Being a eforum.xxxite has its advantages...as it turns out that one of the newfound friends I've made on this site was able to (and kind enough to) give me a referral to Victoria.
With that referral, making an appointment was as easy as sending her a PM on this very board.
Victoria was very pleasant to deal with and, based on the brief description I gave her on my tastes/preferences, she was able to make two recommendations. As only one of the two was available at the time I wanted, this made my choice very easy.
Victoria's recommendation of Cloudia was 100% bang on the money. Her personality and mine were a perfect match and, in addition to the massage, the personal interaction during the whole encounter was both a pleasant and positive experience. She's the only person I know, besides me, who can casually work the lyrics of a Stephen Lynch song into a conversation.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...let's go back to the beginning...
As I said, booking the appointment was incredibly easy and based on what little information I provided, Victoria made what would turn out to be an incredibly accurate recommendatino for me personality-wise.
When I got there, the place is very nondescript from the outside. If I didn't know what the place was, I would never have pegged it for anything other than upscale offices or a residential building. I walked in past a row of mailboxes with buttons on top and went to the door numbered 150 (based on the first post in this thread) and didn't see a doorbell so I went back to the mailboxes and rang. Waited a few seconds and then knocked. Then repeated the doorbell and knock routine once more before looking over at the next door, # 100, which had a big green button on it that said "Please Ring" (or something like that).
Now, feeling like a complete idiot, I pushed the big green button and within a second or two, Victoria answered the door.
Now, hearing so much about the 2214 I was prepared to be indimidated by the opulance and grandeur of the place but as it turns out the front room is very understated and, if Victoria hadn't greeted me by name, I wouldn't have been too sure I was in the right place.
Victoria showed me downstairs and gave me a tour of three rooms (not sure if there are more) and told me I could pick whichever one suited me more. The all seemed pretty much the same but one had a much larger massage surface and, being a rather large/round fellow, I opted for the larger surface. Victoria offered me a drink and then left me to shower and get ready.
Now the description of Cloudia I got from Victoria was a 24yo Eastern European. I was expecting someone to come in with a thick Eastern European accent. Instead Cloudia walks in with a distinctly North American accent. Turns out she moved here from Europe as a small child and she's more of a Montrealer than anything else. Which was fine by me because, as I said before, our personalities meshed perfectly which would probably not have been the case if she'd recently come from Europe.
Cloudia's massage technique is a bit uneven and spotty. At times, especially at the beginning, I was a little unimpressed and at others I was really feeling it. Overall, I was satisfied with the massage but I think Cloudia would be well served with some lessons from a professional masseure/masseuse. She's got the raw talent, she just needs more training/experience as she says she's only been doing this a few months. Or maybe the fault was mine for not asking for a "firm" massage at the outset. Perhaps she started out slow and soft to see how I responded, which is quite possible as the massage got better as time went on.
On the flip, things went very well. By some standards she might be considered "medium mileage" but she was very soothing and relaxing with me and I have no complaints about her service whatsoever. Her pleasant personality and our common quirks and sense of humor made it one of the more enjoyable and best overall massage experiences I've had to date. Simply put, I enjoyed her company immensely and had a lot of fun (and I don't mean just the physical kind).
When time was just about up, Cloudia offered to scrub my back for me in the shower which brought home one of the great selling points of the 2214 for me. As I said before, I'm a rather large/round fellow. I've been in places that have showers barely big enough for me alone. And when I say "barely", I mean barely! The showers at the 2214 are easliy big enough for two and, theoreticaly could fit a third person in there as well. Definately a positive experience!
Would I repeat with Cloudia? In a heartbeat!
She's the perfect mix of personality and relaxing tenderness I've been looking for!
But if you're into a "high mileage" experience, you might want to look elsewhere.
As for The 2214, it was a positive experience from beginning to end. The location is good, the ambience is good, the showers were awesome (large and roomy; almost instantaneous hot water...no waiting for it to warm up) and the personal service from Victoria was excellent!
So, if they'll have me, the 2214 definately has a new (and happy) repeat customer!