New Years Day Recovery at Century Spa!

UPDATE: I'm here. Key #63.

Hey guys... I'm sure you'll all be partying on New Year's Eve, but why don't we have a meet up for New Years Day at Century Spa? Sweat out all the booze you drank the night before, or otherwise just relax one last time before having to go back to work on Wednesday.

I'll probably get there sometime around 12:00pm or 1:00pm. (Or later, if I don't wake up early enough! Haha) As always, I wear a black digital watch, and I'll wear my locker key on my left ankle. I'll try to post my locker key number here when I arrive.

Please post if you think you'll be there. And if you see me there, please say hi!

[CLOSED] Official Spa Buddy Posting Open Thread

NOTE: I'm locking this thread and starting a new one because there are too many comments here. Use the new one instead. It's here: http://guysspaguide.blogspot.com/2013/04/official-spa-buddy-posting-open-thread.html

Hey guys,

I decided to create this post specifically so you guys can post in the comments if you're looking for someone to go to a spa with, or meet up there, or whatever... makes it a lot easier than going through all the previous posts to see if people have posted there. So if you're planning to go and want to meet people there, you can post (or look) here instead!

A few guidelines...

(1) Post some information about yourself...physical description, age, ethnicity, interests and hobbies... I really don't care. I'm not going to force you to reveal everything about yourself, but I'm not going to drive all the way to Koreatown to hang out with someone that I know absolutely nothing about.

(2) Sign your name, nickname, user name, whatever you make up to identify yourself. It makes it a lot easier to reply  to you, as opposed to "hey, third person to reply to this comment"

(3) Be specific...

•  GOOD: "I'll be at Century Spa from 7pm-11pm tonight (Dec. 21), wearing a black digital sports watch and my key on my left ankle. And carrying a green water bottle."
•  BAD: "I'll be at Century Spa tonight. I'm the guy with a towel. Say hi!"

(4) If you want to talk to someone privately, leave some kind of contact information! It can be a blogger profile that you're logged into, an adam4adam or dudesnude profile, your email address, whatever. One idea is to post something on Craigslist... when you do that, they give you a throwaway temporary email address that forwards to your own email... it's useful if you don't want to post your email address here.

(5) Maybe make some mention of your expectations. If you're looking to jerk off (or more), say so. If you absolutely don't want to do anything sexual and just want to hang out nude with other guys, say so. Not everyone is going there for the same thing.

(6) Be respectful. Don't be racist, ageist, etc... Remember that this isn't your private home, and you can't just tell a certain class of people that they're not welcome.




These guidelines are totally voluntary, so don't feel like I'm restricting you to post something you don't want to post. I'm just trying to make it easier for everyone. This is just an experiment right now... if I don't really like the way it's going, I may delete it. I may delete it anyway and start a new thread in the future, too, if this gets too popular.

Finally, have a great holiday season. Because of family obligations, etc, I probably won't get to the spa before next weekend, so enjoy it without me!

-Guy's Spa Guide Guy

Grindr complaints.

I recently updated my profile "About" text on Grindr. I included that I was interested in nudism.

Apparently, talking about nudism is against the rules on Grindr, so they deleted my "About" text.

Then I changed it to nude beaches. And they deleted it AGAIN.

Seriously??? We're not allowed to mention nudism AT ALL??? That's so fucking ridiculous.

Black's Beach

I had a great time today relaxing nude at Black's Beach in San Diego. The day was gorgeous, and so was the eye candy!

I love being naked!

Review: Grand Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 3/5

Cruisiness: 2.5/5

Price: $15

Pros: Price is ok. Good supply of small towels. Three pools.

Cons: No privacy in the sauna. Tends to be crowded with mostly straight Asian guys. 

Yay, another review! Did you miss me?

I'd been to Grand Spa before, over a year ago, but I wanted to go and get a fresh look at it before I wrote up a review. (I had forgotten a lot about it anyway) I didn't have anything going on after work today so I swung by on my way home.

I'd forgotten from my earlier visit that the entrance is up this side staircase... for some reason, the outer hall is all done up in this ancient Egyptian motif; it's kind of odd.

Upon entering, the locker room is very small; doesn't seem like it's much bigger than a 10x10 room. And inevitably, there's someone with a locker really close to me, so we're doing the whole awkward changing-too-close-to-each-other dance. When you open your locker, there's a robe, a small towel, and a large towel. Note that this large towel is the only one you'll get. They keep a supply of small towels by the shower, however.

From the locker room, I entered a glass door into the spa area. There are showers in there (upright on the right, seated showers on the left)... the body wash is in loose bottles; they look like they were from the 99-cent store or something, and smelled way too floral for my tastes.

