CJ Grand Spa in Hermosa closed for good, apparently.

I went to work out at the 24 Hour Fitness in Hermosa Beach the other night (I usually don't go to that location) and I took a peek upstairs to see what the status of CJ Grand Spa was...

The same sign is in the door saying that they're "temporarily closed", but it's not looking like they're coming back. It was dark when I was there, but the inside looked like it had been emptied. It's a shame, too. Oh well, I guess your best bet for a spa in the South Bay is Riviera now.

Wi Spa Groupon

There's a new Wi Spa Groupon available. $12 gets you a regular entry ($25 value on most days). 

The regular entry gets you access to the men's sauna plus the jimjilbang, which has more saunas and a restaurant, which users of this blog rated the best food of any Korean spa in LA!

(Note that if you only plan on using the men's sauna, the regular entry fee is $15)

The deal is here: http://www.groupon.com/deals/wi-spa-5?utm_campaign=UserReferral_mih&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu4361422

The Guys Spa Awards Results are in!

So, without further ado, here are the winners of my first (possibly annual) Guys Spa Awards!

Best Korean Spa Restaurant: Wi Spa. Wi Spa was the overwhelming winner for this category. The only spa I've ever eaten at was Century Spa, and it was pretty good. I will have to try Wi Spa sometime though!

Best Body Scrub: Century Spa. I agree with this one. There were a couple of votes for CJ Hermosa, which I think also does (did?) a good body scrub. But I'd have to say that Century is better.

Best Massage: Century Spa. I've never been overly impressed with the massages at any of the spas, including Century. But my vote, amongst the spas that I've actually gotten massages at, would go to Aroma Spa.

Most Relaxing Spa: Natura Spa. Runner-up in this category was also my choice: Beverly Hot Springs.

Cruisiest Spa: Century Spa. This one wasn't even close, which surprised me, as I'd put Wilshire Spa at the same level in this category.

Best Eye Candy: Century Spa. Again, I'm going to have to throw my vote to the runner-up: Wi Spa. There's little, if any, action at Wi Spa, but I have to say there are some very attractive men that go there.

Best Spa in Orange County: ISpa, Irvine. The only spa I've been to in the OC is Imperial Spa in Fullerton, but it sounds like I should check out ISpa.

Worst Spa: Lions Spa. Votes were all over the place on this one, with Wilshire Spa in second place by only one vote. I've said in my reviews which spa I thought was the worst: Green Sauna in Gardena. I can only assume that not enough people have been there, and that's why it didn't get more than a single vote in this category.

Best Spa Value: No Consensus. Yeah, there was a 3-way tie for this one: Wi Spa, Century Spa, and Natura Spa, with Joy Spa and Wilshire Spa only one vote behind. I would probably go with Century Spa, because it's only 15 bucks to get in if you check in on Foursquare or Facebook, and you get access to so many more saunas for the money.

Best Overall Spa:  Natura Spa. Second place was Wi Spa, and third place was Century Spa, but Natura Spa was the clear winner here.. These three are also my three favorite spas at the moment, but honestly I have a tough time picking my "favorite"... it totally depends on how I'm feeling that particular day.

Happy New Year, guys!

The Guys Spa Awards!

So I get emails and comments of people asking "What is the best spa?" And my answer is always "it depends on what you're looking for!" But now's your chance to provide some feedback.

I'm making a poll where you can vote in ten different categories: Best Korean Spa restaurant, Best Korean Spa body scrub, Best Korean Spa massage, Most relaxing spa, Cruisiest spa, Best eye candy, Best overall spa, Best spa in Orange County, Worst spa, and Best spa value  

Please only vote once! And if you honestly don't have an opinion on a category, go ahead and leave it blank.

This is my first time using Google Docs to make a form, so I hope it works...

 Click HERE for your ballot.

I'll leave the voting open for a couple of weeks.

Review: Seoul Sauna, Gardena

Amenities: 2/5  
Cruisiness: 1/5

Price: $10

Pros: Inexpensive, unlimited small towels.  
Cons: Small, was pretty crowded when I was there, pretty much all Korean

So after my disastrous visit at Green Sauna in Gardena, I decided to check out another spa only a few blocks away.

