Dec 15, 2025 Dec 17, 2025 2025-12-15

One of the nicest perks of being location independent, is that I get to function across a lot of different cultures and, in general, my life experience is significantly more diverse. Today I’m going to share one of these unusual, but nice experiences, with the mention that this is actually part of my current lifestyle.

A Jjim Jil Bang is a traditional Korean bathhouse. It’s one of the most popular places in the Korean social culture. If you ever watched K-drama, chances are that you’ve already seen the interior of a Jjim Jil Bang, because in any K-drama at least one scene is filmed there. Inside Korea, they are spread all over the places, with various sizes and services included. Abroad, they are positioned slightly different, as “affordable luxury experiences”.

For instance, the biggest one in Saigon, Vietnam, called Golden Lotus, is occupying an entire building, with many amenities and activities, but its price is incredibly affordable (a simple breakdown of what you pay is at the end).

What You Can Do at the Jjim Jil Bang

First of all, there is a big communal area, from where all the other amenities unfold. That’s the main differentiator of the Korean bathhouse, its social layer: you share a big room with all the other guests, and sometimes you can even make new connections, or at least spark interesting conversations (but don’t try to push it, the main reason people are there is to relax and unwind).

Hot Rooms

There are 3-4 hot rooms (depending on how you define “hot”).

Volcanic Rock pebbles – this one maintains a temperature between 62-65 degrees Celsius, and the floor is made of volcanic ash, compacted into small pebbles. In the beginning, it’s a bit difficult to adjust your balance, walking on these moving tiny pebbles, which are quite hot, but after a few tries, you will get your balance.

Himalayan Salt – this one has the floor and walls made of Himalayan salt bricks. It also maintains the same temperature between 62-65 degrees Celsius.

Herbal Bags – this one has a slightly “lower” temperature, 60-62 degrees Celsius, and the main feature is the herbal bags hung on the walls, which are releasing nice fragrances (also very healthy, I presume).

Moderate Himalayan Salt – there is an extra Himalayan salt room, in which the temperature is not that high, I think somewhere between 45-50 degrees Celsius, so you can use that as an adjustment layer before going into the really hot ones.

All hot rooms are usually very dimly lit, almost completely dark, except the Himalayan salt rooms, which are on a medium orange frequency.

Cold / Normal Rooms

Cold Igloo – this one is my second favorite room, offering an incredible minus 2 degrees, and walls with actual ice on them. It is used as a contrast to the hot rooms.

Oxygen Room – this is my favorite room. It’s just a normal room with mattresses and pillows but the aircon is pushing in a significant amount of oxygen. In Saigon’s quite polluted atmosphere, this is like a small corner of paradise.

Man / Woman sleeping rooms – these are just normal rooms, but they’re very dimly lit and you’re required to keep quiet. It’s, as the name implies, a space for sleeping and deep rest.

Red Caves – these are very small tunnel-like enclosures, with an infra-red light. It’s the preferred spot to rest in between hot and cold rooms.

Extra Activities – Games, Movies, Work and Fun

Like I said, this specific Jjim Jil Bang is occupying 4 stories on a very spacious building in Thao Dien. The spa is only one level. The rest is filled with restaurant, 2 small cinema rooms, massage rooms, a study cafe (where you can do some deep work), and a generous fun and games area (taking up one of the 3 stories).

What You Should Bring

You don’t need towels, you will get them when you get your entrance bracelet. The same bracelet will be used throughout the spa when you pay extra (for the drinks or games, for example). You can get your phone if you want to, but talking loud is discouraged and in general, the etiquette is that you should be mindful and quiet.

Why You Should Do This

One of the main reasons we’re going there at least 2-3 times a month is obviously recharging and unwinding. But there are obvious health benefits to this too, the hot and cold switching, the Himalayan salt and the oxygen room are a big health plus.

Now, about the price. When you pay, you pay the main entry, not by the hour. Which means you can spend, in theory, at least 10 hours there. In practice, we’re not very far away from this number, usually spending a full day, or about 8 hours there. The entry price for a couple is around 600,000 VND. Add to this two rounds of soft drinks (iced tea, usually) and you get to around 900,000 VND, or 30 EUR/day, for a couple, with a small baby. But it’s usually less than that, because they are running promotions all the time. For instance, the happy hour is giving you 50% discount, and it runs between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM (at the time of writing). We get there before 11 anyway, so most of the time we pay a lot less than 30 EUR.

You do the math.

If you want to enjoy this specific Jjim Jil Bang in Saigon, the easiest way is to follow their Facebook page.