Sweat out the old, soak in the new!

As I've done a couple of times before, let's do a New Years Day spa meetup!

When: January 1, Noon until night time.
Where: Century Spa

Don't wear a towel and let it all hang out!

Embarrassing Stories

Anyone have any embarrassing stories at a spa? I thought about this when a reader emailed me about seeing a guy shit himself at the spa (which, eww, gross)

Here's mine: it was a couple of years ago, and I was getting over a cold. In fact, the cold was gone except for an annoying cough. A blog reader had emailed me and we were planning to meet at a spa, but I didn't want to sound like death when I got there. So, on my way, I stopped at the store and picked up some cough syrup. Instead of bothering to measure a correct dose, I just took a swig.

I got to the spa, and met the guy, and we sat in the hot tub for a bit and then moved to the sauna. I was in there for only a few minutes and I started to feel light-headed, so I went out and sat down on the bench. I closed my eyes, and the friend that met me there asked if I was OK... I was completely oblivious to the fact that I had blacked out. I told him I was fine, and kept sitting.

Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, looking up at half a dozen naked Koreans staring at me as they were lowering me to the floor. One guy was super helpful, putting towels under my head and giving me his water... But it was so embarrassing!

Moral of the story: don't mix drugs (even over-the-counter drugs) with the spa!

Anyone else have an embarrassing tale?

Cock Rings

Am I the only guy that is turned off by cock rings? When I see one in a nudist setting, my first thought is that they're insecure about the size or appearance of their dick. And that makes me less attracted to the guy, frankly... I guess for me, what your dick looks like is way down on the list of what makes a guy attractive.

I was at Blacks Beach last weekend and saw quite a few of them. I've seen them at some spas as well. It just seems weird to me, particularly in those settings that aren't supposed to be sexual.

Anyone agree or disagree?

Review: Meridian Spa, Commerce

Amenities: 3/5
Cruisiness: 1/5
Price: $20
Pros: Quiet, practically had the place to myself, unlimited towels, inexpensive massages, TV room
Cons: Inconvenient parking (unless you valet) and hard to find, 4-hour limit

I'd stumbled onto a Groupon a few months ago for a one-hour massage and spa admission for $39 at Meridian Spa, which I thought was a great deal, but I'm always a little skeptical about some of those "spas" on Groupon. But after looking it up on Yelp, it sounded like Meridian Spa was a real spa, and had a lot of positive reviews. Not a Korean Spa, but sounded pretty similar. But hell, even a mediocre massage is a good deal at $39. So I bought it.

I made an appointment for a weekend afternoon. On the phone, the receptionist told be I could "bring a swimsuit if you want" which seemed weird and of course I wouldn't want to wear a swimsuit. It was at the Commerce Casino and Hotel in Commerce. I wasn't sure where to park. It looked like the area up in front was valet only, and I didn't want to valet, so I went to the huge self-parking area. After circling the lot for a bit, I found a relatively close spot.

Then the task of finding the place. I was pretty sure it was in the hotel area, and the address listed it as "Suite 200", so I assumed it was upstairs somewhere. So I walked around the casino building (I guess I could have walked through it, but I didn't) and through the throngs of smokers around every door into the casino (next to the "No smoking within 20 feet" signs) until I got to some doors that I figured were more hotel than casino, and went in. Still no signs anywhere, but there was this ornate staircase, so I decided to follow them up, and I eventually found the spa!

Note that their website doesn't even have their address on it... it'd be nice for them to at least have an address, and even better to explain where to park and how to get to the spa!

I got there about twenty minutes before my massage so I undressed, got into my robe, and explored the spa a bit. When you enter the men's spa area, the locker room is basically in front of you. To the right is a sleeping area. Down the hall to the left, there's a TV lounge and then the wet area. When I got there, there was a single person sleeping in the sleeping area, and the rest of the spa was empty.

I stopped in the TV lounge and looked to see what they had: a Roku with Netflix, Hulu, etc. I don't know why you'd pay to come in and watch TV, but it was there if you wanted it. The room had a bunch of home-theatre type seats, but I'm not sure if there had ever been that many people in the entire spa at one time.

I had the massage, which was actually pretty good (and I still think it's a good deal at full price, so I may be back again) and returned to the spa where I ditched my robe, and didn't wear a swimsuit. ;-)

(Note that I think you also get access to the pool area, in which case you'd probably want to wear a swimsuit. But I didn't check it out, and, in fact, I am not 100% sure you actually get access.)

The spa area had the basics: showers, a hot pool, a cold pool, a sauna and a steam room. The showers all had doors, unlike most Korean spas, but otherwise very similar to a basic K-spa. The pools were on an elevated platform, with a weird floor-level window into the dry sauna. So you could watch the pool area from the sauna, and vice-versa. The hot pool temperature was nice; I liked it a lot. I stayed in there for a while with the one other guy there (different guy than the guy in the sleeping room earlier), who eventually left. The dry sauna wasn't that hot. It wasn't terrible; in fact I kind of liked it. But I could imagine some people who prefer a hotter sauna would complain. The steam room was a perfect temperature. Hot enough to feel like it's doing something, but not so hot that you had to leave after 30 seconds.

