Hello readers. I'm happy to say that I'm alive and well back in the US, but I'm sure you couldn't care less. I do read your comments and write back when appropriate. Thank you for your continued support and for your attention, even to my old posts. Thankfully, not too much changes in the spa world, but as usual please let me know if my information is out of date. I do my best to stay on top of it but it's difficult when I'm continents away.
Now, for the purpose of this post. I recently found a couple of very interesting articles that I thought would be of interest to you as spa-seekers in (or even not in) Korea. I'd like to introduce one of them here first, and I will post the others separately so they can get their own spotlight.
Firstly, this is an older (updated in 2015) article, but I just came across it. CNN reporter Frances Cha wrote about her experience at Busan's SpaLand jjimjilbang. It's a great little article to remind us all how great things can be when they are a bit more luxe than expected!
This is a really new hotel, with the hot springs sauna in the
basement. At first I thought it must be small, but it is huge! It is
right across the street from Asan Spavis. The admission is only 6,000 won,
making this a big bargain! The locker rooms are clean and the lockers
are big, full-length ones, nice if you are
carrying a big backpack.
Inside there are
lots of showers, and the hot springs is huge. It has a central warm tub,
hot tub and lavender tub. In the corner is another warm tub, along the
sides are a great waterfall cold tub and a sun tan spot next to the
floor to ceiling windows. The whole sauna area is gorgeous and bright.
There is also a dry sauna, and a super hot (too hot for me!) steam
sauna. Outside is the nicest outdoor bath I have ever seen, with real
trees (not fake ones!) and real birds singing. There are 2 rocky pools,
one warm and one cold, and a hot hinoki bath out here. I spent a long
time outside, it was great listening to the birds, and it even snowed
while I was there. The locker rooms and baths are constantly being
tidied, so it is very clean, probably the cleanest sauna I have ever
been in. There were a lot of people there, but the place is so big it
doesn't feel crowded.
One
nice touch is the ondol-floor resting area with a TV in the locker
room, its a nice place to have a snack and relax between soaks. There
isn't food, but the locker room attendants will go to the snack bar
outside (so you don't have to get dressed!) and get you iced green tea,
shikae rice drink, etc.
Hours:
6 am - 8 pm Sun~Fri
6 am - 9 pm Sat
Costs:
Adults: 7,000 (hotel guests 5,000) / Children (7 and under): 5,000
충남 아산시 음봉면 아산온천로 217-7
Chungcheon Nam-do, Asan-si, Eumbong-myun, Asan Oncheon-ro 217-7
This
is a huge water park/hot springs, but I only visited the hot springs
park. Admission is 8000 w for the hot springs only, but quite a bit more
expensive for the rest of the facility (33-39,000 depending on season/day of week). I got there at around 8 am, and
it was very quiet, there were only 3-4 other people in the sauna.
By the time I left around 11, buses of schoolkids and older ladies had
arrived and it was quite crowded!
The locker
rooms are massive, and plenty big. There are a ton of showers, but I
found them sort of cold. The baths here are great- hot tub, huge warm
tub, laying down massage tub, some sort of massage tub with many strong
jets and bars hanging over it (I didn't quite figure out the bars, do
you hang on them?), there are ginseng and green tea baths, a really hot
steam sauna, and 2 dry saunas, one with a TV inside! There is also a
stone area to rest on, which feels great. The outdoor part is nice, too,
with a hot hinoki and a cold bath. The water is great hot springs
water, your body will feel very nice after soaking in it.
The
whole facility is very clean and well maintained, my only complaint was
no food at all available.There was one vending machine with canned
drinks, but that was it.
Since there is no jjimjilbang, you must get all the way dressed to go
out to the on-site restaurant, and since normally water-park restaurants
aren't very good, I just decided to leave. If there had been some food
or snacks, I would have stayed longer!
Near the entrance to Asan Spavis is a great Kalbitang restaurant. I went
alone, so I didn't grill meat, but it looked good, too.
Suanbo
is a small town that can be reached by express bus from Seoul's East
Seoul Bus Terminal. It is known for its pheasant, rabbit, freshwater
snail and even deer restaurants, so be sure to try some when you are there.
Buses run all day, every hour, and the trip takes about 2 1/2 hours.
