Sitting next to a barbershop and across from a bank in the centre of Dorval Village on Bord du Lac Street in Montreal’s West Island sits a new massage parlour.
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For now, the blinds are all closed, there are no signs outside offering any services and the doors are blacked out.
One peek through the blinds reveals a bed in one corner and a sofa.
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According to local residents, what’s offered inside isn’t the same as the average spa.
“When your advertising says it’s an adult service and they say it’s unique, I mean all those things, your mind wanders,” said Dorval resident Shanit Gamliel.
Gamliel lives not far from the massage parlour with her husband and son.
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She says there’s been a lot of chatter about the new establishment after someone saw an ad for the business and posted it on Facebook.
It reads “Adult services…sweet care massage. Unique, classy concept.”
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It sits above an ad for escorts.
“When you are looking at this wholesome picture of Dorval, we think of ourselves as a community, a village,” Gamliel told Global News.
“We don’t feel it fits into that image of our village, especially when you have children walking by.”
Global News tried speaking with an employee of the massage parlour, who refused to talk.
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Global News also called the phone number listed on the advertisement and was told by the woman on the other end that she was fully booked until next week.
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The owner of the barbershop next door believes the business is out of place, but adds the employees and clients are discreet.
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“I know there are massages and other things that go on as everyone knows, but they are very quiet,” said Junior Debordes.
“I never hear anyone, I never see anybody.”
Prostitution laws in Canada prohibit the exchange of sex for money, but Montreal police explained they only intervene in adult massage parlours in situations when children and organized crime are involved or if the parlour is near a school zone.
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Café Non Solo Pane owner Claudia Priolo says people want the city to intervene.
“It’s attracting people probably that we don’t want around our area,” Priolo said.
The City of Dorval said it has received several complaints about the massage parlour, but did not return Global News’ requests for an interview.
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