The spa was very nice though, and clean.

I stayed for a couple of hours. It felt weird being the only one there. Sometimes weird thoughts start going through your head, like "what if I pass out or something, how long would it take for someone to find me?" I saw an attendant come through in the main hallway, but I don't think I ever saw him come into the wet area at all.

When I checked out, the receptionist wasn't the same one that had checked me in, and she couldn't find my Groupon info, and it took a while... it was weird and awkward and I just wanted to leave. I asked how to leave a cash tip for the massage therapist and she acted like I was the first person ever to ask to do that. She finally gave me an envelope, so I hope he got it.

Anyway, it seems like it'd be a good place for a massage, or a good place to go with a buddy or two or three if you want to go somewhere without a crowd or a cruisy scene.

Meridian Day Spa
@Commerce Casino
6121 E. Telegraph Rd, Ste 200
Commerce CA 90040
 http://meridiandayspa.com/

Review: Spa Palace, Westlake/MacArthur Park

Amenities: 4/5
Cruisiness: 1/5
Price: $25
Pros: Big, not crowded (at least not yet), unlimited small towels, open 24 hours
Cons: Pricier than most, valet parking (not a fan of valets), the spa jet timers

There's actually a new Korean spa in town! I'd heard about it from several different users, who also alerted me to a Groupon for admission to the spa. So, Groupon deal in hand, I went to check it out.

The location is odd, as it isn't actually in Koreatown... it's more in the Westlake neighborhood, between Koreatown and Downtown LA... not really an area that inspires confidence. But, like much of Los Angeles, the Westlake neighborhood is improving, and only time will tell if Spa Palace's investment will prove to have a great payoff. 

I pulled into the parking lot (under the building) and gave my keys to the valet. I hate valets with a passion, but I just dealt with it. (On my second visit, I parked at a metered space on the street). From there, I took the elevator to reception on the third floor.

The lobby is spacious and fancy-looking. The front desk receptionist was very friendly, gave me my key and Jimjilbang uniform, and pointed me to the turnstile to the men's entrance. Yeah, turnstile... ok, weird. The admission price is $25, just like Wi Spa, only there's no option for just using the men's area for a discount.

At some point I found out that Spa Palace is owned by the people that own CJ Spa in Northridge (and formerly Hermosa Beach), and, in fact, the manager of Spa Palace (I think he's a manager) is the former manager of CJ Hermosa.

The locker room is huge... probably similar in number of lockers to Wi Spa but instead of the mazelike distribution of lockers at Wi, the locker room here is longer and more organized, and it's much easier to find your locker. 

Once I'm naked I go into the spa area... there are a LOT of standing showers... maybe 20 or so. I don't think I've seen that many at any other spa. Glass dividers between the showers come out 18 inches or so from the wall, so not really any privacy when showering... which is fine with me.  There were also 6 or 7 seated showers. Typical body wash/shampoo/conditioner selection. Unlimited small towels available by the showers.

The whole spa area is very nice, and clean, and you can tell they put a lot of money and effort to make it look good. I really liked it a lot.

The tubs are on an elevated platform, maybe 5 or 6 feet above the floor level of the showers. There are three tubs: the cold tub, the small warm tub, and the large slightly warmer tub. I detected a slight difference of temperatures between the two warm tubs, but not really a significant difference. There are also windows along the back wall of the tub area that are basically at cock level. They seem to be heavily tinted; it looked like dusk outside when, in fact, the sun was still shining... so I doubt anyone from the outside can see in, even at night. On the right side of the tub level is a television (which was off on my second visit) and the timer dials for the tub jets.

...which brings me to my biggest annoyance of the tubs: the timer dials only go up to five minutes. If I want to sit in a whirlpool for a while, I have to keep getting up and walking to the end of the tub level to turn the dial every five minutes. I imagine it wouldn't be that expensive to replace it with a 20-minute dial... so please, if anyone working there reads this, replace those timers!

Back down to the shower level, there is also a steam room and a dry sauna. The steam room and the sauna were ok temperature-wise; I would have preferred the steam to be a couple of degrees cooler but it really wasn't bad.

Next to the sauna is the scrub area, which it its own little room with two scrub tables, and a divider between the two tables. There's no door between the scrub area and the spa area, so it's not really all that private... not that I have a problem with that.

The number of guys in the spa area ranged from nobody but me to maybe 8 people, so it was never that crowded. Like Wi, I saw some kids there, but not too many. Crowd seemed to be about 50% Asian (presumably straight) and 50% non-Asian (I'd guess at least half of those gay, but a few were definitely straight)

Also off the locker room are a relaxation area with recliners and a TV, and a sleeping room with a warm marble floor. The first time I was there the sleeping room had no lights on, and the second time it was quite well illuminated.

