Korean spas are becoming more and more popular among the non-Korean population in Los Angeles. I've visited several and thought I'd post my impressions of a few of them.
UPDATE: I'm cancelling the meetup. Let's do it in a month or two when things have settled down. Sorry.
Hey guys!
Let's have a New Year's Meetup!
Where: Wilshire Spa
When: January 1st, in the afternoon (I'm planning to get there sometime between noon and 1:00)
Why: Why not?
Rules:
- Don't wear a towel!
- Be respectful!
- Wear your key on your left ankle!
- Don't be that guy that's jerking when nobody else is interested.
- Be careful!
- Say hi to me!
Amenities: 1.5/5
Cruisiness: 4.5/5
Price: $25
Pros: Clean, lots of parking, saunas are a good temperature
Cons: Small, limited towels, warm and cold pool temperature, 2-hour limit, only very basic spa features.
Apparently this spa has been around for years, but somehow I'd never even heard of it until relatively recently when I saw several people posting about it. I looked into it and decided to check it out.
It's located in a strip mall in Tustin, just off the 5 freeway. It's an interesting little mall, with Indian, Japanese, Jewish, and Korean businesses.
I went in and paid my $25, and was told "2 hour limit!" which is kind of annoying. There are also several signs reiterating the two hour limit. I was also given a small towel and a bath towel, and a padlock with a key. Instead of lockers with the locks built in, you had to use the padlock to lock the gym-style lockers.
The locker room is not large and everything is in one area... there are a couple of sinks, lockers, and a TV with two chairs. (A sign reads that shorts must be worn in the chairs... despite the fact that you're not issued shorts.) There's a door to the restroom, the door to the massage area, and the door to the wet area. Also a water cooler with those cone-shaped cups. There's also a sign warning that lewd conduct is illegal in the city of Tustin. Just so you know.
Entering the wet area, there's a shower stall like right inside the door and to the left, with three other shower stalls beyond it. Beyond that is a wall with 3 or 4 seated showers. To the right as you enter is the hot pool, then beyond that is a few chairs and lounges, then the warm pool. In the far corner is the sauna and steam room, and between the steam room and the seated showers are the cold pool and the scrub area. And that's the whole spa. I was kind of disappointed that there was no sleeping area, but I guess with a two hour limit there's not much point.
The "hot" pool is a temperature that I'd compare to "warm" pools at most other spas. It was a fine temperature. At most places that have both hot and warm pools, the hot pool is too hot for me to stay in very long, but this was comfortable. The jets are controlled by a timer dial on the wall. The "warm" and "cold" pool were virtually the same temperature. Not warm or cold, pretty much just ambient temperature. They were a nice cooldown after the saunas. They reminded me of the lukewarm bubbly pool at Lion's, except they weren't bubbly, and there was no step to sit on. I should also note that the "cold" pool gives you a direct view of the scrub area, if that's your thing. (although it might be kinda rude to just sit there and watch)
The dry sauna and steam room were both SMALL... like they're both basically full with 6 people in them. The dry sauna could use some work... the wood could definitely use some sanding or replacing. The temperature was a good temperature though. And actually the steam room temperature was also pretty good... both warm enough that I could sit and enjoy for a while without feeling like I was going to pass out after a couple of minutes. Also, the sauna door would stick. I'd have to apply a bit of force to get it to open. Both the sauna and the steam room have glass doors that face the wet area, and the steam room also has a window that faces the cold pool and the scrub area.
The crowd was a very diverse group; ages ranged from the 20s-60s and White, Black, Latino and Asian. But I would guess that at least 90% are there to play. Like seriously, even more cruisy than Wilshire Spa. Because of the layout, the steam and sauna are the only places where one can play, and they're both fairly visible from the outside. That said, there were only a couple of customers that I felt might have had an issue with it, and I honestly, without going into detail, I don't think the scrubber really cares about what's going on. (One day I went, the scrubber was the only one working in the men's area; another day, there was another guy there too cleaning and refilling soap, etc; but I rarely saw him in there) So basically it was really easy to avoid getting caught by staff, if it's even an issue with them there. You just gotta make sure not to offend the wrong customer.
I went two different days from 4:30-6:30... one day it was pretty busy when I arrived but had died down a lot by 6:00; the other day it stayed busy the whole time. Also, they close at 8:00pm, which is kind of early.
It's not a great spa, but it's fairly clean (other than the dry sauna that could use fixing up) and lots of guys looking to play. You could do worse.
Note, this is an updated review to Wilshire Spa, which I updated here: Review: Wilshire Spa, Koreatown
I went to Wilshire yesterday for the first time since pre-pandemic. In fact, I think the last time I was there was the New Year's meetup on Jan 1 2020.
I walked in and entry fee is now $25 (I think it was $20 pre-pandemic). There was a sign at the front desk saying proof of vaccination required, but I was never asked for it.
At first glance, the spa seems the same as ever. However I did note a few differences.
- The hot tub is no longer intolerably hot. In fact it was quite comfortable, and I'd kinda prefer it to be a couple of degrees warmer. But if I had to choose between the previous too-hot or the current not-hot-enough, I'd pick the current temperature. The jets still aren't operating though.
- Like the hot tub, the dry sauna and the steam room are also not as hot. This is a good thing if you're there to cruise, but not if you're wanting to sweat. (UPDATE 8/31: The hot tub is back to being too hot. Maybe still not as hot as before Covid, but hotter than I like.)
- They put a curtain around the scrub area. No more sneaking peeks at clients' unintentional boners on the scrub table, haha.
- The spa as a whole is not as clean. I noticed lots of mildew everywhere. I mean it's a very humid space, mildew will happen... but they should keep up with cleaning it.
I never got to the sleeping room so I can't say what changed in there.
That said, the place was as cruisy as ever. There were a few guys that I didn't get a cruising vibe from, but most seemed playful.
All in all, Wilshire Spa was fine. I wish they'd clean the mildew a little better though.
NOTE: I started a new post because the other one was getting too full of comments! So use this one instead.
UPDATE: We have a Discord server now: https://discord.gg/mYsZfpdrPw
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!
NOTE: This thread is locked because there were too many comments! See the next post instead.
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!