Palace Spa — Attraction in Federal Way

I usually go to Olympus Spa in Lakewood--however, my son wanted to go roller skating, so I dropped him off and went here for a few hours... It was kind of a perplexing place... I went a few years ago just to get a tour and said I'd be back sometime. That sometime was last weekend...

(1) a few years ago, one of the women's baths had been out-of-commission and tarped--I asked about it then, and they said it was being fixed. It was still tarped and out-of-order last week. So they only had 2 baths, one hot & one cold. No lukewarm. You are either HOT or cold.... nothing in-between for relaxing (2) I was told the bathing areas were gender separated and nude. However, when I was there--there were some nude women and others wearing bathing suits. If I had known this, I would have brought a suit. The slack policy made me feel uncomfortable--and then I wished I was wearing one too. Awkward. But helpful to know for future I guess. Olympus Spa is strictly nude in the bathing area. (3) the dry sauna in the women's area was much hotter than the communal saunas. None of the saunas used FIR (far infrared), they all had an oven. So to this point, the shared areas felt unnecessary unless I'd had my husband with me (4) the "ice room" was room temp... so broken or not turned on - pointless. (5) there was some serious staining on the ceiling of the clay sauna - which makes me think the baths upstairs have been leaking. (6) I guess this place used to be Korean owned, but now is Russian or Ukrainian owned, so it was an odd-mix of both. The restaurant had mostly Eastern European dishes and then ramen. The scrub area was manned by Korean women. Most of the patrons I encountered were Ukrainian and spoke Ukrainian. (7) there were directions on the stairs that stated what amenities were on which floors. The restaurant was crossed out, so I thought it was closed, but I went up there anyways, and it was open! Very confusing messaging. All they'd have to do was scratch off the line and maybe more people would eat there...

Overall - this place needs some serious upkeep. If they repaired the bath, the ice room, and maybe added some FIR sauna components or Elvan stone--and added something different and unique like an O2 lounge, water fountain/sound bath area, bul-ga-ma, tea house, or halotherapy room... it would be worth coming back to. But there are enough similar places (Olympus Spa Lakewood/Lynnwood women only, Odessa Spa/Tacoma Banya, Soak & Sage Spa Renton, Yuan Spa Bellevue, Banya 5 Seattle, Salish Lodge Snoqualmie) that you really need to stand out or have nicer amenities. It is, however, the least expensive option of all these if you happen to be on a budget and want to spend the whole day there.

On a side note - went to Houston last Fall and visited Gangnam Spa, which was extraordinary in its offerings. I wish there was someplace like that here. I would go...

Just went here tonight 10/19/2017 to enjoy a relaxing night at the spa with friends to meditate. They advertise they’re open until midnight and we got there around 10:15pm. Around 11:15, the lady from the front counter comes into the bottom floor lounge area and rudely tells us we need to wrap it up and be done and then walks off. Well, they’re open until midnight, so we have plenty of time to do a couple more rooms and shower before they close as we do an Olympus or Bella Luna in Lynnwood. Wrong. At 11:30, she comes down again and says, you need to finish. You still need to shower, so you need to go back upstairs. Because it’s 11:30 and they don’t close until 12:00 as it’s advertised EVERYWHERE, we did one more room before heading up to shower. Finished showering and came out to give the key back and leave and she reprimands us for staying in there because we need to leave the building by 11:45!! They advertise on every social media site, google, And their establishment that they close at midnight. So why are they telling us we have to leave at 11:45? I asked the lady at the front desk why that was the case since it’s advertised everywhere and she told me when I called that they close at midnight, and she said that she and the staff want to be out at midnight so customers have to be out at 11:45!! This is no way to run a business! Me and my friend have been here before and had the same issue with the time and them wanting to kick us out early. I get wanting to go home, but don’t advertise one thing and do another! We also found a big ball of hair and what looked like fluids of some sort in the warm pool and were unable to use the warm pool. The clothing smells weird. And the rooms look poorly put together. Overall, we wouldn’t have gone here again, but because Olympus closes early and we work late and Bella Luna is closed for reconstruction, we decided to give it another shot. Not surprised by the lack of change in behavior or upkeep or overall quality, but still highly disappointed because this was supposed to be relaxing, but it just ended in an argument with the staff about posted correct close times and not being rude to the paying customers. Unfortunately, the people on staff are incapable of customer service and don’t appear to want to change that, and they aren’t able to upkeep with the level of cleanliness expected for an establishment that has clients that will be nude and exposed to all sorts of things. At my business, we don’t kick people out until they are fully helped and ready to go, we don’t lock the door until the time that we advertise, and although we don’t deal with the same services, we still keep it clean at all times for the benefit of the customer, because the customer is important to keep the...

The spa was really very nice and relaxing. First you walk in and the receptionist is very nice and explained everything. There you can see the current spa menu and pricing. They offer the use of the spa, massages, body scrubs, and facials. The entry fee is $30 and permits use of the spa for 4 hours. There you will be given a key on a bracelet for two lockers, a set of cotton loose fitting shorts and shirt and 2 towels. One key is for your shoe locker and one is for your other items. After depositing your shoes you go into male or female locker room. The women's locker room was VERY CLEAN and has a separate meditation/nap room, changing area, bathroom, and vanity stations. Here you can undress and stow your belongings in your larger locker. Clothes are not permitted in the spa, this includes swimsuits. Phones are also not permitted for privacy. No one will look at you funny so try to relax. The atmosphere is super nonjudgmental. Then you enter the shower where body wash, shampoo, and conditioner are provided. After that there are 3 tubs one hot, one warm, and one cold. The cold tub is the only one without jets. There is also a steam sauna, cedar dry sauna, japanese style sitdown shower area, and a body scrub area for treatments. After using the spa you can dry off with the provided towels cotton swabs, and hair dryers and put on your spa clothes and go downstairs where the coed saunas and lounge are. They are all dry saunas. One is clay, one is amythest, one is cold, and one is Himalayan salt. There are also massage chairs, magazines, and quiet television. If you book a massage the massage rooms are down here and they do have one for couples. Honestly I really liked my stay here I had an excellent shiatsu massage given by Nana, and a fabulous time in the clean facilities and will definitely be back. My male friend who came said the men's side was just as good and his shiatsu by Joy was great for his back. My only complaint is the website is not up to date and since the covid shutdown they have been unable to open the on site restaurant. There are plenty of good Korean food places nearby though so it wasn't a problem. Nearby there is also a restaurant called Palace so be sure to keep driving down the road, I promise the spa is just a few blocks away. I would add pictures but alas no...