I also checked out the jimjilbang (coed area): very similar to Wi Spa... multiple saunas (which were all hotter than I like, to be honest), restaurant (and the food, to be honest, looked great, but I didn't actually try any.) and open space to relax. The first time I was there, on a weeknight, the coed area was practically deserted, but the second time I was there, on a Friday night, there were probably twenty or so people up there.

However, the first time I was there, I almost didn't find the jimjilbang ... it was down the passage behind the barber area. However, by my second visit they had put up signs pointing the way (and warning not to be naked if you go down there!)

The best and coolest thing about the whole spa, though, and what makes it unique, is if you take the elevator from the jimjilbang down to the first floor... there's a HUGE indoor swimming pool (well, it's actually open to the outside but it's covered) and a few hot tubs scattered around. You're supposed to bring your own swimwear if you want to use these, though. But it's great for people who want to sit in a jacuzzi with a person of the opposite sex. But the pool is big enough to swim laps if you want to. I found out that they're also planning on having a bar selling drinks (possibly alcoholic) and snacks. I could see the pool area becoming very popular once that happens. On my two visits, the pool area had maybe five other people in it one time, and the other time the entire pool area was completely empty. My only complaint about the pool area is that the lighting could be better... it just felt like being in a cave down there.

So, with all of that information, you're probably wondering how much "fun" you can have there. While I got some discreet cruisy vibes while I was there (the one bearded otter who gave me a subtle smile in the locker room as he left last week... give me a call... ;-) ) there's really no place to play. The sauna and steam room have too many windows and they're right next to the scrub tables so there's always staff around there. You can play footsie in the hot tubs, but with the 5-minute timer you can't really do anything more under the water. Maybe the sleeping room but honestly I wouldn't recommend it. With the occasional kids there, I'd just say if you're looking for action, go somewhere else. But, like Wi, there's great eye candy potential. (I had some nice views when I was there).

I can only imagine it's going to get a lot more popular as word of mouth spreads; hopefully it won't become impossibly crowded.

Oh, one more thing... on leaving, I was faced with the turnstiles again. You give them your locker key, they scan it (and, presumably, make sure you don't owe money from the restaurant or whatever) and give you a card so you can put it in the slot so you can go through the turnstile. Why they can't just press a button to unlock the turnstile for you, I don't know. It's strange.

But, all in all, as of this writing, it's near the top of my list of favorite spas... just wish it was less expensive.




Spa Palace
620 S. Union Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(between 6th St. and Wilshire - Enter the parking lot on Shatto)
http://spapalacela.com/

Cracking Down at Century Spa

A reliable source told me that they're cracking down on sexual activity at Century Spa. Apparently things were getting WAY out of hand there (and, based on my observations, they definitely were) and the owner decided that he'd had enough.

So a few things I observed when I was there a few days ago:

- Staff are making rounds much more frequently, checking places like the patio, the clay room, the upstairs sleeping room, and even entering the steam room.

- When you check in, they require a driver's license. There is no longer an option of leaving your keys; you must provide ID. Presumably, this is so that if you're kicked out, they know who you are and can ban you.

I can't say that I didn't see this coming. It seemed like every time I was there (up until my last visit) there were a lot of guys that just didn't understand the meaning of "discretion", there were a lot of complaints from spa patrons, and this is the result.

That said, when I was there a few days ago, it was one of the more relaxing times I've had at Century. I felt like the cruising vibe had definitely been lessened, but without it actually being eliminated entirely. There was still some play going on, but it was far more discreet than what I'd observed a month ago.

How good we have it

I was going to an event last night in Koreatown. I was heading there straight from work so I decided to stop at the 24 Hour Fitness in Koreatown to shower first.

Man, that place was nasty. Half the shower doors were missing. Not a big deal for me (I don't need shower doors) but it added to the rundown vibe. Seriously would have been better to just remove all of them. Garbage on the locker room floor and the floor in the shower area seemed unclean too.

I had ten or fifteen minutes to spare so I decided to check out the sauna. Just... Disgusting. The floor was literally MUDDY from guys going in with their dirty street shoes. It smelled awful. (Funny how everyone ignores the "shower before using the sauna" rule that's posted right next to the sauna, but try to use it nude and you'll get called out on it.) And there was enough dirty, smelly gym clothes hanging in there to dry out that it resembled a third-world clothesline.

I've been to plenty of other gyms with similar traits, but i don't think I've ever seen a sauna as bad as the one last night. I was at the Glendale Super Sport once and there was literally a layer of sand at the bottom of the jacuzzi. Ugh.

We have it so good at the various Korean spas in LA. For the most part, saunas are clean and not smelly and people don't abuse them as they do the gym saunas. Nudity is the rule, not the exception. and people just treat them better.