'Where I am Spending National Relaxation Day: Spa Castle!'

Today is national relaxation day-- a day I recently discovered-- and there's really only one place I can think of wanting to spend it: Spa Castle, a self-described Korean "spa and water park" in College Point, Queens. This is a subject I feel pretty qualified to discuss: I travel to Spa Castle frequently, I also am given to spending long portions of dinner parties, train rides, and boring movies talking up its charms.

The lead for the New York Times piece that first introduced me to the Spa Castle lifestyle-- "THIS is the best night of my life!"-- proved pretty accurate for me. Unlike a standard spa or spa retreat, Spa Castle (sometimes called Inspa World, the spa's original name, and still in use indiscriminately throughout the place on signs, uniforms and packaging) is not primarily about getting Golden Caviar Pore Refining Facials, or Collagen Eye Treatments, or a cleansing fast, though you can do those things there. And it's not filled with huge water slides either - though you can rent a raft to whirl around a 20 foot long circular water swirl. It's about a relaxation journey in a foreign land.

Spa Castle was started and owned by a Queens architect and developer Steve Chon, who, according the New York Times is planning on opening 19 more spas, the next in Dallas. I haven't seen any indication of Dallas, though the website (tagline: Welcome To Paradise!) has intriguing photos of an upcoming Spa Castle Pocono, to be developed over the next 3 to 5 years. "Spa Castle Pocono will be suburban place with culture, sport and recreation programs for a health life," the site proclaims "wheras Spa Castle N.Y. is an urban place for families and lovers." [sic]

Upon entrance ($35 dollars during the week, $45 on the weekend, open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight) you're instructed to put your money, clothes, cell phone and wristwatch in your locker. In exchange, they give you a uniform (grey for men, pink for women, yellow for kids) and a fake watch that serves as a your locker key and charge card while inside. It doesn't tell the time. There are a list of rules in the locker rooms, including a no-discrimination order illustrated by a sketch of 5 yellow ducklings turning their backs on a black duckling. You can dip in a series of plunge pools (from icy cold to scalding) and a daily rotating herbal health bath (think "ginger! for relaxation").

On the second floor there's Sauna Land. Some of the wonders: a Gold Sauna (made with 96% gold tiles, which apparently sucks out bad energy), a Color Therapy sauna where you sit in heated cubicles glowing red, blue, green, lavender, and so on with "mood boosting" effects, and a Jade Sauna (according to the signs, good for high blood pressure, paralysis and athlete's foot.) To cool off, there's an igloo lined with icy pipes and blue tile.

The whole of Sauna land resembles a series of giant sparkling gum drops. Hungry? There are 5 places to get food, ranging from a full Korean restaurant on the top floor to a swim-up bar where you can order ice cream sundaes and grilled corn while lolling about in warm, jet filled water. If you're tired, there are three designated sleeping areas. The most surreal of these is dark, and filled with massive leather recliners each connected to a small tv that hovers over you while lying down. The tvs don't have headphones or volume controls, but you can change the channel. I drifted off there while watching The Breakfast Club and the air was filled with a soft unintelligible hum from the neighboring tvs.

On the roof deck there are a series of swirl pools and baths. I like the 300 year old pine bath, which is, a nearby sign says, "like taking a bath in the forest." (White swimsuits should not be worn, the sign further cautions. They will turn brown.) It's not really like taking a bath in the forest-- but as you sit, and smell the piney spicy scent and feel the percolating bubbles and stare at the fake illuminated columns, you feel a bit like you're taking a bath in the woods of an alternate dimension.

A fellow Spa Castle voyager described the best part of the experience like so: "The palpable sense that when you are there you are living and moving about in an entirely different reality."

One thing I've noticed is that after a couple of hours at Spa Castle, people start acting so happy and relaxed (and let's face it, a little weird) that I start to feel glad there are so many employees standing around in uniform, soberly keeping an eye on things. Once when I was in Sauna Land, I overheated and took my uniform top off (I was wearing a swimsuit underneath). A guard politely followed me into the Sauna and firmly suggested I put it back on.

Another time, when it was nearing sunset, a man approached the pine forest bath, dipped his hand in and tasted the water. At night the roof deck is lit up with the same colors used in the color therapy sauna, and you start to look around noticing that everyone looks wildly happy. It's not like I really understand or believe in the technical benefits of color therapy, say-- but you start to have this gnawing sensation that it all makes sense. It's an interesting feeling -- I recommend it.

Comments

[PatA]

Santa Fe, NM, has a "mini version" of this.....very mini, but wonderful.

[cinemaven]

HuffPost's Pick

I have to admit, I put off even clicking on this article because I was thinking that it was some swanky overpriced spa that was out of reach...
$35 dollars during the week, $45 on the weekend

That's amazing
We're in the middle of our tightest monetary squeeze ever for our family but even I could find $35 for something like this every few months as needed, I only wish we had one here.

Thanks for sharing this... I actually mapquested *lol* I'm 9 hours away and I have some hotel points....

[wietog]

OMG I want to go so bad! Build one out here in the PNW! Or maybe I should...

[kathye]

Yes, when will they get out west?! Sounds like a plus to our stressed out lives.

[Shirley Fisk]

8/15/09
2:05pm
Sunny Isles Beach, FL

Oh, that's nothing.

I am able to move about in an entirely different reality without going to a spa.
ID theft has made it all possible.

Pardon me if I don't say thanks to the ID thieves when I catch up to them. Jerks.

[chrislarry]

Wow! How about some of you commentors relax a bit huh? Attacks on her name, needing a political agenda for every story? Chill.

Spa Castle rules by the way. One of New York Cities great outer borough attractions.

[Jonathan Grand]

Yes, that's great. But what is the political relevance of this story?

[CynAnne]

Oh, Lila..I love your description of Spa Castle! A hedonists paradise, with healthful benefits (bonus points)..where do I sign up..?!? ;) ...

[thinkagain2]

I did NOT get the memo on this.

Does this mean I don't have to clean the garage today??