I’m discovering the Korean people love to be hot.  Setting the temperature in our hotel room lower than 80 * Fahrenheit is nearly impossible.  The toilet seat is heated and so are seats in the car. And they love their hot baths and saunas.  And now I do too. Let’s talk about Korean Spa – Some Like it Hot.

(This post was updated in August 2026)

I was a little apprehensive about going into the sauna the first time.  I’m not used to walking around naked with people I don’t know. This apparently is not a problem for the Koreans.  And frankly why it is for Americans I’m not sure.  We do obsess a great deal about our bodies.  God knows mine is far from perfect.  But what is perfect anyway?  Wouldn’t it be great if we all just were satisfied with ourselves?

Some Like it Hot

I tried to think like this in the sauna.  No one paid any attention to me here.  First shower, then choose between three different pools; hot (44 C), medium (41 C) and cool (21 C).  There is also a 95 C dry sauna, a 73 C wet sauna and a sun lamp room. As well as several stations to wash and scrub yourself.

After two days of visiting the spa I decided to tackle the massage and body scrub.  I was met by a tiny little lady, the only person in the spa wearing a bathing suit (or perhaps it was her underwear). She motioned me into the small room adjacent to the spa and encouraged me to get up on the table.  She spoke only Korean except for the word “okay” which she used to show me I was following her instructions correctly.

Every Crease and Crevice

She then proceeded to scrub the hell out of my skin.  Using what I think was mitts on her hands she scrubbed and scrubbed.  With my eyes closed I had the image of me in my kitchen at home using my Brillo to scrub away baked-on macaroni and cheese. She scrubbed every nook, cranny, crevice and crease of my body, and I mean every crease and crevice – she was very thorough and diligent in her task.  For an hour she scrubbed away years of dead skin, old suntans and crud.  She even tried to scrub away a few scars. I have a permanent mark on my sternum where my running bra abrades me.  She did her best to scrub that sucker away.

I wear a patch on my belly that is hormone replacement therapy.  I hadn’t even thought about the patch, but she scrubbed that away too.  I have no idea if she knew what it was. I felt it rip off and I laid there mentally calculating how many more I had in my suitcase. Just hoping the loss of one wouldn’t make me come up short before I headed home to my pharmacist.

She scrubbed my armpits and I was wishing I had shaved that morning.  She scrubbed my breasts and I opened my eyes to peek and make sure my nipples were still there.  She scrubbed my neck, my ears and every toe and finger.

She then soaped me up and I nearly shot right off the plastic covered bed like an oiled pig for being so slippery. She tossed large tubs of hot water all over me and I nearly drowned.  And I loved every minute of it.

Okay Okay

“Okay, Okay” she said and sent me off to shower. I soaked in the pools while she cleaned the room and prepared for my massage.

I returned and she was waiting for me and I laid down again, top up.  She rubbed me down, starting with my face with an oil that smelled of the sea, fresh but also of seaweed.  She used another implement that was wood and covered with nodules to rub my body head to toe.  She occasionally would throw a bucket of hot water on me and then begin again.  

She covered my face with a hot towel and then I heard her scraping something.  It sounded like my kitchen grater…and then the unmistakable smell of fresh cucumber.  She grated and grated and then proceeded to artistically cover my entire face with the freshly grated cucumber mash.  And suddenly I was hungry and my stomach growled.

While lunch sat on my face she continued my massage.  She found the knot in my neck where my massage therapist at home has spent a lot of time and energy.  Hell-bent on undoing this knot and she worked and worked it.  It was both painful and pleasurable.  She even massaged my belly, almost as if she was trying to manipulate my liver and kidneys.  Oops, and my bladder.  I hoped she would avoid that area or else I wasn’t gonna make it through this torture without a potty break.

Finally she removed the salad from my face and lightly washed and dried my face. Now it was time for dessert.  Yes I said dessert.  She drizzled honey all over my face and rubbed and patted it into my skin. “Okay okay” and had me roll over to my belly.

Not Done Yet!

And then she started on my backside.  During this 30 minutes she made my sciatica feel fabulous and my lower back feel young again.  She used a pumice stone on my feet. She scraped away the dead skin and calluses.  She kneaded my neck further and worked my shoulders and arms.

“Okay okay” and I rolled over again, thinking we must be done, but no.  She washed my face again. Then had me scoot all the way to the top of the table where she proceeded to wash my hair and scrub my scalp.  Really, when has your massage therapist ever done this?

Finally, after nearly three hours, “Okay okay” and I am done.  Off to the showers I was sent.

My day at the Korean spa was not just a body scrub and massage, it was a facial and a hair care and pure ecstasy.  My inhibitions are gone forever. I am now a super fan of Korean Spa Life.  I will absolutely do this again.

And by the way, three hours and all this only cost me $75.  Wow. I’m really starting to enjoy Korea.

All photos in this blog post from Canva.

Thank you for reading my post Korean Spa – Some Like it Hot. See last week’s post Time to Plan New England for the Fall.

We love it when you share our blog.