Amenities: 2/5
Cruisiness: 3/5
Price: $15
Pros: Only 15 bucks, easy parking, quiet
Cons: Kinda rude staff, stingy with the towels, cheap decor, three-hour limit
Sorry for the hiatus. I just haven't visited spas much lately, and when I do, I'm often more interested in going to ones that I know I like, rather than going to ones only to review. So anyway, I had some business to do in the area this afternoon, so I decided to stop at a spa. I was going to head to another one, but decided, nah, I need to come up with new material for the blog. So here we are.
Lions Spa isn't really in Koreatown; it's actually more like Mid-City area... I don't really consider anything west of Crenshaw to be Koreatown. The place is rather ugly and rundown-looking from the outside, but they have a parking lot in the back.
When I got there, there wasn't anyone at the front desk... I guess she was in the bathroom or something. I waited a couple of minutes and she finally came out. I gave her my $15 and pretty much the only thing she said to me was telling me of the 3-hour limit. Seemed kind of rude to me. I mean, I know Century has a time limit policy (at least it's on their signs) but I've often exceeded it and nobody's ever said anything to me about it. She handed me a robe and a couple of threadbare towels. Not that I really expect fancy towels in these places.
The locker key is on a bracelet. Unlike many of the spas I've reviewed, where there's an electronic key, this bracelet has a metal key and a separate number charm to tell you your locker number. Which results in you sounding like freakin' jingle bells when you're walking around the place (especially if you're wearing the key on your leg). The locker doors are a light-colored wood that is not only a bit worn, but there's really nothing to grab onto, making opening the locker doors kind of annoying.
The sauna area has just the basics (sauna, steam, hot whirlpool and cold pool), plus another "cool pool"... more like a heated swimming pool temperature. I actually really like this pool; it's a great temperature to cool yourself off without freezing your balls off. The hot whirlpool was a nice temperature too.
The sauna was a fairly comfortable temperature (for a sauna)... I liked it, although I'm sure a lot of people would complain that it's not hot enough. The steam room was also fine, temperature wise. It was a little uncomfortably hot when the steam was actually going, but not too bad. In fact, my biggest complaint is the sound of the steam itself... it's LOUD. Seriously, when the steam shut off, my ears were ringing slightly.
Upstairs, there's a relaxation room (with like 20 recliners) and an "Onyx Room" with floor mats on a slightly heated floor. There's no restaurant or Jim Jil Bang; it's men only.
I've heard people describe this place as dirty or dingy... I don't really agree that it's dirty, but I can sort of see where they're coming from. Instead of stone tile finishes like we see at other spas, Lions Spa's walls are tiled with cheap ceramic tiles (with printed-on faux-textures) that they probably got on sale at Home Depot. So the place just feels kind of down-and-out.
Another reason why this place feels so down and out is the clientele. I just got this creepy vibe from the place and the people. There was hardly anyone there... probably less than 10 guys total. Almost immediately after arriving in the spa, I sat down in the sauna and this guy (who I was not at all attracted to) immediately introduced himself and complemented my dick. Like, seriously? Can't he at least establish that I'm NOT INTERESTED before sexually harassing me?
There was one guy who was kind of attractive, and we did establish mutual interest. We ended up going upstairs to the Onyx Room... didn't do much there, just started stroking it a bit. But we kept getting interrupted by this middle-aged guy... it's pretty easy to hear people coming in, so we'd cover up when he came in. But he'd come in, stand right in front of us, cock out and hard, and stare at us for a minute or so. The two of us would do everything we could to ignore the creep (and we weren't doing anything sexual when he was there), but he just wouldn't get the message that we WEREN'T INTERESTED. Then he'd leave for a couple of minutes, and then come back and STARE at us again. It was seriously creepy and pathetic.
So, ugh. Maybe some guys are into that, but I say just leave Lions Spa to the creepy guys.
Lions Spa
4551 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019