Once past the showers, there is a steam room on the left. I really liked the steam room; the temperature was just right for me. Hotter on the upper bench, but less so (such that you could sit in there for a while) on the lower bench. It also pleasantly smelled like cinnamon. The steam room is fairly large, and although the wall is glass, the steam is enough that you can't really see too far into the steam room.

The dry sauna is right next to the steam room. It's fine, temperature-wise, but again it has a huge glass wall that means it's not at all private. There's also a big-screen TV in there (and also facing the other direction, outside of the sauna) showing the latest in Korean television. 

Across from the sauna and steam room are the pools: a cold pool, a warm pool, and a hot salt-water pool. I've said before that I like when they give us a choice for temperatures; when there's only two pools, the hot pool tends to be TOO hot. But here, the warm pool felt great.

Back outside of the spa area, there's a TV room with a bunch of recliners, and a dark, quiet sleeping room. The sleeping room is quite private (if there's nobody else in there), but when I was in there there was a guy snoring loudly... something about Korean spa sleeping rooms, I guess; I always seem to find ones with loud snorers.

The place was fairly cruisy though. The clientele was roughly 2/3 Asian, but I could tell that a few of them were looking to play. I was in the steam room and this older Korean man was being fairly obvious about checking me out. Not my type, but I didn't really mind... I didn't let it go any further than looks though.

There was another attractive (white) guy, we fooled around a little bit in the steam room and the sleeping room, but with the amount of people there on a Thursday evening, it was difficult to get much privacy. As I was leaving, there was another Korean guy that I'm pretty sure was checking me out, too.

Anyway, Grand Spa is fine; nothing to get too excited over though.

Grand Spa
2999 West 6th Street (at Virgil)
Los Angeles, CA 90020
http://www.grandspala.com/

Mini meetup?

Thinking about heading to CJ Spa Hermosa on Thursday after work (6:00pm to whenever), if you're interested. Post something if you think you might go.

Review: CJ Spa, Hermosa Beach

Amenities: 3/5
Cruisiness: 4/5
Price: Normally $20, but they're having a $10 "Summer Special" going on through the summer!

Pros: Clean, quiet, sauna and steam room are kind of hidden and private, saunas are perfect temperature (in my opinion)

Cons: Towel stinginess, small spa area, no seated showers, doesn't really have a cold pool.



So last Friday, I was again in the South Bay so I decided to head to CJ Spa in Hermosa Beach.

This one was hard for me to give an accurate rating. On the one hand, the quality of the facility is good. The temperature of the sauna and steam room was my ideal temperature, and the whirlpool was pretty close to that too. The place is clean and everything.

However, it's SMALL. There aren't all of the standard amenities one would expect in a Korean Spa. For example, there's no cold plunge pool, only an awkward-to-use rock pool with waterfall that's scarcely a replacement. There are also no seated shower stalls, and only three regular showers. Well, four, if you count the odd one between the whirlpool and the scrub table. Like its sister spa in Northridge, they only give you one bath towel and a hand towel when you enter.

Despite all that, I actually liked this spa quite a bit. Why? Because although it wasn't very crowded while I was there (no more than 5 guys at any one time during the 4 hours I was there), pretty much every guy there was looking for action. (except for one really cute guy, sadly). The door to the steam room is frosted glass--with no other windows-- and the dry sauna only has a small window on the door. This means there is quite a bit of privacy in these rooms. Employees seemed to constantly be walking through, though, so one would have to be careful.

Side note: the male employee that was working the front desk was one of the employees always coming through. When I was in the sauna (By myself, usually), he'd stick his head in and ask if everything was all right. Not sure if he was doing this purely from a customer service standpoint, if he was checking for inappropriate conduct, or if he just wanted to see me naked. Honestly, the latter option is the one I find the least objectionable... He was actually kind of cute. :-)

Anyway, based on my Friday evening experience, I thought it might be a good place for a future meetup, if the front desk employee would stop coming through. (especially during the $10 summer promo!)

CJ Grand Spa
1601 Pacific Coast Hwy. #280
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

http://cjgrandspa.com/

Review: Riviera Spa, Torrance

Amenities: 3/5

Cruisiness: 1/5

Price: $25 (includes Jim Jil Bang)... but there's a $5-off coupon on their website

Pros: Nice clean facility, plenty of towels, not crowded

Cons: Saunas hotter than I prefer, a little pricier than comparable spas

I had only just heard about this spa last week; I guess it's fairly new. Anyway, I happened to be in the area for work, and decided to get some late afternoon spa time in, rather than face a Friday rush hour commute.

I arrived in the lobby and the staff was very friendly, and when I answered "yes" to the question "Is it your first time here", a gentleman showed me to the locker room and gave a very brief rundown of the locker room area. Separate (non-lockable) cubbies for shoes... I'd normally put my shoes in the locker (even if I removed my shoes by the cubbies), but with the guy showing me around, I felt compelled to use the non-lockable shoe cubbies. Still, I'm always paranoid that someone's going to walk off with my shoes.

