Types of Spas Explained: Day, Resort, Nordic, Korean and More

“Spa” covers a lot of ground. A hotel spa and a Korean bathhouse have almost nothing in common, and the type tells you a lot about how your day will go, including what you’ll wear. Here’s a map.

The types you’ll see in the US

The International Spa Association (ISPA) sorts spas into a handful of types. In plain English:

• Day spa. Professional spa services on a day-use basis. You book, come in, and go home the same day.
• Resort or hotel spa. A spa inside a resort or hotel, offering spa, fitness and wellness services. If you’re staying there, ask whether hotel guests get access to the facilities.
• Club spa. A fitness club first. Exercise is its main purpose, and it also offers spa services on a day-use basis.
• Destination spa. Built around programs that combine spa services, fitness and wellness education, to help guests build healthier habits.
• Mineral springs spa. Uses natural mineral, thermal or sea water on site for hydrotherapy.
• Medical spa. Has a licensed health care professional on site full time. That makes it more clinical than a hot-room day, so it isn’t the one I’d pick for this.

Styles with their own rules

Some spas follow a bathing tradition from another country. Each comes with its own customs, especially about clothes.

• Nordic-style (thermal circuit). Hot rooms, a cold plunge and a rest area, and you repeat the loop a few times. In the US, the Nordic-style spas that publish their rules require swimwear in the shared areas, so don’t count on one for clothing optional.
• Korean bathhouse (jjimjilbang). A gender-separated bathing area with hot tubs, showers and saunas, where bathing is nude. Everywhere else is shared by everyone, and you wear the T-shirt and shorts the spa gives you, along with themed heat rooms, a place to eat and a place to nap.
• Japanese onsen and sento. Hot springs (onsen) and neighborhood bathhouses (sento). Bathing is nude in most of them, with gender-separated baths, and you wash thoroughly before you get in.
• Hammam. The Turkish bathing tradition. You wear a cotton wrap, then get steam on a heated marble platform, a scrub with a mitt, and a foamy soap massage, with attendants of your own sex.

Which one fits what you want

• A classic hot and cold day with friends: a Nordic-style spa, or a resort or day spa with a good set of hot rooms. Ask which amenities it has, including a cold plunge.
• Clothing optional: look at Korean-style and Japanese-style baths, and at resort and day spas with gender-separated areas. Every spa sets its own rules, so check. Here’s how to find one.
• Just a massage: a day spa or a hotel spa will do it. Here’s what to ask before you book.

Sources

• ISPA glossary of spa types
• Jjimjilbang (Wikipedia) and The Dos and Don’ts of Korean Spas (Afar, 2015)
• Onsen Hot Springs: On Tattoos and Etiquette (Japan National Tourism Organization) and Enjoy Bath Culture in Japan (JNTO)
• Turkish Hammam Wellness Guide (Go Türkiye) and Turkish hamam etiquette (Daily Sabah)
• Nordic-style spa rules: the Denver Nordic Spa FAQ, The Alaska Club’s Nordic spa page and Immunity Health’s thermal cycle page