Stephanie C.
Yelp
It has the bare minimum required to call itself a Korean spa, but it sadly is the only one in the Seattle area. Olympus Spa does the job, but if there was just one other competitor I doubt it would get as much business. As an avid Korean-spa goer, here's my two cents:
Women only. Never heard of one that doesn't allow men. Typically, korean spas are meant for families, and clearly this was not meant for that. The majority of the clientel are older, white women.
It-does-the-job rooms. There's 8(?) rooms, but most of them hit the bare minimum. Clay room but no clay; Salt room with no salt. The walls are covered in these themes but you don't get to actually touch or walk among them. The hottest room is only 150 degrees, and I've been baked at 210 before, so this is very weak to me. I've been in chill rooms where your fingers could get stuck to the wall or there was enough ice on the walls you could build a mini-snowman. The chill room here is just 60 degrees AC with two chairs and a bench, and, my home is colder than that. There's at least two rooms just dedicated to reading alone.
4 Pools, all about the same temperature. 97 vs 107 degrees is not going to feel much of a difference. Bottom line, the coldest needs to be much coldest and the hottest needs to be much hotter.
The culture is different:
-Robes instead of tops and shorts. You need to wear the cap they give you at all times.
-They take your car key...?
-No one uses the sitting shower.
-Most people are reading.
-Expected silence in the common room.
I'm all for these things but these don't happen in actual Korean spas. It is very common in spas across Seattle, because they're day spas mostly targeting non-working women, but not in authentic Korean spas you'd find anywhere else.
Things they do well:
-Tea room is a nice add. It's cool they have a restuarant.
They keep the shoes off and full nudity culture.
-Staff service and friendliness is A++. I really don't see how anyone could complain about them - the phones are always off the hook, people coming in and out at all times, they are freggin reslient!
Always busy - To my surprise, it's very packed even on the weekdays early morning, and it only got worse by noon. Not only will it be extremely busy at the spa, good luck trying to find parking!
Price - 50% off for birthday is worth it, but $48 regular entree is... steep. For relaxing? Hard to when there's so many people.
Even though Olympus Spa is only a fraction of what it should be, I would still recommend this place.