The locker room is nice, with dark stained wood cabinetry. I stripped off my clothes and headed to the shower area. There are plenty of showers in there, both upright and seated showers. In fact, probably more showers than I've seen at any other Korean spa I've been to (except maybe Wi Spa)... there's a resting area with a handful of leather recliners and a muted TV set to Korean programming.

The men's spa area had three pools (hot, warm and cold)... the warm pool was plenty hot for me, actually maybe slightly hotter than I'd prefer, but not horribly so. The warm pool is also HUGE, probably the biggest I've seen at any Korean spa so far. (according to the nearby sign, the capacity was 32 people!)... one annoyance was that the spa jets were on one of those dial timers, so after 20 minutes or so the jets would turn off, and one would have to get out and turn the dial again to turn the jets back on. The spa area was tiled in mostly granite; it felt pretty upscale to me.

There was a sauna and steam room in the men's spa also; the steam room was also a little hotter than I'd like (but again, not horrible) and the dry sauna was much hotter than I like; I could only stand it for a few minutes at a time. Even though there was a rug on the floor, the floor was hot on my feet. And the benches were hot to sit upon, even with a folded towel between my ass and the bench. 

The place was practically deserted when I arrived; there was only one other guy in the entire men's spa, and he left not long after I arrived. So I had the men's spa to myself for half an hour or so. Then, probably a little before 6:00pm, a few more guys arrived, including a father with his young twin sons (maybe 7 or 8 years old)... If you're a regular reader, you know my feeling about the kids, but these guys were actually pretty well behaved. They didn't stay long either; I assume they went up to the Jim Jil Bang. Few more guys came and went, but I don't think there were more than maybe 5 or 6 guys at most in the men's spa at any one time.

That said, zero cruising action was happening here. I was the only non-Asian there, with the exception of one other guy who arrived toward the end of my visit, and most of the guys there were older and, presumably, straight. This isn't really the place to go to to find guys willing to play around. There's not really any privacy there either, except maybe in the back of the steam room. It probably gets busier on the weekends, but with the distinct lack of privacy, there's no opportunity, really. For voyeurs, though, while there's unlimited towels, they're too small for people to wrap around their waists, so everyone is stark naked.

While I was there, I visited the Jim Jil Bang. It was fine; there were three heated saunas and one cold sauna. There's a restaurant there also which smelled really good. I hate having to wear clothes in the Jim Jil Bang area though... they just feel annoying to sweat in the saunas. So I didn't really stick around for very long. The elevator between the men's locker room and the Jim Jil Bang was making odd noises too, which didn't really inspire me with confidence.

All in all, a nice place for a sweat and a scrub. And nobody walked off with my shoes.

Riviera Health Spa
3601 Lomita Blvd (just east of Hawthorne)
Torrance, CA 90505

http://rivierahealthspa.com/

Century now open 24 Hours?

I was at Century Spa today and saw a sign on my way in saying that they're now open 24 hours on the weekends. (As of June 1.) I had meant to take a second look on my way out but completely forgot until after I'd left.

Seems kind of odd to have a 24-hour spa when the sleeping room is permanently closed. Grr.

Anyone been there overnight? Any reports?

And on a tangent, what do I have to do to get guys to stop wearing towels? I swear, Century is the only Korean spa where guys cover up.

Review: Lions Spa, Mid City

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

Review: Wilshire Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 3/5

Cruisiness: 3/5

Price: $15 before 10:00pm, $20 after 10:00pm

Pros: Open 24 hours, convenient to public transportation, unlimited towels, clean, lots of nudity

Cons: in a basement, so seems claustrophobic (and it's hard to find); problems keeping towels stocked, whirlpool a little too hot

Wilshire Spa is in the heart of Koreatown, but it attracts both Koreans and non-Koreans. In fact, both times I went, I'd have to say that the non-Koreans outnumbered the Koreans.

The place is a little hard to find... while the address says it's on Wilshire, the entrance is really on Mariposa Ave, and the signs say "Wilshire Health Club" or something like that, NOT "Wilshire Spa". It confused me for a bit. It's only a block away from the Wilshire/Normandie Purple Line station if you want to take the subway, or there is validated parking. (I haven't used the validated parking, so not sure how long they validate for)

The spa is male-only. (Actually, there is a separate, female spa in the same building, but they have two different entrances.) There's no Jim Jil Bang. There is what appears to be a restaurant, but it was closed both times I was there, so I'm not sure it's ever open.

Once you enter, you walk down the stairs to the large locker room and find your locker. At other spas they have recliners in a separate room for relaxing; here, the recliners are in the middle of the locker room. So that's kind of weird. There's also a separate sleeping room, though, with heated floors. The sleeping room is nice (and the cruisiest part of the spa, at least when I was there) but it is unfortunately located directly across from the restroom, so you get to hear flushing and bodily functions. 

