A Day At The Spa
A Day At The Spa
Today’s post will have nothing to do with personal finance. Other then, I guess, it is a somewhat economical way to spend Christmas day. This is the second year in a row that my family has gone to the Korean Day Spa. Last year we went to our local spot in the Chicago suburbs, and this year we made a similar trip here in Washington D.C. Have you ever been? A day at the spa is the height of luxury. Especially for the busy professional. It is a chance to stow away the mobile phone, put on a pair of comfy shorts and tee shirt (provided), and enjoy the warmth and relaxation
What Is A Korean Day Spa?
The experience begins at check-in where you are given a locker number and pointed to an adjacent wall. You place your shoes in the locker, grab the key out, and enter the gender specific locker rooms. Once in the locker room, you use your key to access a second locker where you take off your clothes and change into oversized shorts and a tee shirt provided by the facility. You leave your wallet and clothes behind in the locker and your key (attached to a handy bracelet you wear around your arm or ankle) acts as an electronic credit card for any services/food you order once in the spa.
Want To Take A Swim?
The locker rooms are also outfitted with 4-5 pools with varying heat. From 110 degrees all the way down to 50. There is also a number of saunas which can get as warm as 170 degrees. You can enjoy these pools before entering the coed area of the spa if you follow two simple rules.
First, no clothes allowed. That’s right. You go completely nude (except of course for your key bracelet) or you don’t go at all. Second, you have to take a shower and wash with soap, water and shampoo before accessing the pools.
The pools are warm and quite chlorinated. There are individual waterfalls where you can stand under and get a nice water massage. There are also scrubbing stations where you can use a hand shower to scrub your body with abrasive brushes.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can pay for a full body massage in a small area sequestered in the corner.
However, you don’t have to get naked to enjoy a day at the spa.
Coed Areas
After leaving the locker rooms you enter a coed area that is encircled by various rooms or saunas of different temperatures. These you go into with your shorts and tee shirt on, and are open to both men and women. They range in temperature from 160 degrees down to 50. Inside each are mats to lie on, and small head pillows. Talking is kept at a whisper and each room comfortably fits up to 10 people or so.
The rooms are all on the periphery of a center room where there are couches, lying mats, and other areas to lounge, play board games, or read a book. Some of these spas have theater rooms off to the side or just a large TV somewhere central but usually fairly muted.
A day at the spa, however, wouldn’t be complete without a good meal.
Dining
In both of the Korean day Spa’s I have been to, there are Korean style restaurants serving a full menu of delicacies including my favorite Bi Big Bop. There are also a number of snack foods, smoothies, and soft drinks.
Probably more pricey than if you weren’t at the spa, but there is the luxury of not having to leave the premises or get fully dressed to partake. Which is definitely a bonus.
Final Thoughts
We love to take a day at the spa in the winter because the innate warmth of the facility helps overcome the coldness that overtakes us at this time of the year. Each spa has slightly different amenities.
The one here in DC actually has a work out area, while the one in Chicago allows you to stay overnight for a small fee and continue to use the spa services the next day. I have never done the overnight stay but it actually does sound fun.
I hope you guys are all having a great holiday season. We find that Christmas day is the perfect time to go for a lazy day of soaking in warm water, heating up in the sauna, eating yummy food, and relaxing on the couch.
If you haven’t tried one yet, I suggest a Korean Day Spa.
On Christmas, or any day.
I’ve never heard of a Korean Day Spa but it sounds like a very nice way to splurge for yourself. When I was attending the Greece Chautauqua, one of the best parts of that trip was jumping in the infinity pool outside, which was not heated and very cold, staying as long as we could bear (a few minutes, tops!) and then putting on the big robes and heading to the sauna. One day, a man from Greece was in with us and had some essential oils that he poured on the rocks. We could feel it in our breath. He stood up and fanned us all with his towel. One of the attendees was from Switzerland and said that people often do this in Europe and the spas are much more important there. It was invigorating. I imagine you really had an enjoyable time with your family. Thanks for telling about it.
Definitely a fun way to spend Christmas day.