This time, since the finals are coming, I wanted to take it easy and to relax before starting to studying. To do so, I went to a sauna! My friends and I went then to Silloam Fire Pot Sauna (실로암불가마사우나) , which is listed as “ Hot Springs/ Bath Houses/Spas/ Jjimjilbangs ”.
I found on Tripadvisor that Silloam Fire Pot Sauna got an average of 4 on 5 stars. This sauna opened on October 1, 2001, and has since never closed its doors. It is open all year round and its operating hours are from 00:00 to 24:00, so 24 hours!
The address of the sauna is 49, Jungnim-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea (서울특별시 중구 중림로 49 (중림동)) . The admission is free and the Opening date was in May 2011 !
If you want to go there by subway, there are two possible directions. The first one is to stop at Seoul Station (Subway Line 1 & 4; 서울역), Exit 1. Go towards Seobu Station (서부역), go past an overpass, and walk across the street. You will see the sauna on the 5th floor of the building to your right. ” The second one is to stop at Chungjeongno Station (Kyonggi Univ.; 충정로역) (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 5), Exit 5. Continue walking along Jungrim-ro and the sauna is located on the left on Cheongpa-ro 103-gil (청파로 103길).
If you come by car, you have a Parking Facilities which is available. The fees and the hours are pretty actually cheap. Indeed, the daytime ( which start from 05:00 to 20:00 ) is free for up to 6 hours and you only have to pay 1,000 won for each additional hour. The Nighttime ( which is from 20:00 to 12:00 the next day ) is also free for up to 6 hours and again you only have to pay 1,000 won for each additional hour. I found this very cheap ! I wish that I could have a car on that day to avoid the subway ;) !
I found the admission fees on the website and this is a summary: for only the bath the price (adults, kids price is different) it is 8,000 won in the daytime period and 9,000 Won in the nighttime period. For the bath and Jjimjil-bang (Sauna; 찜질방), the price it is 10,000 Won in the daytime period and 15,000 Won in the nighttime period.
In my case, I opted for the bath and Jjimjil-bang (Sauna), didn’t I tell you I wanted to relax before my finals ?
There are several indoor sauna rooms. There are rooms where the temperature is 50 degrees Celsius. Do not ask me how much is it in Fahrenheit, I do not know. Go get it yourself ! Joking aside, there are other rooms where the temperatures are really inhumane, in my opinion. I think I have seen one of 70 degrees, but maybe I’m wrong. Who knows ? You will have to go to check it if you want the answer. Otherwise, there is one cold room, around 10 degrees I think.
On the other side, the baths were genial. Too bad these baths did not make bubbles.
Also, coming out of each sauna, you can go to relax in lounges and enjoy quiet moments. Not very far, if you are of the excited type, there are machines to run and a table to play ping pong. If all this does not interest you, there are still last two options: go get a massage or sit on one of those machine massage chairs !
Enjoy !
Sources :
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=610005 (PICTURES)
Article by Malek from Canada
myHUBS 
I’ve been there many times. It’s relaxing indeed. :)