The spa itself is fine... while the walls are tile (instead of marble or granite like one sees at other spas), it's kept clean. There's a hot tub, which was a little too hot for me to tolerate for very long. There's a cold plunge, too, which is nice and cold, but I hate the fact that it's uniformly 5-feet deep (with a ladder but no steps)... so you really have no choice but to fully plunge into the cool pool. I don't really like that because I'm a runner and I often go to these spas to soak my legs (and only my legs) in the cold pools after running, but here it's all or nothing.  There's also a rock pool with a waterfall, the pool is closer to room temperature, I think. 

In terms of saunas, there are three: a regular dry sauna, a steam room (a tad too hot, but not horribly so) and a "Yellow Ocher" room, which is basically a dry sauna but not as hot.

Another amenity that I like is that they have a urinal in the spa area, so one doesn't have to go out to the regular restroom when they want to pee. It's just a little thing, but it's much appreciated by me, and I wish more spas would do this. (I'm looking at you, Century Spa and Wi Spa)

While there are unlimited towels, they kept running out of towels the last time I was there, which was kind of annoying. The towels are small, not large enough to wrap around your waist. Which is good for the voyeurs and exhibitionists, as everyone was walking around naked.

There really isn't a whole lot of cruising going on in the spa area. I'm not sure why; there seems to be plenty of opportunity in the "Yellow Ocher" room and the steam room especially. However, the action in the sleeping room makes up for it, at least when I was there... a lot of jerking off and more was going on when I was there.

One other note: I got a massage there on one of my visits, and it was probably one of the most painful massages I've ever had. (and I've had theraputic deep-tissue massage techniques before for sports injuries that are pretty damn painful)... I was looking for something more relaxing, so I wasn't very satisfied with the massage.

Wilshire Spa

3440 Wilshire Blvd. (Entrance on Mariposa)

Los Angeles, CA 90010

http://wilshirespa.com/

Review: Wi Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 3.5/5

Cruisiness: 1/5

Price: $15 (sauna only), $25 (includes Jim Jil Bang)... but there are specials all the time.

Pros: Nice clean facility, open 24 hours, large sauna area, plenty of towels

Cons: Valet parking (I HATE valet), kids running around

Wi Spa is probably the most popular Korean spa in Los Angeles. The facility itself is huge... even the locker room is like a maze. But one of the reasons for its popularity is the huge Jim Jil Bang, which is always bustling with couples and families. 

But I'm not here to discuss the Jim Jil Bang. So, let me get down to business on the men's spa. As I said before, the locker room is huge. And so is the rest of the spa. While the men's spa area doesn't have the multitude of saunas that Century Spa has, the pools and saunas they do have are all pretty large. They have three pools (hot, warm and cold) and a dry sauna and steam room. They also have an area with a warmed floor to rest... the experience is kind of like the clay sauna at Century Spa, but it's out in the open, not in an enclosed room. 

One big plus for me is that the steam room manages to stay fairly consistent, temperature-wise. At other spas, the steam rooms generate steam until the temperature reaches unbearable levels, then the steam shuts off and the room cools to be more bearable; then the steam kicks in again. At Wi Spa, the steam room somehow manages to stay steady... the steam does kick on and off, but it never gets too hot or too cool. It's nice.  The warm pool is also a great temperature... warm enough that you couldn't sit in there all day, but not unbearably hot. (The hot pool, on the other hand, I can only stand for a few minutes)  

There's also a relaxation area and a sleeping area, both with dozens of recliners. The only difference between the two area is that the sleeping area doesn't have a TV. (The TV is muted in the relaxation area though)... both area are busy though... I was in the sleeping room last night, and there were probably a dozen guys in there, sleeping. 

However, both times I've been there, there has been zero cruising vibe. And it's not that there aren't gay guys there... my gaydar works pretty well, and I was sensing a lot of guy guys. And a lot of very attractive guys too, all naked (not nearly as much covering up as at Century Spa). It's just that (1) it seems like all the gay guys are there with buddies or boyfriends or whatever; (2) the gays are generally outnumbered by straight guys (both Korean and not); (3) there's enough of a crowd that there's no opportunity to be alone anywhere; and (4) there are kids there.

Wait, kids? Yep. The first time I went (on a weekend afternoon) there were tons of (mostly) preteen kids. I think that, in general, fathers are supposed to stay with their kids, but the kids I saw seemed to be pretty much unsupervised, to the point of being annoying occasionally. I mean, I think it's kind of cool to expose kids to nudism and make them comfortable with their own bodies. But at least make sure they behave! (e.g. swimming laps in the warm pool is unacceptable)

But all in all, it's a nice spa, and (other than the kids) perfect for those who want to visit a spa without the cruisiness.

