I do wonder about this. I worked for many years in the spa industry and in my family we have owned many spas, but the answer to this question is still not straightforward.  Only because a salon or spa is more expensive it does not necessarily means that it is cleaner, but usually employees are better paid and have more time to clean in expensive places than in cheap ones (high end spas may also outsource some of these operations to professionals). With that said I have seen many expensive places that are not so clean as they should.

Hygiene is particularly important in nail services, because the risk of infection is larger. In places with high traffic such as some nail salons it is easy to see how the nail technicians only wipe their instruments and kind of clean the pedicure tubs.

Perhaps the price is not the clear indication of the hygiene and the client has to be vigilant and pay attention on how the place looks and the sterilizing equipment they have. Ideally they should have ultraviolet or similar cabinets (they look like a small oven or microwave) and other equipment. You can ask directly and judge by yourself, also pay attention to the place in general.

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