Best Korean Day Spas In Los Angeles

Jjimjilbangs are an essential part of Korean culture. These public bathhouses are where people of all ages come to soak, relax and partake in the traditional body scrub for healing and rejuvenating. Korean day spas create an ambiance immersed in quite time featuring whispering and no cell phone policies. Guests visit for a variety of reasons -- to exfoliate dead skin off, to relieve tension, and to improve circulation by increasing blood flow to the skin's surface. Some visit these spa weekly or monthly. Here is the shortlist of where to go.

Beverly Hot Springs Day Spa
308 N. Oxford Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 734-7000
www.beverlyhotsprings.com

Year round, guests visit Beverly Hot Springs Day Spa to indulge in traditional Korean body scrubbing, massaging and to soak in its natural hot springs pool. To get the full experience, make sure to book a body care treatment, which begins with an exhilarating scrub using the spa's signature seaweed soap that exfoliates and cleans your skin, followed by a soothing full body massage of milk and oil. While you are being rubbed down, your face is layered with a fresh cucumber mask. All of this leaves your skin satiny and smooth like you've never been before. One of the best add-on services is a hair and scalp massage, which is beyond blissful. Containing sodium bicarbonate along with other nurturing minerals, the water lies 2,200 beneath the ground in a well which was created in the early 1900s. These mineral salts are known to be soothing to folks who suffer from arthritis, high blood pressure, and stomach ailments. The water is so calming, your skin feels smoother, your muscles completely relax and your circulation will be invigorated.

Natura Spa
3240 Wilshire Blvd., Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(213) 381-2288
www.natura-spa.com

Koreatown, which is home to a diverse population in L.A., was established in the 1960s as Korean immigrants settled in this area. Today, the area is a bustling and hip neighborhood while still honoring the rituals of Korean culture. Located in the heart of K-Town, Natura Spa invites guests to indulge in the time-honored Korean bathhouse services. Natura's body scrub is nitty gritty and more than just having your knees or elbows scrubbed. Every nook and cranny will be exfoliated giving your skin the chance to rid dead skin layers, lower cortisol levels in your body, and increases circulation. After a scrub, a massage and a soak, you will leave with clean, soft and improved skin. Guests prefer Natura Spa for its easy parking, mini cucumber facials, personal shampoo service (it feels so good), hot and cold pools and clay warm rooms.

Olympic Spa
3915 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 857-0666
www.olympicspala.com

All you need is a few hours at Olympic Spa to replenish and revive your overall wellness. This women's only day spa is rooted in Korean custom. Offering all natural therapies and body treatments including its hallmark spa facilities, guests are invited to unwind in the jade steam sauna, soak in a hot mugwort tea pool (mugwort is an aromatic plant native in Asia), and sweat it out in its Binchō-tan therapy room, where heat and minerals help your body detox. What to book? The Goddess treatment (using Darphin products), Milk (body scrub) and Honey (oil massage) Body Smoothie or opt for a spa sampler, which includes a soak in one of the many tubs. Olympic also has a lovely spa cafe which serves healthy Korean dishes and fresh juices.

Related: Best Korean Restaurants In Los Angeles

Tikkun Holistic Spa
1460 4th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 319-1111
www.tikkunspa.com

Designed as a healing and wellness sanctuary, Tikkun Holistic Spa offers relaxing treatments based on traditional Korean bathhouses. Experienced body therapists take care of you from head to toe to restore mind and body. A visit to Tikkun is not a true experience without the spa's traditional Korean body scrub. Your body will feel baby soft after the scrubbing mitts do their job to exfoliate and remove layers of dead skin and toxins (those with sensitive skin may want to skip this service). The Tikkun body treatment, which includes a scrub, takes the time-honored regimine one step further. Your body will receive a hot oil massage and a soothing milky rinse. Tikkun also offers V steam therapy utilizing mugwort, which has been used in Korea for centuries. California certified healers and acupuncturists, Doctors of Eastern Medicine and Oriental Medicine, Doctors of Sports Medicine, Reiki masters are among the Tikkun staff who see clients regularly.

Wi Spa
2700 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 487-2700
www.wispausa.com

Wi Spa is the perfect day spa if you have little time in your schedule or can spend the whole day at the spa. Although it is located in the heart of Los Angeles, you'll actually feel like you are in a modern bathhouse in Korea. And, if you can't get a babysitter to watch the kids, bring them with you. Yes, Wi Spa is a family friendly environment - there are several floors (one on the rooftop, too) including one just for families. Now, if you are having adult time, make certain to tour your body throughout the several sauna rooms from the bulgama (intensive 231-degrees thermotherapy), salt (thousand-year-old minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium and selenium), jade (made of jade walls, sodium and minerals), clay imported from Korea, and the ice sauna room to be visited upon your departure. The menu of services has something for everyone: Korean buff (aka scrub), massage, wraps, nail care including gels, facials and hair styling services. There is also a workout room complete with cardio and weight equipment for visitors.

By Sheryl Craig