Wi Spa

2700 Wilshire Boulevard (at Rampart)
Los Angeles, CA 90057

http://www.wispausa.com/

Century Spa today

I just got back from Century Spa... damn, there were a lot of hot naked guys there today.

Review: Crystal Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 2.5/5
Cruisiness: 1/5
Price: $30 (includes Jim Jil Bang)


Pros: Quiet, clean, Aveda products in the spa
Cons: More expensive than most other spas, only the basic spa features.


A friend of mine texted me a few weeks ago saying he had heard of a relatively new spa that was really nice, and asked if I wanted to join. So I met him there and checked out the spa... and while it was nice hanging out with my buddy, I was disappointed in the spa itself.


The men's spa only has a sauna, steam room, whirlpool and cold plunge. It's fairly small, but there were so few people there that it never felt crowded. The sauna was a little hotter than is normally my liking, but my friend likes it hot so he enjoyed it. The spa area is laid out sort of linearly; once you leave the locker room you pass the showers first, then down a hallway past the steam room, then up a short flight of stairs to the sauna and pools.  


Because you walk right past the steam room to get to anything else, and there's a large window there, there's no opportunity for playing... but the place is so dead that it's unlikely you'll meet anyone to cruise with anyway... other than me and my friend, I don't think anyone (only 3 other people when I was there) in there was gay.


The showers and sink area are equipped with Aveda products, which is nice. But it doesn't justify, in my opinion, the extra money it costs to get in. 


The spa is on the third floor of the City Center shopping mall... I had trouble finding the place when I got there; the mall doesn't do a good job of providing directories of the place. There's validated parking in the mall. 


Crystal Spa
3500 W. 6th St, Suite 321 (@ Mariposa... one block from the Wilshire/Normandie subway station)
Los Angeles, CA 90020
http://crystalspala.com/

Shoutout!

My original inspiration for starting this blog was my accidentally stumbling upon a similar blog covering the many day spas of Las Vegas. The blog is here: http://mensspaguide.blogspot.com. Worth checking out if you're headed to Vegas. And despite the similarity in URLs, I came up with mine before realizing the similarity to the Vegas blog's.... it was completely random, honest!

I like visiting a spa at least a couple of times before typing out a review, but I'm hosting an out-of-town guest for the next week, so I won't be able to visit any spas again for a few days. I do have one spa in mind that I may type up a review for (mostly because I don't intend to visit it a second time... you'll have to wait for the review to understand why!) but I might be kind of busy, so you'll have to live with what I've typed up so far.

And, is anyone reading this? I'd appreciate a comment or two!

Review: Century Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 4.5/5
Cruisiness: 5/5
Price: $20 ($25 with Jim Jil Bang)

Pros: Huge; great amenities; almost entirely gay clientele;
Cons: Stingy with towels; sleeping room is perpetually (permanently?) closed; guys tend to be overly modest and cover up with towels.

Ah, Century Spa. I've been to this one more than any other spa in LA, and for good reason. While, at $20 admission, the price is higher than some other spas, you definitely get more for your money here.

In terms of amenities, most spas have a bare minimum of a hot pool, a cold pool, a dry sauna and a steam room in the men's area. Century Spa has a cold plunge pool, a hot whirlpool (but not too hot), a hotter "tea pool", a dry sauna, a steam room, a mist sauna, a cold sauna, a clay sauna and a marble sauna. This gives you plenty of options for sweating and relaxation. The clay sauna and marble saunas are warm, but not as hot as the dry sauna or mist sauna; their purpose is more toward relaxing. You can spend half an hour or more in the clay sauna (laying down and resting is encouraged in there) without getting heatstroke. The huge whirlpool is warm enough without it being too hot to stand more than a few minutes. There is also an outdoor patio where you can sit and cool off. While there's supposedly a sleeping room upstairs, it's always been closed when I've been there. There is also a "meditation room" upstairs, which I guess can double as a sleeping room (or just sleep in the clay sauna). The meditation room has floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the pools in the men's area.

I've heard complaints from others about the sauna and steam room not being hot enough... I disagree about the steam room; when the steam is going it can get close to unbearable in there. As for the dry sauna, yeah, I guess it could be hotter. The mist sauna seems a little hotter than the dry sauna, though.

One of the dumb things, in my opinion, about the layout is that the showers are pretty much as far away from the lockers as you can get; Since you are supposed to shower FIRST THING when you get there, it'd make more sense to put them nearer to the entrance of the spa. The body scrub area is in a little dark room behind the showers. There are three tables in there. There's a curtain between the showers and the body scrub room, but if you're in there getting a scrub, you're on display for anyone else in there who's also getting a scrub. One time when I was in there getting a scrub, the guy next to me looked like he was enjoying his scrub a little too much, haha.

