Written on March 12, 2012 at 7:04 am by Christine Ka'aloa

Is Siloam Sauna the best jjimjilbang in Seoul?

Filed under * Korea tips & stays, Accommodations, Glam Around the World {30 comments}

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Siloam Spa at night

So, I’ve promised some of you the inside tip on the best jjimjilbang in Seoul…

After the disappointment of Seoul’s much hyped Dragon Hill Spa, I was reluctant to return for another night of overnight non-thrill on a hard wood floor. However, I still wanted to stay at a jjimjilbang and enjoy the Korean bathing culture. Fortunately, a friend offered me an alternative suggestion…

From the outside, Siloam Sauna may not look like much. In fact, you may think you’re walking into a shady neighborhood jjimjilbang dive or a love motel. But step inside and explore its five floors of therapeutic health, bathhouse washing and 24 hour sleeping rooms and you’ll feel like you’ve hit the hidden jackpot of luxurious j-bang finds!

Korea and the English language: a mysterious and confusing combination.

Sometimes, Koreans like to wear English words they don’t understand. Other times, they like to surprise you by busting your chops on complex English terms, that would elicit a Google search for meaning.

I stood outside the jjimjilbang with dropped jaw, staring at the sign:

Sauna & Fomentation

Sauna. I get it. For me, it inspires the vivid childhood memory of sweat detoxification and the smells of crisp oak paneling, as beads of perspiration drooled off my forehead while I sat in a small, dark, heated box that my father built in our house. (Yes. My father built a sauna sweatbox in our house).

But “Fomentation”?

‘Genius’ points to the person, who solves this riddle, without cracking open a dictionary…

Three cool features of Siloam Sauna:

1. Saunas and Fomentation

Bouncing from sauna room to sauna room, sampling the various environmental benefits, could occupy you for well over a day. In fact, Koreans are even known to nap and sleep in them!

fo·men·ta·tion (noun)
1. The act of fomenting; incitement. 2. a. A substance or material used as a warm, moist medicinal compress; a poultice.b. The therapeutic application of warmth and moisture, as to relieve pain.

Siloam‘s saunas apply more than just heat, but claim to offer therapeutic properties, as well. In basic, it unfolds an amusement park of sauna rooms laden with a plethora of healing attributes from salt to mineral rocks, ice and oxygen. I passed out for nearly an hour in an air-conditioned room, called the Charcoal Cold Room (not pictured), surrounded by wall to ceiling coverings of charcoal. Charcoal is said to have many purifying and oxygenating properties. I believe it. I emerged feeling rested, replenished and much clearer and balanced than I was, going in!

Here are a few (but not all) of the other rooms I checked out:

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The Ice Room

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The heated Elvan Jade Room: Elvan jade is a mineral rock, whose properties claim to help discharge waste and ease arthritis and muscle pain. Notice how one woman has put the gravel on her body.

The Den Room: infrared rays help with rheumatoid arthritis, backaches, stiff shoulders, etc…

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The heated salt room

2. When a bath house is a spa

Let’s get down to the deep scrub! Anything which says it will revive young skin, induce health benefits or rejuvenate me, between my lather, definitely earns a ‘thumbs up’. Shower stalls and sit-down scrubbing stations are standard decor in any Korean bathhouse joint, as are heated pools and jacuzzis to soak in, accompanied by an ice water pool to shock your skin awake after its shriveled.

With Siloam‘s bathhouse, you get three heated medicinal baths to choose from:

• a wormwood bath to help aid menstrual pains,

• a charcoal bath for improved circulation, extracting impurities, and help support the metabolism and anti-aging

• a jade bath to induce peace and tranquility.

(note: There are potentially more listed on the site, but these three are the only ones I saw.)

The bath houses also house :

• jacuzzi tub

• a mist sauna

• a waterfall shower

Do these mineral bathing pools really work?

Korean spas swear by them.

But personally, depending on the mineral, sometimes you feel a difference in them; sometimes, you don’t.

3. The best jjimjilbang sleepover in Korea

Most jjimjilbangs offer only floor space, a blanket and a wooden block pillow for your overnight sleep. What makes Siloam unique is that it offers sleep rooms with individual beds.

Although j-bangers are welcome to spread out on any floor (read here) or even crash in the saunas, Siloam‘s fifth floor holds the official sleeping rooms. With over 300 individual bunks per room, the rooms sport air purifiers, humidifiers, thermometers, to make for an awesome night’s sleep!

How awesome was it?

Perhaps, all the healing properties in the building and the climate/ air-controlled room has something to do with the sleep you experience at Siloam. What I experienced was exceptional for what it was in a dorm-like accommodation. I had a very deep and restful sleep, more than I’ve ever experienced in a hotel.

Siloam Sauna’s Rooms for Sleepers vs. Snorers

Here’s the funny but kinda cool part…

Do you snore?

The rooms are separated according to three types of sleepers: Women, Men and Snorers. Yes, there’s a “Snorer’s Room”, for when your sleep rattles and shakes others!

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Rest and entertainment areas

sleeping room bunk beds: light is in actuality, a bit lower for sleeping comfort.

The best feature of Siloam Sauna?

After telling you all of what Siloam offers in overnight accommodation and bathhouse/sauna pampering you’ll probably want to visit. But what will change your walk into a run?

The price. Ready for it?

13,000 Won (or about $12.60 USD)

Now most j-bangs overnight stays are priced in this range and even Dragon Hill comes in a bit leaner at 12,000 Won. What sets Siloam apart from the rest is really the comfy ‘bunk bed’ accommodations vs the standard wooden floor.

Throw some “fomentation” in there and hey, it’s the best and most rocking j-bang in town!

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Do you have a favorite bathhouse or jjimjilbang in Seoul?

Information:

Siloam Fire Pot Sauna (Seoul, South Korea)
website: www.siloamsauna.com
Hours: 24 hours
Entrance Fee:
After 5am
Bath (Adult) : 8,000 won; Bath+ Sauna (Adult) : 10,000 won
After 8pm
Bath (Adult) : 9,000 won; Bath+ Sauna (Adult) : 13,000 won

Directions (Map here)
By Subway:
Line 1, Line 4, Seoul Station, Exit 1, 5 minutes walk
Line 2, Line 5, Chungjeongro Station, Exit 5, 5 minutes walk

The White Sheets Reviews are Grrrl Traveler recommendations of guesthouses, hostels and hotels I’ve stayed at. Selections are based on their cleanliness (‘white sheets‘), service, hospitality and budget.