5 luxury bathhouses or jjimjilbang for a perfect pampering in South Korea

South Korea is known for its breakneck pace of life, but the culture has a slow side, too. Witness the innumerable jjimjilbang or bathhouses scattered across the country. While the word means “a room for soaking in warm water”, the key feature of these home-grown facilities is their lounging spaces – from baking-hot sweat chambers to wide-open common spaces to dens stocked with Korean comics booklets. We review Lush’s vegan-friendly spa, a luxurious Ayurvedic-inspired treatment to release troubled karma The jjimjilbang at the higher end of the scale also add self-pampering to the mix and take it to a pleasant extreme. Check out five luxury jjimjilbang that are bravely redefining relaxation. Cimer at Paradise City Hotel and Resort, Incheon Just across from Incheon airport, Cimer aims to present “a new spin on Korea’s jjimjilbang culture”, combining hi-tech with haute healing. Its centrepiece is the Water Plaza, a monumental enclosure for swimming and kicking up your feet. Indulge and unwind: the best spas for your next wellness trip Cimer’s more intimate spaces include the transcendental Wave Dream room and the Virtual Spa, where spirit-boosting landscapes are projected onto the walls. For drinks, choose between the Sports Bar X and the Juice Bar 2X. The Aqua Spa Zone’s hours are 10am to 7pm from Sunday to Thursday, but it stays open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets for the party-friendly Aqua Spa Zone allow access to the recuperative Jjimjil Spa Zone, which is open 24 hours a day. Pine Beach Spa & Sauna, St John’s Hotel, Gangneung To heal body and mind, Gangneung’s Pine Beach Spa & Sauna pairs simple, minimalistic facilities with calming views of nature. Situated within St John’s Hotel, and built before the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, it was visited by Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump, during the Games. 2 wellness retreats – in Phuket and Bali – that will help you refocus your life This two-storey jjimjilbang looks out on Gangmun Beach, with its stand of wavy pine and powdery sand. For heat, head to the red-clay room. Then cool down in the ice room. Other highlights include an oxygen room and a massage-chair zone. To accommodate families, Pine Beach offers a children’s play room and private family rooms that can be rented out. Aquafield at Starfield Hanam, Hanam Situated outside Seoul’s city limits near a bend in the Han River, Aquafield doesn’t stint on water. Part of the Starfield Hanam mall, Aquafield comprises a water park as well as a sauna and spa. Buying a ticket for the water park grants access to a rooftop infinity pool oriented towards a vast landscape of forest-covered mountains. Also on the top level are aroma spas and a sand pool for children. Those who opt for the Jjimjil Spa section below are free to choose from between 10 or so sauna rooms and a slew of therapeutic pools. And no less therapeutic are the hamburgers at the in-house Johnny Rockets. Spalux at Gyeongju Visitors to Gyeongju, an ancient capital rich in Unesco World Heritage Sites, can recharge their batteries at the well-appointed Spalux. Just a few blocks from a cluster of giant burial mounds for Silla-dynasty kings, Spalux at Gyeongju ticks all the boxes: comfortable floor-cushions for sprawling out, a wide variety of bathing pools and heated grottos for sweating yourself into nirvana. On top of this, the complex houses a spa treatment area and a fitness centre. Parents are sure to appreciate the mini cinema, the game zone and other kid-pleasers. Spa Land at Centum City, Busan Part of the colossal Centum City mall in Busan, Spa Land is the undisputed queen of all jjimjilbang, with a staggering capacity of 1,500 guests. To fill the 18 spa pools, not one but two different types of hot spring water are piped up from hundreds of metres underground. Is this what K-drama fans have been waiting for? Each of these – one laced with sodium bicarbonate and the other with sodium chloride – has its own special health benefits. To supplement the soaking are a dozen rooms sure to make you sweat. And then there’s the second floor, with entertainment options, treatment spaces, and dining facilities galore. Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

5 luxury bathhouses or jjimjilbang for a perfect pampering in South Korea

The Asian nation is full of these home-grown facilities, many with spas and saunas, where ‘soaking in warm water’ and lounging around are the main pastimes