When you arrive, you're given a small towel and two bath-sized towels. They occasionally bring out more towels (to the cubby area next to the clay sauna where the robes and shorts are located) but when a stack is brought out, they go quickly. Possibly because of the lack of towels, guys tend to keep their towel with them all the time, and the preferred way to carry it is around their waist. So, because of that, the voyeur aspect of the place is less than most. (Don't worry, though. I always parade through with no modestly whatsoever!)

But don't get me wrong--despite the apparent modesty, there's a LOT of cruising going on here. I'm not sure why it is, but Century Spa has become the de facto gay spa in Koreatown... so much so that it's rare to see actual Koreans use the spa. I'm not sure how it came to be (I heard that Century advertised in gay magazines) but I'm not complaining. The size of the spa and the sheer number of different rooms and saunas make consensual play fairly easy here; I have never been to Century Spa and not had some kind of action. While for the most part, etiquette rules and guys don't just go to town without making sure that everyone is ok with it, it's pretty easy to establish mutual interest.

Popular places to play are... well... pretty much anywhere except the pools and the dry sauna. (The dry sauna is located right inside the entrance to the spa area, with floor-to-ceiling windows, so there is literally no privacy)... The steam room gets action in the back (away from the windows), the outdoor patio gets tons of action, the clay room gets quite a bit, the marble room gets a little, and even the meditation room gets plenty of action. I've even played around in the mist sauna before, which also has a lot of windows and doesn't really strike anyone as being particularly private.

Despite all this, I want to urge people to watch what you're doing and who you're doing it in front of. Century has a great thing going right now and I don't want it to be ruined by people who are reckless about who they cruise or show off in front of. But seriously, guys, it's a Korean spa... stop wearing your towels all the time and show off your goods!

There is a Jim Jil Bang here that recently opened, but I've never checked it out. There's also a full gym downstairs with a lap pool, which I've never used.

Century Sports Club & Day Spa
4120 W. Olympic Blvd (at Crenshaw)
Los Angeles, CA 90019
http://centurydayspa.com

Note: their website SUCKS and all of the photos were taken years ago, before an extensive remodel... the interior looks NOTHING like what's represented in the photos.

Review: East West Spa, Koreatown

Amenities: 2/5
Cruisiness: 1.5/5
Price: $10 before 10pm (I forget if it's $15 or $20 after 10pm)

Pros: Cheap; unlimited towels; open 24 hours
Cons: Small; parking is limited; small; cramped; oh, and did I mention small?

So I read a post somewhere about East West Spa, and how it was only $10. I wasn't planning on stopping at a spa that particular day, but I happened to be in the neighborhood so I decided to try it.

The place was pretty small. They managed to get two different temperatures of hot pools in there (plus the obligatory cold plunge, steam room, and sauna).  But there really isn't really a whole lot of spare space in there. The seated showers are situated in the middle of the room, with the pools and saunas and upright showers surrounding it. I mean, I'm not a modest guy AT ALL, but I think I'd feel a little self-conscious washing down in the middle of the room like that.

The pools are pretty small, one of them could probably only fit 3 guys without getting inappropriately cozy, and the other wasn't that much bigger. The sauna was a decent size, but the Korean television that you could watch from the sauna was kind of distracting. The steam room wasn't all that large, but considering I never saw more that two other people in there at any one time while I was there, it was probably fine.

Otherwise, the facility was fine, and clean enough. The tile on the floor was unusual in that there was a pattern of high tiles and low tiles, making you have to watch your step so you didn't trip or stub your toe. It was odd. The relaxation/sleeping room had recliners facing a TV (with Korean programming on)... doesn't seem relaxing to me. There may have been a darker sleeping room too, but I didn't see it.

Another thing, the parking lot is this crammed-full clusterfuck. I just parked on the street around the corner. Make sure you read the parking restrictions signs before parking (as one should do everywhere in LA)

As far as cruising, this place really isn't the place to go. When I was there (mid-afternoon on a weekday) the crowd was almost entirely Koreans. There's not a lot of places to play; glass windows and doors on the steam room and sauna make sure you have little privacy. That said, the only reason I gave it a 1.5 instead of a 1 was because when I was there, there was some (very minor) play going on in the steam room when I was there, between the only two white guys in the spa. So I guess it's possible, but it's difficult to get any amount of privacy while you're there, so I'd recommend going somewhere else if that's what you're looking for. That said, if you're just looking for the basics of a Korean spa, for $10 this place is a pretty good deal.

Also, it's men only, so no Jim Jil Bang


East West Health Center
901 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006

About this blog and its author

So, yeah, I've already posted my first review, so I guess I should explain my ratings...