The bus station in Suanbo is just a small mart on the main road through
town, but the
town is so small that it is easy to find. I went with
my 13 year old daughter. I didn't notice much, if any, English other
than at the Suanbo Park Hotel, so that may be a problem - you may want to
visit with a Korean-speaking friend. Also, be sure to visit the tourist
information center on the main street - they have discount coupons for
many of the hot springs and hotels. The town itself is kind of "stuck in
time," you can tell it was a big tourist draw back in the 70s-80s, but
not anymore. We went on a Saturday and Sunday, prime tourist time, but
most places were virtually empty. Still, its an interesting place to
visit, both for the water and the interesting food.
Suanbo Hi Spa:
We
got off the bus and this spa is on the first floor of a building
directly across the street. The locker room is small but very clean, and
has some large lockers that fit backpacks. Downstairs is the hot
springs, just one large cement tub with a warm side and hot side. The
hot side
is really, really hot- I didn't see anyone dip more than a foot in the
whole time we were there. In the back is a small cold tub, a wet sauna
and a dry sauna, and one table for skin scrubbing. No other services are
offered. There are many showers, both sitting and standing, and most
people seem to use this spa as a place to get clean, rather a place to
hang out and relax. The water in Suanbo is very strange- I thought at
first I was imagining it, but my skin seemed to swell up! Then my
daughter pointed out that she didn't get "pruny", even after 30 minutes
in the water.* I don't know what is in the water to make that happen, but
it is cool! Admission was 4-5000 won. There is no food or drink, and on
a Saturday morning it was very crowded, so we didn't stay too long.
Hi Spa
The
internet lists the Suanbo Hi-spa as capable of hosting 500 people, but I
can't imagine how!? It is mentioned in many internet reviews, but I
have to wonder if they are written by anyone who actually went here.
Maybe there are 2 Hi-spas in Suanbo?
* Fun Fact Science Lesson from the editor: Mineral spring water will do that. The balance of water to salts is closer to that of our skin/body so there is little movement of water across the skin's surface. (Typically, plain water diffuses into our skin via osmosis, which causes our skin to expand, take up more space, and wrinkle!
Suanbo RI Hotel Jjimjjilbang:
After
lunch, my daughter was very tired from getting up at 5 am, so we went
to the only Jjimjjilbang in town. I am not sure of the name, but it is
in a hotel and says on the side clearly "Jjimjilbang." If you walk from
the main street towards the river, you will pass it. Admission was
around 8,000 w, with clothes provided, and the front desk held our
backpacks for us since they wouldn't fit in the lockers. The staff here
are very, very nice and accommodating!
The
locker room is quite tiny, and the hot springs is just one pool ringed
with a few showers. Very small, but the same nice water as other places.
The one thing I disliked in the locker room though was the bathroom- it
is tiny, no windows, and it doubles as the smoking room. Yuck! (This is not uncommon... :/ )
Upstairs
is a small one-floor jjimjjilbang. It has a few caves in the back, a
TV, a small snack bar, a small
salt room, a very small ice room, and a small charcoal room. The key
word here is "small." But, it was quiet and not crowded, even on a
Saturday afternoon, and there are mats for sleeping and a warm floor. My
daughter slept peacefully for 2 hours while I wandered in and out of
the salt room and ice room, ate and watched TV. It was very relaxing!
This would be a good, cheap place to sleep, but there are no dedicated
sleeping rooms. The mats are quite comfy though!
Suanbo Park Hotel:
This
sauna is up a large hill, in the Suanbo Park Hotel. My daughter was not
thrilled with the hike up the hill, and to be honest, I am not sure it
was worth the hike. The hotel is quite old and dated. I looked into
staying here but it was expensive, and after seeing it I'm sure it would
not be worth the price! The sauna is well marked, towards the back of
the hotel. It has a small locker room, and a large shower area. There is
a cave-like sauna, which is nice, a large warm pool, a hot pool, a cold
pool, and a hot bath outside. The outdoor bath is the big draw, and it
does have a pretty view of the valley and town, but on the whole the
place is pretty run down and the same nice water can be found
at any sauna in Suanbo.
Suanbo Spa Hotel:
Suanbo Spa Hotel
The next morning we wanted one last soak, so we tried a new hotel
with a sign advertising a Nokchantong (outdoor bath) next to the RI Jjimjilbang Hotel.
