A Happy Land for Body and Mind

Spa is described as the most perfect way to rest by some and the most luxurious way by others. Some also call it the most extreme form of luxury. If hot spring or beauty shops pop up in your mind when you hear the word “spa,” then you are behind the trend. Or maybe, you are not a person to feel the need to rest. For past few years, the word spa, which originated from Spau, a resort city in Belgium where mineral water springs up, used to be considered as a synonym of hot spring. But from two or three years ago when spa specializing in skin care began to open one after another in Apgujeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the meaning of spa was expanded to cover not only the hot-spring baths but massages and skin care. Recently, the level of service has become better and upgraded. Healing spa, which cares for the languid body and mind let alone skin care, is hot as the newest trend. Unlike the conventional spa that focuses on skin care, “healing spa” weighs more importance on letting body and mind to relax. Here are number of recommendable healing spas in Seoul.

○ Soothing Body and Mind with Heated Stones

“Do you have any heart diseases?” asked the manager, Kim Ki-jun, when I walked into the Park Club, a spa in Park Hyatt Seoul.

When I changed to gown, he gave me a questionnaire.

The questions focused on my past medical experiences including whether I had been hospitalized or underwent a surgery recently. This process is mandatory to find an appropriate and customized program for each customer.

When I told Kim that I have a stiff neck, he recommended me a Stone Therapy.

“Stone Therapy gets rid of stress, muscle pains and facilitates metabolism, using both cold and hot stones. The effect is beyond care: it has a healing effect, helping your body and mind to recover health and balance,” he said.

As I lied down on the heated stone, I felt as if I was laying down on ondol.

A therapist, who introduced himself to have an eight year experience, massaged me using a smooth stone.

I felt relaxed. I kept falling asleep. But I woke up whenever a cold stone touched my skin.

“Many customers fall asleep during the therapy. It means that both the body and mind are at a comfortable state,” said Kim.

The price of “la stone therapy” is 230,000 won each for face (1 hour and a half) and body treatments (1 hour and a half), and 340,000 won for “face+body”(2 hours and a half).

○ Magically Comfortable Space Helps to Forget the Daily Routine

Walking into “Away Spa” in W Seoul Walkerhill Hotel shows you that traveling is not the only way to escape from the everyday life.

Walking into Treatment Room, where the spa program takes place, I got the impression that I was at a secret place where no one can intrude. This was a magic ignited by beige walls, reverberating light and luxurious interior design.

The spa was programmed for me based on the questionnaire that I filled out for 10 minutes. The program “away saji” will help my blood circulation and detoxicate my body (170,000 won for 60 minutes).

I felt ethereal when the therapist began rubbing aroma oil and various lotions from my feet to legs, back, neck and shoulder. It was as if the time had stopped, but an hour flew by.

Lee Ji-hyeon, manager of Away Spa, said, “Beyond skin care, we pursue the state of rest for body and mind because we think that the skin can become beautiful and the real beauty can be obtained only when body and mind are at rest and in comfort.”

Away Spa also runs Ayurvedic treatment program, the traditional meditation science of India. By analyzing the answers to the questionnaire, customers are recommended to different massage styles and different types of herb that suit them. It also has a pool called, Watchu, where a therapist stretch with old people in water.

○ Candling Program for People Suffering From Insomnia and Headache

The Spa in Grand Hyatt Hotel offers Ear Candling program for people with insomnia and frequent headaches.

When the candle that contains aroma scent is plugged in the ear and lit up, it drives out the dust in the air it burns up. Aroma penetrates the ear and cleans both the nose and the throat. This method makes aroma absorbed through the ear, not through skin or nose.

A staff at the Spa said, “Ear Candling Treatment is effective for people with insomnia or people who are psychologically nervous as it supplies oxygen to brain and soothes the nerves.”

The price is 110,000 won per 60 minutes, including scalp massage.

○ Hospitals Spas with Stress Clinic

Cosmediclinic near Shinsa station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is a clinic specializing in beauty care, which opened in November last year claiming itself as a genuine medical spa.

Just like dermatologists and plastic surgeons who study the conditions of the patients and give prescriptions, it recommends customers with the appropriate water temperature, time and bath additives.

Because doctors reside at the hospital, customers not only can enjoy spa programs but can also receive medical services such as laser treatment, Botox, obesity clinic, and stress clinic. Including the doctor’s fees, spa price begins from 80,000 won for 60 minutes.

buddy@donga.com