by Devon Scoble

Tired of dry skin and frozen toes? Then burn your blues away Korean-styles, taking the princess treatment in superheated jade and gold-plated chambers.

Long host to a tradition of public bathing and social sweating, Korea’s hottest communal clean has found a new home in Toronto’s industrial district. Sharing a lane with ACME Shelving Company, Seoul Garden Jimjilbang’s location is an unlikely spot for a spa. But weave your way through the sketchy factory parking lot and you will be duly rewarded: a hot bath, heated floors, movies, arcade games and admission to a plethora of gem-laden rooms are yours for only $20. The best part: Seoul Garden is mixed-gender, all-ages and open 24 hours, so you can bring your friends or family and lounge as long as you’d like.

As in Korea, patrons are issued a standard uniform on arrival; loose shorts and an oversized t-shirt (peach for ladies, grey for guys), and are reminded to don these before crossing into shared space. Then they are ushered to one of the gender-specific change rooms, each complete with lockers, washroom, and a simple bathing area.

In Korea, this section of the jimjilbang is often the most elaborate, with multiple pools—cool, warm, hot and hotter—steam centres, heated herb rooms and rows of showers. With a single four-person hot tub and a few shower stalls, the bathing section of Seoul Garden is simple and functional, but not the complex’s main attraction. Take a trip to the washroom, though, and you will find one rare gem: a fully-functioning digital toilet, its heated seat, adjustable bidet, air-dryer and deodorizer offering a unique elimination experience.

But don’t linger too long in the loo, because the best part of Seoul Garden lies beyond the locker rooms.

Framed by a snack counter on one end, and arcade games, a pool table, exercise machines, leather couches and flat-screen TVs on both sides, a long recreation room offers a space for gaming and noodle-slurping, and leads to the heated chamber that is undoubtedly the highlight of Seoul Garden.

Enter, and a waft of warm air welcomes, the ondol, or heated floor inviting you to grab a rush mat and lounge a little, or lay down a yoga mat and get your Bikram on. Once adjusted to the heat of the ondol, turn up the heat by entering one of five adjoining alcoves. Ranging from 42 to 98 degrees Celsius, each healing haven is covered in gems or minerals purported to have thereupeutic properties. With elvan stone to enhance your metabolism, gold for your concentratation, jade to aid digestion, energizing crystals, and detoxifying yellow clay, you should feel pretty good by the time you’re ready to reintegrate your internal thermometer with a trip to the ice room.

Given the prominence of Toronto’s Korean population and the chill of its winters, it’s a wonder the city didn’t get a jimjilbang sooner.

The idea to launch Seoul Garden is over 4 years old, but according to General Manager, Byung Gwon, it took a long time to get the jimjilbang running. The biggest hurdle? Convincing city officials that a mixed gender-sauna is not an illicit establishment, but a place to have good, clean fun.

“Toronto is a weird city”, said Gwon, explaining that the jimjilbang concept had never been tested in Toronto, a city with plenty of spas and a number of bathhouses, but no unisex public saunas.

“This is not Japan,” was one city bureaucrat’s response to the first business plan, prompting Gwon and his team to create a power point presentation to remind city officials that Korea is a conservative country, and its bathing traditions pose no threat to Toronto the Good.

Once city brass were assured that the jimjilbang’s naked zones: bathing, bathroom and change areas, would be strictly sex-segregated, licensing was underway. It took 3 years to complete the process, but 2  years after opening, Seoul Garden is proving quite popular, especially when temperatures drop below zero.

With plans to expand the bathing areas, Seoul Garden Jimjilbang is set to grow into an even bigger version of what it already is: a relaxing place to sweat and socialize, and a toasty antidote to winter’s chill.   

http://ilovesauna.com/
382 Magnetic Drive
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 2C4
416-514-1965′