SPA 1978 (formerly SPA 1899 Donginbi)

The experience

A boutique wellness spa in the KT&G Tower in Daechi, Gangnam, run by the Korea Ginseng Corporation and built around treatments using six-year-old Korean red ginseng — foot soaks, massages, facials and body care. Formerly branded SPA 1899, it now trades as SPA 1978. It is a quiet, reservation-based salon rather than a public bathhouse, with professional therapists and a hushed treatment-room atmosphere.

The most restorative high-end spa hour in Seoul, blending Korean red-ginseng ritual with modern massage in a calm, private setting far from the jjimjilbang bustle.

What a membership adds.

Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.