The scores (out of 5 points) is completely subjective based on what I feel is important in my own experiences:

For amenities, it's a combination of a variety of indicators: Do they have anything more than 1 sauna, 1 steam room, 1 hot pool and 1 cold plunge? How is the towel service? Is the spa clean? Things I generally won't include in my score (unless they're exceptionally good or bad) are the Jim Jil Bang and associated amenities, parking and location, quality of spa treatments, etc.... the amenities rating is purely from the standpoint of someone who only uses the men's spa area.

For cruisiness, I rate based on my personal experience. If there's no action at all (or little possibility of any), it's a score of 1. Scores of 2 or 3 indicate that there is some discreet action going on, but the layout/setup/crowd isn't really conducive to widespread play. Score of 4 or 5 indicate that there is quite a bit of action.

Additionally, I'm relying on comments from people to augment my reviews. If you have personal experience that either agrees or disagrees with my reviews, feel free to let me know! I'm basing these reviews on my memory, but I've been to a lot of different spas over the past 18 months, and honestly, I'm just not sure I'm going to get the details 100% correct for a lot of them. (For example, there's one spa I went to a few months ago where I clearly remember the relaxation room... but I have no idea which spa it corresponds to!)

Finally, a little about me: I am a gay male nudist in my 30's, I live in the Los Angeles area and have been visiting various Korean spas for about a year and a half. Otherwise, I prefer to remain relatively anonymous.

Review: CJ Spa, Northridge

Amenities: 2/5
Cruisiness: 2/5
Price: $20 for spa pass (includes Jim Jil Bang)

Pros: Relatively clean; lots of nudity (because of the lack of towels); if you like 'em college age, CJ Spa apparently attracts CSUN guys.

Cons: Stingy with the towels, could use more maintenance, only the basic amenities in the men's area, everything seemed too hot.

Seeing that CJ Spa in Northridge was the first Korean spa I ever visited, as well as the most recent one I've visited, I guess it's appropriate that I review it first.

The men's area only has the "basics"... upright and sit-down showers, a sauna, a steam room, a hot whirlpool, and a cold plunge pool. The body scrub area is right next to the steam room, affording pretty much no privacy. (As an exhibitionist and a voyeur, that's not a problem for me.) There are four awkwardly-placed plastic chaise lounges around the pools.

In my opinion, the sauna, steam room, and hot pool were all too hot; it was difficult to tolerate more than a few minutes in any of them. The drinking fountain (next to the cold pool) was broken; you could get it to work, but the push-button kept falling off, which was annoying. There was a lot of condensation on the walls around the cold pool, and I noticed there was a mold problem on the ceiling in that area as a result.

There are only four lounge chairs in the wet area, and I was annoyed at the tendency of guys to use them as a place to put their towels while they were in the whirlpool or showers... seriously guys, the chairs are for people, not towels!

Upon entering, I was given a bath-sized towel and a smaller towel. There was no other supply of towels to be had anywhere in the spa area that I saw. In that situation, what one does is carry around the small towel to sit on, and leave the bath towel in your locker to use for drying off when you're ready to leave. I like that idea in theory; it's more encouragement toward nudity (other spas I'll be reviewing later have a lot of guys covering up with towels all the time). But after a few minutes in the steam room, your small towel is completely drenched. Also, it didn't help that the upper benches in the steam room were uneven JUST enough to allow water to pool on them. So I put my towel down and it was immediately saturated. I had to wring out my towel several times.

As far as cruising, it's a mixed bag. The crowd when I went seemed to be roughly 40% gay. The place is small though, with not a lot of places to mess around. Both the sauna and the steam room have large windows facing the whirlpool area. The level of steam in the steam room is JUST low enough to make people in the steam room visible to those outside, but fortunately a conveniently-placed wall pretty much hides you from most of the room unless there are people passing right in front of the window. Likewise, the sauna, while facing the whirlpool area, is in the corner of the room so that much of the sauna isn't really easily visible unless someone is standing right outside of it. But if there's any kind of straight crowd there (and there usually is) it's not really easy to cruise there... some occasional cautious play in the steam room (as long as you can stand it in there, as it's hot), but that's about it. That said, both times I've been there, some brief discreet play did occur.

I've heard other guys say they like CJ because of the number of CSUN students there, but honestly both times I've been there, there didn't seem to be much in the way of college guys. I wasn't really going there hoping to meet college guys though, so I didn't really care one way or the other.

I didn't visit the Jim Jil Bang (I rarely do at these places) so I can't really say anything about it. I'm under the impression that there are more saunas and a restaurant in there, though.

CJ Grand Health Spa
10211 Balboa Blvd., Northridge, CA 91325
http://www.cjgrandspa.com/

Korean Spas: An Introduction

I visited my first Korean spa about a year and a half ago. I had heard about them, mostly through posts in Craigslist or just word of mouth. One Sunday, I was sore from a particularly tough workout I had in the morning, and I had happened to be running errands in the Valley when it occurred to me that one of those Korean Spas was somewhere in the area, and a good steam and soak would feel good at that time. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I'm also a nudist and was hoping that what I'd heard (that everyone's nude there) was true. Still, I was a little nervous, not really knowing what to expect, or proper etiquette, etc., but my fears were unfounded and I had a nice relaxing time there.

