To celebrate Laura’s birthday and upcoming wedding (t-minus 4 days!) we decided to treat ourselves to a spa day. Los Angeles has a plethora of spa choices in all kinds of price points. Even though we were celebrating, we decided to go budget-friendly and choose Wi Spa. We’d both been once before but we were going with a few friends that had never been and were hit with a slew of questions for what to expect so we’ve decided to do a roundup of those and other questions we all had before our first visit to a Korean Spa.

Do you have to be naked?

Yes. Not to be too blunt, but it is a no-clothes zone in most Korean Spas that for the wet spas (hot tub, cold plunge pool, single-sex saunas). Some of us (Laura) were more on board for this part than others (Stella), but it really is the type of thing that you get used to and is not at all as scary or nerve-wracking as you may think.

On the other hand, the dry saunas (clay, salt, jade, ice, and The Bulgama in our most recent Korean Spa experience) are all co-ed and clothed. The spa will provide you with a pajama-esque outfit (that everyone wears) for these areas.

What should you bring with you?

You don’t need anything really, you can get by with just yourself. But we found the following things helpful and cheaper to do on our own vs. buying there.

• A water bottle
• Sheet face masks
• Coconut oil, face oils
• Any other beauty regimen items you want to pamper yourself with
• Flip flops, but only if they are extremely clean or only worn indoors. Otherwise, just opt for the shoes they give you.
• Cash for tips

What do they provide?

• Shorts
• T-Shirt
• Towels (beware, they’re quite small)
• Shoes

What really happens when you get a scrub?

Get ready to experience the softest skin of your life! We opted to get the “buff” on our last trip and my oh my is it amazing.

Arrive early for a 20-minute soak in the hot tub and then at your assigned time, you’ll head into the scrub room. You’ll get scrubbed down from head to toe with little scrub mitts. You’ll feel the dead skin cells leave your body and periodically they will rinse you with warm water to wash them away. For our experience, in particular, they also gave a brief facial and washed our hair.

You can opt to get a massage after but we just brought our own oil and did our own moisture rub after to save a bit of money.

End your experience with a jump in the cold tub to close up your pores. You will feel great for days after!

Do you have to book services in advance?

They recommend it and for weekends at a busy spa, it’s a necessity! That being said, if you don’t book ahead, just ask and see if they can squeeze you in.

If you do book appointments ahead of time, be ready to give your credit card number, they’ll charge for no-shows. And be on time/early. Especially if it is your first time, you’ll want a little time to figure out the lay of the land and jump in for a soak!

How long should you spend there?

We were at the spa for just over 2 hours and it was a delightful visit for a post-brunch activity. We had ample time to get our pre-scrub soak and post-scrub plunge in, as well as a sampling of each of the dry sauna rooms. We skipped out on a meal or beverage there as well as any additional spa services (mani, pedi, massage, etc.), but could definitely have stayed a while longer for those things. Our spa also has a lovely rooftop deck that could be a nice break in between services or just to get a little bit of sun in between sauna-ing!

You could definitely luxuriate away many more hours there, and at most Korean spas your entry fee is good for 24 hours, so if you want to really get your money’s worth (or if you have a layover where a Korean spa is accessible and don’t want to shell out for an expensive hotel!), spend every last second!

We had a blast at our most recent spa experience. We loved that it was a unique experience that was also affordable and oh my gosh our skin has never felt softer!

Anyone else have tips for visiting a Korean spa? Do you have recommendations for other spas that you think we should check out in Los Angeles? Let us know in the comments!