Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Gettin' Clean 'n Detoxified

If you haven't been to Spa World yet - Go! Now! It is an amazing oasis of relaxing sauna rooms and baths and some really delicious bubble teas, smack dab in a nondescript strip mall in Northern VA. Listopad took a visit on Sunday night and it definitely lived up to the hype. Go without pretense and go to pore it out (you will feel digested and toxin free), relax, and get squeaky clean! Unfortunately, we have no pictures (we got reprimanded at by the cute little old Korean ladies for taking pics of each other in the standard issue uniforms). But go to the Post Gallery link and check it out.

7 comments:

Ylla said...

i would go, but i just can't do bathing in public. it makes me feel like a decadent roman.

Anonymous said...

did you get any treatments? i went to one in LA and got a massage and exfolitating body scrub.

Cath said...

ally, actually you feel more like prisoner #38954, except a super cush prison that someone like leona helmsley served time at. i say this because of the standard issue spa uniforms and also the open stalled showers. but then again, it just adds to the whole charm of the place. get on board! love, c

Cath said...

Anon, I did not get any treatments but am definitely saving my money for a full on massage and exfo next time. We were told the massages are hard and very good. You should check out the Nova one and let us know how it compares! Xo, Cath

TPWP said...

I went to the one in Centreville, and hated every second of it - between the perturbing smell of korean food, the out-of-shape old women, the tortuous scrub/massage and the rude non-english speaking staff I couldn't wait to get out of there fast enough. Maybe I'm too used to being pampered at fancy spas where everything looks and smells pretty and people treat me like a princess. I wouldn't recommend any services, but as you can tell I'm extremely biased.

Cath said...

TPWP, I agree that you definitely cannot go in there expecting Elizabeth Arden. It's like the Koreans traditionally do it and is more like a bathouse than a spa. In Korea, it isn't a luxury to go to such places- it is more like social time and clean time that all types of people can enjoy. This explains the tv's and the homestyle food and the sitting around with a bunch of people. A lot of Russians also seem to go there and really adopt the saunas and the communal aspect of it. We just aren't used to it here. -Cath

Fiona said...

I finally went to the Centreville jimjilbang yesterday and it was one of the best, most relaxing experiences of my life so far. And I have done a lot of relaxing. I think its great that people with all different body types can walk around completely unabashed. Also, I could live in the ultra comfortable standard-issue orange uniform worn in the poultice rooms. In fact, I could live at Spa World, period. You can eat, get your hair done, sleep, smoke, bathe...What's not to love?