They
are still constructing the spa, so there is no outdoor bath as of
February, not sure when it opens. But- the admission is only 5,000 w,
and we liked this place the very best in Suanbo even if there is no
outdoor bath. It is brand new, and very clean. And quiet- it was almost
empty on a Sunday morning. They have many showers, a warm, hot and cold
tub, and a massage tub- something none of the other saunas in Suanbo
seem to have is working jets, so that was great! Same great water, and 2
saunas, wet and dry. Once they get the spa complete with outdoor baths,
I want to go back! There are snacks in the locker room, too, which is
nice because for some reason
soaking always makes us hungry, and no other saunas seem to have
anything to eat or drink except maybe a vending machine. We spent about 4
hours here and were sad to leave! Wikimapia of Suanbo area Thanks again Cami!
This is a hot springs
outside of Seoraksan National Park located in the basement of a hotel with the
same name. There is no jjimjilbang – only the segregated hot springs baths – so
you get only towels and not jjimjilbang clothes.
The locker rooms are the
standard and there are some snacks and drinks available but no restaurant since
there’s one upstairs in the hotel. There is a skin-scrubbing area inside the
baths, but no massages or other services unless perhaps they are somewhere
else.
Inside the baths, there
is a large seated shower area but only a few standing showers. The water is
nice; it is easy to tell the difference between "regular" water and
hot springs water once you've been to a few saunas and hot springs. There is a
hot bath, a hinoki bath, some massage baths, a warm/kids bath, a cold bath and
a cold waterfall bath, a steam room, some saunas and a small heated floor area
to rest. It’s clean, and the water is really nice feeling! However, there is
not a lot to do here except soak, so this is not an all-day type destination
like a big jjimjilbang would be. There are also not likely to be many, or any,
foreigners, at this place. It was only us when we went.
*I visited this sauna with 4
girls, ages 8-13, my daughters and 2 friends. All have been to Korean saunas
before and are very well-behaved children. I would *not* recommend this place
with children, unless you are Korean, as we had the only bad sauna experience
we've ever had here. It started when we came in, the attendant in the locker
room pointed to a sign (in English) that said this was an "Oriental
bath", and no clothes were worn. I assured her (in Korean) that we already
knew and had visited many spas before. She looked dubious and, frankly, grouchy
as hell. We went into the baths, and showered, and there was a sign to put up
our hair (in Korean), so we all did so before getting in the baths. The girls
spent most of their time in the warm bath in the corner, playing and floating
together. There were a number of Korean children in this bath, including 2
little girls with long, long hair not put up at all. One of my daughters’ hair
started to fall out of the bun it was in, into a pony tail, and the locker room
attendant came in and yelled at us! All while the little girls with
waist-length hair were playing right there next to her, in the same tub. Then
later my girls and their 2 friends were playing with the white plastic buckets,
floating them in the warm pool back and forth. Right next to them, Korean
children had the same white buckets and were filling them and dumping them over
the side (my girls were doing this too at first but I made them stop as it
wastes water). Locker lady comes storming in again, takes their buckets away, and
says nothing to the Korean children running past her, hair flying, with buckets
of water. At that point, I was done- we had been there maybe 2 hours and the
locker attendant spent most of that time peering in the doors at us, standing
next to whatever tub we were in staring at us, it was very unpleasant. I don't
know if she's had bad experiences with foreigners before or what, but it really
soured me on this place.
To get here: From Sokcho intercity bus terminal, you could just take a taxi. If you say Seokcho Oncheon, it will be around 5,000 won, about 6 km/15 min.
By city bus is a little trickier from the bus terminal - it's best if you are on the north side of Sokcho, near City Hall. The link below for Korea wikia on this area states that you can take bus 3 or 3-1 from Sokcho. I found info on both #3 and 3-1, which pass by the Sokcho Ferry Terminal/East Sea port, City Hall, and Dongwoo University on their way to the Cheoksan Hot Springs.
강원 속초시 노학동
Gangwon-do, Sokcho-si, Nohak-dong
033-636-4222
Open 5:30 am ~ 9:00 pm *NOT 24 hours!
Wikimapia of Cheoksan Hot Springs* Very few details are available for this listing yet, and the satellite image is a terrible, cloudy one so far. Let's hope a new one will be available sometime soon!
Ulleungdo is a lovely, green, mountainy island that even Koreans rarely visit. It has some of the clearest, blue-green scubarific waters to be found in the ROK. Sadly, while I was there it was typhoon-pouring and a little chilly for snorkeling. In addition, my ship back to the sunny peninsula was cancelled so I had to stay another wet day. In order to brave the wind and rain - and clean up after a muddy, soaky hike over a ridge - I spent an afternoon in this little village sauna.
