Seoul, Sinchon - Sinchon Rest

Sinchon Rest has a very old feel to it.  For some reason they don't give the women keys at the desk, but the give the men some.  Instead you go in, find a locker, and grab the key from the locker.  The wet area had an assortment of standing and sitting showers.  There were two saunas, one stone and one wood.  For bathes there was a hot, a hotter, and a freezing.

In terms of sleeping this jjimjilbang is amazing, especially for women.  There were sleeping areas right there in the wet area if you didn't feel comfortable going to the mixed area to sleep.  The sleeping room was on the fourth floor and had a large mixed area, as well as a glassed off area with bunks for women only.  There was a small room just for men on the floor below next to the gym and nail/hair salon.

They had four of the dome shaped saunas in the mixed area.  Two were open and not hot at all, while the other two were likely to scorch your skin off, nothing in between.  The ice room was very nice though and actually had a window to the street, though it wasn't much of a view.

The restaurant only served the most basic of dishes, but was open twenty-four hours and they had a wide assortment of beverages, even beer.

My complaints with the place:

There were very, very few mats, despite the abundance of pillows.

There was no vendor or even a vending machine in the wet area to buy shampoo or anything else you forgot.

The place was rather old and a little rundown in places.

The bath area was very basic and the pools left a lot to be desired.

My Conclusion:

I'd stay there to sleep, but I'd make sure to bring anything I might need to shower, and I wouldn't look to stay there for just relaxing.

If you're female, this is probably one of the best places you can stay without a worry about an overly friendly ahjussi.

Directions, as far as I can tell from the map: From Sinchon subway station, go out of Exit 3. Walk north along Yonsei-ro towards Yonsei University, turn right at the Paris Baguette, and you should find it near (across from?) the GS25.

Google Map of Jjimjilbang (Click on Sinchon Rest in left hand column)

Written by guest reviewer: Caitlin