Situated on the 5th floor of Grande Centre Point Hotel at Thong Lo, this Let’s Relax Spa outlet is the only one in Bangkok that has an onsen facility (the other one is located in Pattaya). Since my husband and I had never had an actual onsen experience before, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get a taster before we ever try it out in Japan (and hopefully the people here will be less offended if we accidentally mess up, heh).
After purchasing discounted Klook vouchers that included a massage and access to the onsen, we needed to make our own reservation for our preferred date and time. This was easily done via email and the response time was pretty fast.
- Inclusions:
- Onsen access (one-time entry only) for 2
- 60-minute aromatherapy oil massage for 2
- Spent: SGD$114.03
I immediately felt the zen the moment I stepped through the doors as we were greeted with light wood interiors, soothing colour palettes and a general hush in the spaces here. Once the reception staff verified our Klook vouchers, they handed us our locker bracelets and showed us to a dedicated shoe room to exchange our shoes for tatami slippers.
The onsen facilities are located up the stairs so that’s where we went to collect our tote bags comprising a jinbei, a large brown towel and a small white towel. We then proceeded to our respective changing rooms to deposit our belongings and change out completely. Ladies with long hair are required to tie it up such that it doesn’t come into contact with the water (remove all jewellery too). Vanity counters with hairdryers are also readily available.
Shower and soap yourself thoroughly first before heading into the onsen area. If you’re uncomfortable baring it all, you can try using the tiny white towel to shield yourself, albeit ineffectively given its limited surface area. There is a recommended onsen route that the staff introduces at the tote bag collection counter but feel free to enjoy whichever element you like in your preferred sequence.
Only the changing rooms, lockers and onsen areas are gender-segregated while the relaxation room, hot stonebed bath and cool down room are unisex (put on your jinbei to use these shared facilities). My husband and I explored the onsen area on our own before meeting up at the relaxation room. We then tried out the hot stonebed bath, where we placed a towel on the super heated ground and lied down on it. I couldn’t take it after a mere two minutes as it was really warm and stuffy inside, so we ended up in the cool down room to cool off. Temperatures are clearly displayed in these rooms so you have a better idea of what to expect.
We were told to report back to the reception counter for our massage five minutes before the designated start time. While we waited for our masseuses to arrive, we helped ourselves to the yummy snacks there. Our masseuses got us to choose our preferred massage oils (‘relaxing’ for him and ‘lavender’ for me) and ushered us to a couple room, which unfortunately didn’t have heated massage beds.
I was thankful to have a skillful masseuse who adjusted her pressure wonderfully and hit all the right spots that were sore from walking the markets. Her hands were a little cold though. My husband also remarked that his masseuse made him feel incredibly relaxed.
Upon concluding our massage, they served us tea along with their signature mango sticky rice, which was delicious just like the one we had at the Siam Square One outlet. We then changed out of our jinbei and returned our tote bag items. They seem to have quite an impressive system as the moment we tapped our locker bracelets out, a staff came by to direct us to the reception counter to collect a ticket with our bracelet number on it. After a few moments of bewilderment, the staff clarified that we were to use it to exchange for our shoes from the shoe room.
Service was great as all the staff we interacted with were really nice and helpful. As we were headed to Jodd Fairs Night Market next, one of the reception staff helped us figure out which location pin to select on Grab as there were so many options mostly written in Thai. While we waited for our ride to arrive, a lady dressed from head to toe in striking pink (who appeared to be the owner of this place) warmly invited us to partake of the snacks and water. She explained that there are usually three different types of snacks available but one of the jars broke so they had to make do with serving two for the time being.
My overall rating of the experience: 5 out of 5 stars. The onsen facilities and treatment room we were in looked clean and well-maintained. I appreciated the fact that they had clear instructions on using the onsen facilities given that it was our first time experiencing it. Initially, it was a little disconcerting seeing the other ladies strutting around in their birthday suits but I got used to it after a while. Our masseuses were really skilful and competent too, and we were given plenty of time to shower and change so we didn’t feel hurried. The staff we had the pleasure of interacting with were so gracious and ready to assist, making us feel very welcome. Not forgetting the delectable signature mango sticky rice treat to round up our time here (: Definitely a worthy recommendation!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 