There are some decent showers and a bunch of nice baths. There are medicinal waters which spring naturally in this area, sea water baths, and the typical hot and cool. I wasn't able to find any specific information about this hot spring, but I know it contains a high amount of minerals, probably copper or iron, due to the serious orange patches it leaves wherever it springs out of the ground. Also, there is a small "jjimjilbang" room inside of the wet sauna area so if you dry off a bit you can relax in a less watery spot. It is definitely a run-down little place, not the most spotless sauna I've been to, but it's part of the Ulleung-do experience if you're a dedicated sauna-ist like me.
To find this place, look around the port area of Dodong for any of the several small signs pointing to 해수온천 (Haesu Oncheon). If you fail to find any of them while you're there or don't read Korean so well, start from the port. There are three main streets that parallel each other up the hill - take the one on the far right (north-most) passing by Family Mart. In a couple of minutes you'll pass the Hanil Motel (한일모텔) and Hanil restaurant, you'll see one of those little square signs pointing to the right, into a teensy narrow alley. Walk, walk, walk to the set of stairs and you'll find the sauna on your left.
경북 울릉군 울릉읍 도동리
43-12
Gyeongsanbuk-do, Ulleung-gun, Ulleung-eop, Dodong-ri 43-12
054-791-5533
Not open 24 hours, this sauna closes around 9 pm.
Suanbo is a large tourist spot in North Chungcheong province known for it's hot spring bathing and skiing. There are many hotels and activities in this area, and it's restaurants specialize in rabbit, duck, and pheasant meals. This is a beautiful place to be during the cherry blossom season in springtime or of course in fall or winter when you're looking for a nice outdoor warm-up. With fall coming soon, I thought I'd introduce you to the Suanbo Hot Spring area.
In fact, I'm just in time to tell you about the annual Hot Spring Festival! It's held each year in the fall, while the weather is perfect for both enjoying time outdoors and warming up in the evening in a nice hot bath.
The only problem is that Suanbo is a bit tricky to get to if you aren't driving. It's not near any of the rail lines I would say the best way to get here would be to reach Daejeon (from the west/south-west), Jochiwon (from the north), or even Andong (from the south-east) by train, then get a bus to Suanbo. This is because I'm just not sure how often a more direct bus route may be available from many parts of the country. If you're coming from Gyeonggi Province or near Seoul, it's possible there is a bus directly to Suanbo.
I'll be visiting this spa area for the first time during the Hot Spring Festival. Hope to see you there!
Cheonan-Asan is a large twin city area found just south of Seoul in Chungcheonnam-do. There are many ways to get here, depending on where you're coming from. It can be reached by KTX, and the subway line makes travel easier between the cities. There are also local rail lines which stop directly in Cheonan and Onyang Oncheon station to make your travel more direct. (Thanks to the commenter below, Helen, for supplying more info.^^)
The Onyang Oncheon is known as one of the oldest and hottest (57 degrees C!) natural springs in Korea. The sauna in Onyang Tourist Hotel (온양관광호텔- they call themselves "Onyang Hot Spring Hotel") is well-known in the area of Onyang in Asan.
This is the place to go to soak, scrub, and slow down for only 6,000 - 7,000 won. It has a lovely feel to it, with a lot of sun shining in from the windows and outdoor bathing area. Some showers are a bit fussy with temperature, but there are plenty to choose from if you happen to be at a cold one. In the main bathing area, you'll find 4 baths: a large cold tub, a pretty hot crescent-shaped tub, the event tub, and a hot-spring fed bath. The event tub was filled with an Ecto-cooler green water (which I later found out was due to the herb, artemisia a.k.a. mugwort.) and smelled amazing!
The real gem, where I spent most of my time, is the outdoor bath. The area is enclosed by rock and feels more like a lagoon, complete with fake flowers flowing down the walls. In addition, there is a hot, dry sauna room (bulgama) located outdoors as well but beware: they are serious about DRY. Bring your towel and prepare to pat down before you sweat it out in here!
Info below courtesy of guest reviewer Cami.
This sauna is located in the basement of the hotel, and easy to
find, it is probably the most famous of the Asan/Onyang hot springs,
certainly the oldest. Admission is is 6000 w. It is smaller than Asan
Spavis or Asan Hot Springs, more of a traditional hot springs and it got
pretty crowded. The locker room has a few large lockers, you can ask
for one of them if you have a lot of stuff. There are
also massage chairs in the locker room. In the back of the locker room
is a massage area where they offer different treatments, this was closed
when I went because it was evening.
