Thai Clinic AppA four-hands massage is a massage in which two therapists work on one guest simultaneously, usually in mirrored, synchronised strokes down both sides of the body. It is one treatment and one appointment with one guest, but it needs two therapists and the cabin free at the same time for its whole length.
What happens on the mat
Two therapists stand on either side of the guest and move together: the same stroke, the same pressure, the same moment, down the back, the legs, the arms. The effect is that the guest can no longer follow where each hand is and stops anticipating, which is why the treatment is sold for deep relaxation rather than for working on a particular complaint. It is usually offered as an oil massage of sixty or ninety minutes, sometimes as a Thai-oil combination, and it stands on the menu as its own treatment with its own price rather than as two massages. For the two therapists it is demanding work: they have to keep in step for an hour, which takes practice and a settled pairing.
Why the paper diary cannot plan it
The front desk has to find not one free therapist but two who are free at the same time, in the same cabin, for the whole treatment plus the clean-up after it. One of them has a lunch break at two, the other finishes a ninety-minute massage at quarter past, a third is blocked for a training afternoon. On paper this is pencil work and a call back to the guest; on a booking page that knows only one therapist per appointment it is worse, because the page offers a time at which the second therapist is busy and the studio finds out in the morning. The studios that offer four-hands at all mostly take it by phone for exactly this reason.
One price, two therapists, one revenue
The second difficulty is in the pay. A four-hands massage sold for one price must appear once in the day's revenue, not twice because two people worked on it — and the therapist who was the second pair of hands must not vanish from the books as though she had the hour off. The clean way is to record the treatment once at its full price against the lead therapist and share the basis for commission between the two. Each then earns on the massage, and the day's revenue stays what the guest actually paid.
Every treatment carries a number of therapists it needs, one by default, so nothing changes for the treatments you already have. Your four-hands massage sets two. From then on the online booking page and the staff booking form offer a time only when two therapists are free at once — working hours, blocked times, other appointments and processing gaps count for each of them, and the cabin the treatment needs has to be free as well. The guest picks a lead therapist or “any”, exactly as for every other treatment, and sees one booking; the appointment in the calendar shows the lead therapist and the colleague who joins her. When the treatment is recorded, the revenue counts once at the full price, and the commission base is shared between the two unless you switch that off. The field is part of the resources feature and so comes with the Pro plan. The setup wizard creates “Four-hands Thai massage 60” for you with the number already at two; a studio with a single therapist sees no slots for it until a second active therapist exists.
Frequently asked
Is a four-hands massage one booking or two?
One. It is one guest, one treatment and one appointment; the booking simply carries two therapists, a lead and a companion, and both of their calendars show it. The guest books it like any other treatment and gets one confirmation.
How does the calendar find two free therapists?
Each treatment carries the number of therapists it needs; the four-hands massage carries two. A time is offered only when that many are free for the whole length of the treatment — the working hours, blocked times, other appointments and processing gaps of each of them count, and so does the cabin. If only one therapist is free, the time does not appear, online or in the staff form.
How is the commission counted for a four-hands massage?
The treatment is recorded once, at its full price, so the revenue is not doubled. The basis on which commission is calculated is shared between the two therapists, so both earn on the massage. If you would rather count it differently, the sharing can be switched off.