Korean spas and jjimjilbang: how they work
A jjimjilbang is a Korean bathhouse and sauna, open late or all night, where families, couples and office workers spend an evening soaking, sweating, eating and sleeping on the floor. It is one of the most Korean things you can do, it costs less than a cinema ticket, and it is much less intimidating once you know the order of things.
The two halves
- The bathing floors are separated by sex and fully nude: hot and cold pools, showers, steam rooms. No swimsuits.
- The jjimjil hall is shared and clothed, in the loose T-shirt and shorts they give you at the door: dry saunas at different temperatures, an ice room, a snack bar and floor space to lie down.
- You can do only one half. Plenty of visitors skip the baths and just use the saunas and hall.
What happens, in order
- Pay at the desk. You get a key on a wristband, towels and the uniform. The key also runs a tab for anything you buy inside, paid on the way out.
- Shoes first. Put them in the small locker by the entrance; the wristband key opens it.
- Changing room. In your own sex’s area, undress completely and lock your things in the main locker.
- Shower before the pools, properly, with soap, at the rows of seated showers. This is the one rule everyone notices.
- Soak and steam as long as you like. Tie up long hair and keep the small towel out of the water.
- Put on the uniform and go up to the shared hall for the saunas, a meal and a rest.
Inside the jjimjil hall
- The kiln saunas are domed rooms lined with clay, jade, salt or charcoal, at different heats. Sit on a mat and stay only a few minutes in the hottest.
- Sikhye and baked eggs are the ritual snack: sweet cold rice drink and eggs roasted brown in the kiln. Most halls also serve ramen, noodles and bingsu.
- The towel hat rolled into two “sheep’s ears” is from a popular drama. You will see it everywhere.
- Staying the night is allowed at 24-hour places, with a surcharge after late evening. You sleep on mats in the shared hall, with separate quiet rooms at the better spas. It is the cheapest bed in the city, but not a private one.
The scrub
On the bathing floor you can pay for a seshin, the full-body exfoliating scrub done by an attendant with rough mitts, typically ₩20,000–35,000 and booked at the counter inside the bath area. Soak for twenty minutes first. It is thorough, a little brutal, and you will feel remarkably clean afterwards.
Where to go
| Spa Land, Centum City | Inside the Shinsegae department store in Haeundae, and the most polished big spa in the country: natural hot-spring water, a long row of themed sauna rooms and an outdoor foot bath. The best first jjimjilbang there is. |
|---|---|
| Paradise City Cimer | A design-led resort spa beside Incheon Airport with an indoor-outdoor pool. The place to spend a long layover or the last evening before an early flight. |
| Aquafield | In the Starfield mall north-west of Seoul, with an infinity pool and a large jjimjil hall. Swimsuits are worn in the pool area, which makes it easy for mixed groups. |
| Central Seoul | Neighbourhood jjimjilbang are everywhere. Dragon Hill Spa by Yongsan Station is the classic big one with foreigners used to it; Park Habio in Songpa has a water park and spa together; Spa Lei in Gangnam is a smart women-only spa. |
Etiquette and practical notes
- Prices: roughly ₩12,000–20,000 for a neighbourhood jjimjilbang in Seoul, more for overnight; ₩25,000 upward at the big resort spas.
- Tattoos are usually tolerated, but some spas refuse large or visible ones. The resort spas are the safest bet.
- No phones or photos on the bathing floors.
- Keep your voice down in the sleeping areas, and do not lie down in the walkways.
- Hot-spring towns such as Onyang, Suanbo and Bugok have older, simpler spas fed by natural springs, and make an easy winter day trip.
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