels rushed.

What's the difference between the 60 and the 90?

The 60 is a complete reset, focused where you need it. The 90 is the full ritual: extended hands-on time plus the jade stone ritual, arnica steamed towels, and weighted thermal therapy. Most first-time guests choose the 90.

What does "grounded in nervous-system science" actually mean?

It means the session is designed around what research shows calms the body, not around a spa menu. Three things do most of the work. Slow, moderate pressure: the skin carries nerve fibers that respond specifically to slow, warm touch, and stimulating them is associated with a lower heart rate and a shift toward the parasympathetic, rest-and-restore side of the nervous system. Sustained warmth: heat raises tissue temperature, increases blood flow and lowers resting muscle tone, which is why the jade stones and steamed towels are used throughout the session rather than as a finishing flourish. Steady, weighted pressure: deep, even pressure is one of the most reliable ways to settle an over-alert nervous system, and that is what the weighted thermal therapy is for. None of it is mystical. It is why guests describe leaving in a different state than they arrived.

How far ahead should I reserve?

The calendar is intentionally small, so most guests reserve a few days ahead. Same-week openings tend to go first. Reserving online takes about a minute.

Do you offer couples massages?

Yes. Couples sessions are reservable online, and you can call (828) 222-3731 about days you do not see in the calendar. Two tables in one private room, a therapist for each of you, side by side. Prices, timing and how to reserve for two are on the couples page.

Is the chai really part of every session?

The chai is an invitation, never an obligation. Most guests begin with a warm cup of caffeine-free masala chai, the way guests have always been welcomed in Arash's family, and herbal tea, water, or simply a quiet moment serve just as well. Every ritual beyond the massage itself is optional. The room does the deeper work: the sanctuary is intentionally designed to calm your nervous system from the moment you arrive.

Visit the Sanctuary

One flight above
the heart of downtown.

One block from the Grove Arcade, around the corner from Harrah’s Cherokee Center, steps from Woolworth Walk. Come a little early. A cup of chai is yours if you'd like it.

Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday · By reservation
Parking
Street parking on Haywood + the Rankin Ave garage, one block away
Reserve Your Session

This week's calendar is small on purpose.

The ritual takes the time it takes. When this week is spoken for, the next opening is a week away. Reserve the one that's yours.

Reserve the 90-Minute · $225 Reserve the 60-Minute · $160

★ 5.0 · 140 Google reviews · Secure reservations via Mangomint

Give the ritual

The gift that starts with a quiet welcome.

A gold certificate for any amount from $25, delivered by email, good for any session. For the person whose shoulders you worry about.

Buy a Gift Card