Inside
the sauna is a warm tub, a hot tub (which was actually too hot), an
event pool of mugwort and a large cold pool. There is a skin scrubbing
room also and a wet and dry sauna. Outside is a rocky outdoor pool,
which is warm, and the best thing is the waterfalls on the side. I
didn't notice them until another lady turned them on, but they feel
fabulous! Also outside is a small bulgama, but it wasn't very hot.
This
place is supposed to have the best water, and I must say, it does! The
facilities are not as nice as some newer spas, but that water is
great!
Onyang Hot Spring (Tourist) Hotel
충남 아산시 온천1동 242
Chungnam-do, Asan-si, Oncheon 1-dong 242
Open 24/7
Said to be the largest hot spring spa in Asia, Hurshimchung can accommodate up to 3000 guests. It's located just up the street from Oncheon-jang subway stop on line 1. The hotel also houses a brauhaus, several restaurants, a wedding hall and a night club. At the sauna's reception desk, you'll be given a key and instructed to pay upon leaving. You can use this key to secure your shoes, open your locker, and pay for anything in the spa. Towels and jjimjilbang clothes are available inside the locker room, then you can head to the sauna.
Facilities there include hot, lukewarm, and cool baths, dry sauna rooms, fountains, showers, a half-bath with tables, and massage and exfoliation services. There's an open-air section with a couple baths and another shower area. The alkali spring water emerges at 45°C to 56°C and has the highest concentration of magnesium in Korea. Forty different bath types are available during different seasons, including cherry, pepper, champagne, lavender, or citrus water. All baths use natural ingredients such as salts and medicinal herbs. There's even a large cave-type bathing area with several tubs of different temperatures. This large, open sauna is a wonderful place to relax.
From the locker room you'll find the entrance to the jjimjilbang area where you can enjoy laying on a heated floor and watching TV in the main room, relaxing in one of the smaller rooms, enjoying doctor fish foot treatment, or eating carefully prepared traditional Korean foods at the snack corner or restaurant. The yellow ocher, jewelry, and charcoal rooms are all quite hot, but dry feeling. The segregated sleeping rooms, found at the ends of the two halls, are dark and quiet, and a comfortable resting temperature. There is room called the Aroma Room where you can lay below peaceful, if plastic, green bamboo and treat your lungs to highly oxygenated air. Another small room is the igloo-shaped ice room; this is usually one of my favorite places to hang out. Unfortunately, the ice room was closed due to H1N1 (swine flu) concerns this fall. For an additional cost, you can indulge in mug-wort cauterizing therapy with moxa (moxibustion), which stimulates circulation and improves qi.
In my opinion, Hurshimchung's strength is clearly the sauna. The jjimjilbang itself is cozy and I kept feeling like there should be more space. (Where do those 3,000 people hang out?) On the other hand, the sauna is spacious, appropriately lit, and has many different areas to explore. Almost the opposite of other spas I've visited, I found the sauna offered greater variety than the jjimjilbang. So, if you enjoy bathing in spas or want to check out a Korean sauna for the first time, Hurshimchung is sure to provide you with a great experience.
HOURS:
5:30 am until 10 pm everyday.
RATES:
7,900 won for adults
5,000 for students aged 8-18
3,000 for kids aged 1-7
Unfortunately for them, Spa Land has no English website. Unimaginable, I know. I mean, after all Shinsegae is one of the world's largest department stores. Whatever guys, don't worry about it...
Actually that's one of the few complaints I had about this place. 5 to be exact; shall we get them out of the way, in a classic bad-news-first way?
1. The aforementioned lack of a comprehensive English website.
2. Not enough showers. Maybe 30 sit-down and only 12 standing ones. Even on a Thursday evening, there was a short queue at times to rinse off.
3. Sauna is well-lit... A little too well. It's like a doctor's exam room in there! Though I've heard this varies- some have had a similar experience, and I have friends who go often and report sometimes it's your normal dimly-lit bath area.
4. A couple of times while in the jjimjilbang rooms, I heard water rushing through pipes somewhere. Not so relaxing.
5. Minor, but there's nowhere in the jjimjilbang to fill up a water bottle. Get yours filled in the sauna.
OK, there. The band-aid's off. Now for the good stuff. This place is (as expected) gorgeous. What I didn't expect was for it to be so different from any other jjimjilbang I'd been to. Instead of being just an up-scale version of a nice jjimjilbang, this is like stepping into a 5-star, ultra-modern hotel. Cool, flat stone; glass partitions; restrained decorative appearance; and plentiful meditation areas distinguish both the sauna and jjimjilbang from others I've reviewed. An open floor plan and high glass ceilings also lend themselves to the modern aesthetic.