This is another men-only spa, but there was a woman working at the front counter. I paid my entry and she held out a tray of razors in case I wanted to shave. I didn't need to, but she insisted I take one. So, I took one... seemed easier than explaining to her that, no, I really didn't need one. It's in my medicine cabinet in my bathroom now, unused. 

I also got a single large towel. However, there was a basket of small orange towels by the spa entrance to use, also.

Put my shoes in the shoe locker, which was only a few feet from my main locker which seemed a bit silly, but oh well.

There was one big bench in the middle of the locker room. In the middle of the bench was a pair of nail clippers, attached to the bench with a ribbon. And a purple plastic tray with probably 50 guys' worth of toenail clippings. Gross.

Entered the wet area and it was pretty small: Three tubs (hot, warm and cold), four upright showers and three seated showers. A small body scrub area in a dark corner near the showers. And a sauna and a steam room. It was fine, actually, nothing too fancy but not bad. It was really crowded though... probably at least 15 other guys in a pretty small area, and I was the only non-Asian there. I felt like they were eying me suspiciously the whole time I was there, which was kind of weird. 

I soaked in the warm tub for a while, then tried out the steam room, which was hot. Seriously, the hottest steam room I think I've experienced in a Korean Spa to date. I could only handle a couple of minutes and I had to get out. The dry sauna was better, still hot but more tolerable.

There was also a sleeping room with a heated floor (I think they called it a Jade Room, but I'm not sure) and a recliner area with a television. The Jade Room was pretty warm, and I was actually sweating quite a lot in there. The biggest annoyance about it was that there was a window between the Jade Room and the Recliner room, so the flickering of the television was kind of distracting.

I went there after work and got there a little after 5... it was crowded then, but most had left by 6:00. Still didn't have the place to myself or anything, but it was easier to relax and have some space.

This place wasn't cruisy at all. Even if you found someone and there was mutual interest, there's really no private place to play here. So if you're looking for that, I'd recommend going somewhere else.

Seoul Health Spa
15212 S. Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90249

CJ Hermosa temporarily closed?

So word on the street is that CJ Spa in Hermosa is "Closed for Renovations"... I'm not sure how long, or what they're doing.

Hopefully they're making some improvements... I've been less enthusiastic about them lately, as there are better spas in Koreatown for cheaper, and it's hard to get to unless you're already in the South Bay, and the one-towel thing that's been going on, etc.


Anyway, if anyone learns more, keep us posted!

Review: Green Sauna, Gardena

Amenities: 1/5
Cruisiness: 2/5

Price: $15

Pros: None.
Cons: Small, dirty, horrible.

Well, I finally have a least favorite Korean spa.

Green Sauna is in a mini-mall in Gardena. It's in the corner, and the storefront is hard to figure out if you're in the right place. Right off the bat, it's weird.

You enter around a curtain and you're immediately in the locker room. The locker room is nothing special. Going into the spa, there are three upright showers (two to the left of the door, one to the right), three seated showers, a large-ish hot pool, and a cold pool. There's a steam room and a "Jade room" at the far end.

The steam room wasn't steamy. The hot pool wasn't really that hot. There were no lights in the jade room (which was basically a room with a headed stone floor), but the walls appeared to be cork or something, and I think the lights would have revealed the cork to be peeling off.

There was mildew on the walls. There was mildew on the floors (seriously, there was a massive black patch on the steam room floor). There was mildew on the ceiling. There was mildew on the bottle of conditioner in the shower. I am not exaggerating. Some of the tiles had come off in the warm pool, creating a little pile of dirt on the bottom (the jets didn't really work, so I could see the bottom... I guess it was a good thing that the water wasn't cloudy.)

I had the place to myself for most of the time I was there, which made it kind of creepy. I've had spas to myself before and I wasn't creeped out, but this place did creep me out.

Pretty much the only thing this place had going for it was the fact that if you did find someone to fool around with, there is both plenty of privacy and the steam room and jade room are cool enough that you can last a while in there without passing out.

When I was getting dressed to leave, a female employee walked through the locker room. It doesn't really bother me (I've been in plenty of coed nudist situations) but it might freak some people out.

I did a google search on this place and I found some old posts on forums alluding to possible "happy ending" massages by the female masseuses. The posts were misogynistic and racist and just seemed creepy to me. Granted, the posts were years old, but still.

Seriously, don't bother with this spa.
 
I'm not even giving out their address.