I am not Korean, and the Korean spas seem to be a part of the Korean culture. I suspect that there is more to the spas than just "go sit in whichever sauna or pool you feel like at the moment." But that's what I do, and nobody's given me a dirty look, so I guess it's not all bad.

So, what kind of amenities can one expect at a Korean spa?

• Showers: One of the purposes of these places is to get clean. They pretty much all have two types of showers: Upright showers (the ones we westerners are all familiar with) and sit-down showers. I've never used a sit-down shower... something I've been meaning to do sometime.
• Saunas: Every spa I've been to has at least a dry sauna and a steam room in the men's area. Some have even more: different temperatures, different materials for the walls and floor, etc. For those spas that have a coed area, most of the saunas (other than the basic dry sauna and steam room) are located in the coed area. 
• Pools: Pretty much every Korean spa has a hot whirlpool and a cold plunge. Some have multiple hot pools (like a warm and a hot).
• Locker rooms: a place to stash your clothes. You never have to bring anything to a spa; everything you need will be provided by the spa. The sink area usually has shaving supplies and hair products. 
• Spa treatments: Yes, it's a "spa." You can get things like massages and facials. A popular treatment at Korean spas is the body scrub: you lay down on a table (completely naked) while a Korean dude scrubs every inch of your body, getting you cleaner than you've been in a long time. And yes, they clean everywhere. The body scrub is usually done in the gender-specific area, but other spa treatments are usually done in coed areas.
• Sleep/relaxation area: Most spas have a dimmed room to rest, either on floor mats or in reclining chairs, or both. 

One thing about Korean spas is that, in the gender-specific area, it's all nude. Many even have signs that state that bathing suits or shorts aren't permitted in the spa area. So these places are not for the modest. At some of them, it's not unusual to see fathers with their young sons in the spas.

Some Korean spas have a coed area, called a Jim Jil Bang. These areas usually have more relaxation areas, saunas, and even restaurants. For the Jim Jil Bang, the spa will provide shorts and t-shirts to wear... the coed area isn't nude, sorry!

In terms of etiquette, the primary rule is, shower! Once you strip off your clothes and leave the locker room area, your first stop should always be the shower. Never, ever enter a pool without having showered first, especially if you're coming from a sauna or steam room. In a nutshell, the rule is: if in doubt, shower.


OK, so far this seems pretty basic... where does the "gay" part of this blog come in? 

Korean spas aren't gay sex clubs or gay bathhouses. I mean, I guess they are "bathhouses" in the literal sense of the word, that is a public place where one bathes.


But, if you get several naked gay guys together, there's bound to be a certain amount of cruising going on. Different Korean spas attract different crowds, and each will have varying amounts of cruising going on. When I review various spas, I'll include a mention of how cruisy they are.

That said, let me reiterate: Korean spas are not sex clubs. There are plenty of gay bathhouses in LA where you can do pretty much whatever you want out in the open. If you get caught doing it at a Korean spa, the consequences can range from being kicked out of the spa to being arrested. I'm sure the last thing you want (other than an STD) is a lewd conduct conviction on your record.

But, admittedly, "things happen." This blog does not condone illegal behavior. But if you're going to do it anyway, try to follow a few common-sense guidelines:

• Never assume the guy you're checking out is interested in you. Don't even assume he's gay, for that matter. There is nothing more pathetic than a guy who's staring at me, playing with his cock, while I'm doing all I can to look disinterested. Actually, I take that back... what's even more pathetic is that same guy, who, after I get up and walk out, follows me around the spa like a puppy dog... as if a different setting is going to make me more in the mood or something.
• Keep it private. If two of you ARE into each other, don't give others a show if you don't know if they're interested in watching. Forcing straight (or otherwise uninterested) guys to watch your sexual escapades is rude, seriously. And an invitation to being reported to the spa management.
• I'll reiterate the previous bullet for when there are kids there. If you're messing around in full view of minors, you deserve to be arrested. Hell, if I'm there, I'll be the one to call the cops.
• Keep it clean. I don't really want to step in your various bodily fluids. Use your towel or your hand or whatever, and keep the common areas clean for the rest of us. Because, eww.
• Take it somewhere else. I know there's a certain allure to public sex for some guys, but if you're really into each other, perhaps going to someone's home or at least exchanging numbers or emails is the way to go.

So I hope that gives you guys a decent introduction to Korean spas. Feel free to comment with any ideas or suggestions... I've visited maybe half a dozen different spas around LA and I hope to start posting reviews of them soon. Let me know if there are any you want reviewed first!