Rest and Relaxation at the Jjimjilbang: Lasema Spa & Sauna

Ever heard of Jjimjilbang? It's what the spa and sauna places in Korea are called. It's actually a public bath house with lots of different facilities in one. I wasn't able to try it out when I went to Korea last year because of the busy tour schedule. Well, the good news is there's Jjimjilbang in Makati all along. My friends stumbled upon Lasema Spa & Sauna on a deal in Ensogo. We got the deal at P495 which already includes 12 hours stay at the Jjimjilbang, full use of the dry and wet saunas, and a 1 hour massage. I think this is a very good promo for both the massage and the full use of the facilities. 

Lasema Spa & Sauna

7232 Malugay Street Brgy. Bel Air, Makati City (inside Makati Golf Club)

830-2222/ 0943-5065697

Open 24 hours

Let's start our Jjimjilbang adventure inside!
Upon arriving, my friends and I deposited our Ensogo vouchers to the receptionist. She then provided us with a pink shirt and shorts and two towels, along with a bracelet key to the lockers. We proceeded to go inside to the locker room to change and leave our belongings at the lockers. 

Front reception

Price list

Locker area

Vanity area

Before going on to try the saunas, we booked our massage appointment with the receptionist as it's a first come first serve basis. The counter for booking appointments is near the snack bar.

At the massage reception (eeps we're already sweaty here from trying the hot sauna)

Wet Room I wasn't able to try the wet sauna room and the Green Tea and Hot Ginseng pools anymore because this area needs you to be completely naked. I don't think that I can stand being naked in front of total strangers. There are mostly Koreans who are enjoying the wet area facilities. I couldn't take pictures here because we needed to respect the privacy of the customers. The shower room is in this area as well.

Now we're off to the dry saunas. Before starting our adventure here, we made lamb towels which we put on our heads. It's not really for looking cute, but I observed that it does help in neutralizing my body heat. My face does not feel as hot when I have my lamb towel on.

Entrance to dry sauna

There are 4 rooms of different temperatures here. We were able to try them all, and I can say that the heat in the rooms were very helpful for blood circulation. Let's enumerate the different rooms found here:

Salt & Charcoal Sauna This is the room with the least heat at 49C to 50C but it's still totally hot here as well. There are hot stones on the floor making it even warmer and harder to walk. We were able to lay down here, and after a while we felt all the sweat coming out of our body uncontrollably. I feel that this is good as all the bad toxins must be coming out of my body through the sweat. We stayed here for about 15 minutes. The salt charcoal is said to have good effects on the body which is providing good metabolism, helps in detoxification, and produces good equilibrium between acid and alkali.

Salt & Charcoal Sauna

Benefits of the Salt & Charcoal Sauna

Inside the Salt & Charcoal Sauna

Oak & Clay Sauna This is the second hottest room at 58C, but it's quite tolerable after trying out the Salt and Charcoal Room. The floor is covered with rattan mats and it's not hard to walk here as the floor is not as hot. We were able to lie here for about 10 minutes. This room is perfect for pregnant women three weeks before giving birth because the loess or yellow mud found here helps intensify the body's natural healing process.

Oak & Clay Sauna

Benefits of the Oak & Clay Sauna

The sand in the hourglass indicates about 5 minutes per rotation

Dome Clay Sauna This is the hottest room there is at 70C to 73C. Just one foot in the door and my skin really feels painful from the heat. It's super hard to breathe, and my face feels the most heat out of all my body parts. The first time we went in, we just stayed for a few seconds and still all sweat broke loose. We tried going in for a second time, and it seems that the heat was considerably lowered as we were able to even lie down for a few minutes inside. Either that or our body adjusted quite well already. Our maximum stay here is just 5 minutes. This room features a mineral alkali mud called Chungito which is produced from volcanoes. This mineral is said to contain crystals that invigorate the body and release negative ions.

Dome Clay Sauna

Benefits of the Dome Clay Sauna

Inside the super hot Dome Clay Sauna

Whew, feels like we're being roasted here

Ice Room This is the last one that we tried, because after all the hot saunas it's best to cool down in the ice room. This will bring down your body temperature back to normal. The temperature here is at -14C but we did not really feel the cold as we just came from the super hot saunas. We stayed for about 10 minutes though, and we did start to feel the coldness of the Ice Room so we decided to leave before we started freezing.

Ice Room

Inside the Ice Room

After all the excitement of trying out the dry sauna rooms, it's finally time for our massage. The receptionist called us for our turn, and we were placed in the massage room for 6 pax. Since we only availed of the promo, we were only allowed to try the massages worth P650. This includes the Swedish, Shiatsu, Combination, Deep Tissue, and Lomi Lomi Massage. I availed the Swedish massage as this is the form of massage I am comfortable with ever since. The massage took 1 hour, and it was really very comfortable as I almost fell asleep, which is rare for me when having a massage.

Inside of a massage room

Aside from the massage and saunas, there are different facilities here in Lasema that can be tried. 

Common Area This is where everyone can sit down and relax or just simply play with their gadgets or read a book. You can find here the sleeping areas and the sleeping caves. It's really tempting to directly go to sleep here after the massage.

How the common area looks like

Sleeping caves

Sleeping area

Common Room There are lazyboy chairs found here where most people rest and sleep. There are books and comics found in the shelves, but these are all in Korean so we couldn't read them either.

Room with comfy chairs and Korean books

Snack Area There's a snack area found here in the common area where you can buy Korean cup noodles and juices. Some of my friends tried them out, but it's simply a bit too expensive as one cup noodle costs P60, and so does the juice. Once your order is placed, they will input it in the barcode in your bracelet key, then you will have to pay the amount at the front reception before leaving Lasema. 

Snack area

Internet Station There's a small internet station here with desktops set up where you can go online. However, no one's really using the computers as there's also free Wifi here in Lasema. I guess that's why you can really stay here for as long as 12 hours. You wouldn't want to go home with all these amazing amenities. 

Free internet usage

Korean Restaurant Believe it or not, there's even a Korean restaurant inside Lasema. We weren't able to try it out anymore but this is just so convenient as you can eat anytime you get hungry, though the restaurant is closed late at night.

Entrance to Korean restaurant

Interior of Korean restaurant

Smoking Room For those who can't stand not taking a puff once in a while, there's a smoking room just beside the Ice Room. This is really considerate for the customers who smoke.

A day at the Jjimjilbang really soothes the body. I feel completely relaxed after my sauna and massage experience in one. I feel that the price I paid was really worth it. I would totally purchase again if I see the promo. It's more fun as well since I was with friends. I would totally recommend this place to everyone. It's nice that we can get to experience Korean Jjimjilbang culture without even having to go to Korea. 

Any plans of trying out Lasema Spa & Sauna soon? Tell me about your experience as well!

Ciao!

Kat <3