I Spa — Local services in Irvine

Unfortunately, the quality of this spa has gone down since it's rise in popularity on social media. I have been coming here since 2012, and it's always been so great to have a local Korean spa to go to Now, it's an unfinished, unregulated, and somewhat uncleanly spa that needs to look into safer and cleanlier practices. I am rooting for them to turn things around for the better. In addition, I highly encourage future guests to do their research about Korean spa etiquette before going.

Here are some of the things I observed the last couple of times I've went that I hope can be taken into consideration to make positive changes:

1. Cockroaches in the shower area. I think this is related to the unfinished renovations at the spa or the opened door near the sauna.
2. There's a large blue tarp that acts as a roof over the hot pool/tub, which does not appear to be wind resistant. A blue tarp shouldn't be considered a suitable stand-in for a roof at a spa in my opinion. Granted, any construction always runs behind, but I think it would be best to close the spa to complete some of the essential remodeling.
3. Weekends are the worst days to go in general, so if you want quiet or whisper tone, or some space in the pools, this is not the place to be on a Saturday or Sunday. Crowd control or a reservation system is something they should consider for the weekends.
4. It's still best to go weekdays, but you get some guests who think it's a free zone to bring their phones in the pool area to scroll through social media, take selfies, and talk on the phone. Last I was there, someone had gone to the front desk to tell a staff member about one of the guests being on her phone in the pool area. The staff member told the woman that phones are prohibited in the pool area, but the woman simply replied "I'm not taking pictures of anyone and I'll try be more quiet". The staff member didn't really do much other than repeat the rule to her again nicely and walked away. Truth is, rules about phone use needs to be stricter at ISpa. In my opinion, the guest should have been asked to leave the spa if she was going to continue to be on her phone in a space where everyone is naked.
5. People do not understand that they have to wash themselves before going into the pools, whether you just arrived or are coming out of the saunas. There are at least three signs in the spa area that say to do so. Frankly, people either don't notice those signs or don't know how to read. Maybe the spa should consider having an attendant stationed around the entrance of the pool area to remind people to wash off before going in? Not sure how realistic of a solution that is, but for the newcomers, if you don't know, just ask someone what you should do.
6. When you are at a Korean spa, you must be naked. If you are wearing underwear, a bikini bottom or any form of clothing, it is considered uncleanly and you are contaminating the space. There have been many women, and children, who have worn some form of clothing (even diapers) that go into the pools. There are signs that says no clothing should be worn in the pools, but it is continually overlooked like the "shower before...

I think the facility is huge and really nice inside. I think the masseuses are very hard-working and amazing. They truly have hands of many talents. My problem with this facility is this very rude, conceding, passive aggressive, and immature young girl that doesn’t know what proper customer service is. She calls me asking me to push the reservation back from 7:30pm to 8:00pm and when we arrive she tells us to wait another 15 minutes, so we go in at 8:15pm not being able to use the facility just the service only of the oil massages. We used none of the amenities at all, which is not fair when we paid for it (variety of amenities, including hot tubs, saunas, a cold pool, and a scrub massage and used none of them, which is including in the $125 oil massage.) It was supposed to be a special experience as a first time customer that wanted the same experience as everyone else in the facility. I feel like I was treated less and super disrespected by the front desk associate (see picture below attached.) she refused to give her name. I only asked her that it’s only fair since we only got a 30 minute massage, which I paid for one hour, which is $125 per person and I tipped each masseuse $25, all I asked was to be refunded of the difference of time and she blamed us for showing up at 8pm as she asked us to on the phone. She is basing it on the original appointment and said to be there 7:40pm but how would be there at 7:40pm when she told me to come at 8pm, so that would mean she takes us in at 8:10pm. That is policy of the facility in there terms and conditions. Then, she proceeded to follow me outside to my car and be super disrespectful and I am truly disgusted by this horrible customer service from an associate that is supposed to be so welcoming and kind to their customers. That’s not how you do business at all. The customer is always right. If you look at the camera you will see the time when we got in and when they kicked us out because then they had to close up quickly. We didn’t even get to shower. This service is very rushed and not worth $125 per person when you only did 30 minutes of actual service. That is stealing from the customers and that’s very wrong. I would never recommend coming here because of her. I would never come back to this establishment that didn’t relax me at all, but instead caused so much frustration and anxiety. I don’t feel properly taken care of, but rather agitated at this situation. She could have fixed it right there and then, and be understanding instead of lying to my face and denying the request while being so aggressive and providing a negative experience. I am one not to complain and I am in the service industry myself and I would have never given bad customer service to any human being and would have instead handled it respectfully and professionally. She gives this establishment a bad look and not welcoming at all. She is rudely condescending. I give this establishment a 0 star rating. There was no solution given by any means for customer satisfaction, not even a small certificate to come back and use it, she offered no...

I have always wanted to try ISPA. I did for the first time on Sunday. It was disappointing.

I'm going to write a review to help others have a better experience. There are rules, and they won't tell you until you break them.

When you enter you will remove your shoes and put them in a locker. They will hand you hot pink oversized basketball shorts and t-shirt. They don't give you much help while your trying to remove shoes a hold your stuff. I kept trying to put things in my locker so I could remove my tennis shoes. She said no, than I tried to set it in the ground and she didn't want that as well. Finally, she offered to hold my stuff while snickering at me.

Dress comfortably. I had to work, so it wasn't an ideal time to go. I'm struggling with neck pain and wanted a massage before I went to work. They don't want you to set anything but shoes in locker or on floor. This isn't my culture, but I actually would like to add it, because it makes sense.

They walked me past the waiting room for massage and said to wait there until I'm called. Then we went into another locker room. I had a glass water bottle and she said not to bring anymore because it wasn't safe. Noted! Then she showed my sauna area and left. I had a few minutes before massage so I put on my high fashion shorts and shirts and went into sauna with my phone. I don't like having my phone, but I wasn't sure how to watch my time. I got one dirty looks. Apparently, I broke two rules, no clothes and no phone.

A Manger came and let me know I had been reported. Yikes. I really felt embarrassed and annoyed. I let her know I wasn't aware and that I would happily comply. I also expressed my frustration and said this could have been avoided. Then she took me around the place and explained things to me. This is first where I saw the common area and told I could wear my high fashion clothes. They're hot pink.

I put my phone away. As I was awaiting my massage some one was yelling my locker number. I didn't catch it at first, but I figured it out. My massage was adequate, not specialized. When we were done she pointed to a sign with zelle and venmo number. I told her I didn't have my phone. She didn't understand English well and seemed upset. I just walked awsy andctry to sort it out at the front. I had to ask for a way to tip at front desk. I had to leave, so the gave me an envelope. So I had to run back and drop it off.

I think it seems like a nice place to go. I would just like to know the rules and not be treated like I walked into an Amish community in a bathing suit.

I'll try again. Ill gladly update my review. Thanks to the manager...