At first, you'll notice the grand lobby welcoming you to buy a ticket. It will cost you 12,000 won for a visit on a weekday, 14,000 on Saturday or Sunday (4 hour limit). You may notice the lack of screaming, running rugrats. The first real advantage of this spa: no children under 13 are allowed in. This most certainly improves the overall peace. As a side note, there's no sauna-only ticket option, so everyone gets 3 extra fluffy towels and a set of clothes. The locker room isn't really much different from another nice sauna's locker room. The lockers are full-size, and have shelves and a jewelry rack inside.
In the bathing area you'll start to notice the stark beauty and opulence of the place: lots of small baths, each of a different temperature. In the center of the room are the naturally-fed hot springs. One is sodium chloride (salt, benefiting the muscles and joints, as well as other body systems), the second is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, said to "improve beauty of the skin"). Both have the added benefit of reducing the amount of water absorbed by the skin due to higher concentrations of salts in the water, so you don't prune up! Now that's nice-uh!
There are also a massaging tub (around 38* with varied positions and a cave), a cool tub (~25*), a cold tub (18*), 2 dry sauna rooms, and an outdoor spa (women's sauna only). Outdoors are two more naturally fed pools. They are pretty hot - welcome this time of year, though. The outdoor area is covered by a slatted wood dome to maintain privacy. Hint 1: Next to the entrance from the locker room, they provide soaps and natural sea salt to scrub or soak your skin with, and all showers are stocked with shampoo and body wash.
Hint 2: You can pay for anything in the jjimjilbang with your locker key, so don't bother bringing any money up. Once you venture down the hall towards the jjimjilbang you'll be transported to the hotel I was talking about before. Let me just list the rooms available to you here, with some description.
Charcoal Room -참숯방
Ice Room - 아이스방 / 어름방
Yellow Ocher Room - Hwang-to / 황토방. Hot, but comfortably dry.
Hammam Room - 하맘룸, meant to replicate a Turkish-style bath sauna.
Bali Room - 발리룸, an open area with soft floor-mattresses where you can congregate with your friends and loved ones and talk freely.
Pyramid room - angled walls for a relaxing mood, or something.
Roman Room - 로만룸, replicates the feeling of a traditional Roman sauna room. Warm and very humid, like Korean summers. Stand over the steamer in the center with your towel over your head for max effect.
Body Sound Room -raised platforms which vibrate with the bass in the calming background music. Bonus fake bamboo along the walls. Wave Dream Room - places to lay along the sides, and from the middle lights are reflected through water waves for a meditative, colourful view on the ceiling.
SEV Room - therapeutic ions emitted into semi-private, wooden 2-seater benches lit by dim coloured lights.
Relax Room - an amazing 3-tiered arc-shaped space with reclining leather chairs together by two's, each one equipped with it's own mini TV!
Outdoor foot spa - In the chilly months, don one of the quilted jackets at the entrance to this patio with various temperatures of walking- and soaking-foot-tubs with seats for small or large groups, singles, or couples.
Massage & Therapy, nail shop, cafe & beverages, restaurant, DVD, PC, business rooms.
Turkish Hammam Room - smells A-mazing in here
Yeah, that's all. Ha! I only got lost a couple of times. The restaurant is opulent and offers some great cuisine other jjimjilbang don't (udon with fried Japanese things, bulgogi stew, even the simple Korean foods are high-quality) the therapy room looks top-notch, and the DVD theatre is also fitted with reclining chairs. Premium. I highly recommend this place for a special treat - best enjoyed with friends, guests, or in a couple. Off you go!
Below: Resting areas in the connecting hall Relax room's individual TV chairs
Lounging beds in Bali Room Steamy Roman Room
Shinsegae Spa Land - right outside the Centum City subway stop on line 2, exit 12.
신세계백화점
부산광역시 해운대구 우1동 1495 센텀시티, 1-3층
Busan, Haeundae Gu, Woo 1-dong, 1495 Centum City, 1st-3rd floor 6:00 - 24:00**Not open 24 hours - closes at midnight - cannot sleep overnight here!**
RATES
Basic: weekday - 12,000 / weekend* - 14,000
Early Bird (before 8AM): weekday - 7,000 / weekend* - 9,000
Night Owl: after 8PM Sun-Thurs -7,000 / after 10PM Fri, Sat - 9,000
* means Sat, Sun, & holidays
