Well I've seen quite a few tantrikas. No,you won't feel as if you've been transported to a new plain of consciousness, and yes, it can be a bit more pricey than your standard 'rub 'n' tug'. But I love it and travel the length of the country once or twice a year to get it, since tantric massage is something of a rarity in Scotland.
Most of the tantrikas are very earnest and sincere about what they do and (arguably self-deludingly) would be horrified to be thought of in the same light as 'prostitutes'. Most of them are very into the Eastern mysticism of their art - you'll hear a lot about chakras, your kundalini, the lingam/wand of light etc. They tend to go in for breathing exercises and meditation before the massage starts, and don't say "thank you" at the end, say "namaste". If you're lucky they'll throw in a tantric bathing ritual as well: an assisted bath, not a shared one, but very sensual. If they feel you're just playing them along, and don't have a genuine commitment toi and interest in tantra they may give you the bum's rush. Very few seem to be Reviewom the East themselves though: they're all nice middle-class English girls who've developed an interest in alternative spirituality.
There are some who are a lot more down to earth and don't do the Eastern stuff, though they're still 'body therapists', not working girls(!). One of my favourite ladies, a classy blonde, works out of the basement of a Chinese nail shop in West London and is pretty down to earth. She does a variation on the standard, called tantric lomi lomi, or Hawaiian massage. I first met her when she did lomi lomi fully clothed, and worked all around the genitalia, leaving you feeling you wanted that bit more. She told me she also felt it was a bit silly not doing the most relaxing part of the massage, hence the move to what she does now.
However mystic or straightforward they are, the thing I've generally found is that you do get a really excellent therapeutic/relaxing undraped full body oily massage, with plenty of body to body, a variable amount of mutual touching (but never between the legs) and quite a bit of teasing. Part of the art of tantra is to take the receiver to the edge several times before the release, and they'll usually tell you if orgasm's 10 then let them know when you get to 7 or 8, which can happen two or three times. An hour really isn't long enough to get the most out of a tantra massage; I normally book two hours, which costs me ยฃ150/160 with my favourite ladies in London. And I do genuinely feel very relaxed, maybe even a bit spaced out, for the rest of the day after a tantric massage, and I usually sleep brilliantly that night.
It's not for everybody, if you're just looking for a pleasurable body rub with a happy ending you can pay a lot less. But for a feeling of being nurtured and enveloped, plus the pleasure of the whole experience, I certainly think tantra is worth the extra.