“Welcome to paradise!” the brochures for InSpa World & Water Park trumpet. Boasting gold-lined saunas, rocks from the Himalayas, LED color therapy rooms and 40 different acupressure jets never before seen in the United States, it’s been dubbed a “monster spa” by the New York Times. Spanning 60,000 square feet, the site took three years to build at a whopping cost of $30 million.

 

Bigger, the owners believe, means better.

 

Jjimjilbangs refer to public bathhouses with the traditional gender-segregated facilities of mokyoktangs, along with large co-ed areas that can feature gyms, nail salons and heated rooms lined with exotic rocks, gemstones and precious metals. The newest and flashiest jjimjilbangs such as InSpa World are now styling themselves as spas and luringcustomers with European facials, Thai and Swedish massage treatments and juice bars, all in addition to ttaemiri, the vigorous, traditional scrub that any self-respecting Korean cannot go without.

 

A 20-minute train ride from Manhattan, InSpa World is located in an obscure residential neighborhood in College Point, near the town of Flushing in the borough of Queens. From the outside, the building looks as if it was formerly a hotel or a department store. Inside, the spa reveals itself, floor by floor, to be a veritable Disneyland of relaxation.

“This is the biggest Korean spa in the U.S.,” claims general manager Jean Choe, leading a reporter on a tour. “It’s one-of-a-kind.”

 

The megaspa is owned by a trio of brothers. One of them, Steve Chun, is a professional architect who spent several years researching spas in Europe, Korea and China.

 

“We wanted to introduce the Korean bath culture to America,” Choe explains when asked about the mission behind opening InSpa World. “Plus, it’s a good business.”

 

On the first floor are seven different saunas. There is a sauna lined in gold and another dome-like structure studded inside and out with colorful chunks of jade. In another area, the Far Infrared Sauna beams a red light onto supine patrons. (The infrared rays are similar to that found in sunlight, without the ultraviolet radiation. The light is supposed to simulate heat and help the body perspire.) The Ice Land Sauna claims to tone cellulite, while the Loess Sauna, made of yellow mud from Korea, is believed to aid in blood circulation.

 

Laying about the spa are men and women dozing on leather couches or reclining on lounge chairs watching individual television sets. The clientele are of all colors, shapes and sizes. Choe explained that when the spa opened two years ago, most of the clientele was Korean. But after advertising in various media outlets, the demographics have shifted to about 30-percent Asian and 70-percent non-Asian.

 

The men are all wearing gray T-shirts and navy shorts, while the women are in pink T-shirts and orange basketball-like shorts that come down to their knees. Those not familiar with the practice might not recognize the required uniforms as a common tradition at Korean saunas, where visitors are usually handed the garments once they check in.