LOS ANGELES — Wi Spa, with its hot and cold tubs, specialty saunas and napping nooks, has long been a beloved L.A. destination for rest and rejuvenation. Now Koreatown's most popular spa is kicking up its wellness offerings, getting ahead of the self-care trend. Or a head of it.

Wi Spa is opening a head spa. It's more than halfway through construction of Root Head Spa, slated to debut within the next two months. It will be located on the lobby level, in the space that formerly housed a gym, with seven individual treatment rooms.

The idea for this new edition began before the head spa trend became so popular in Los Angeles, says Min Jung, a Wi Spa manager. After researching the various types of head spas, Wi Spa decided to create theirs "in the Japanese Yume Head Spa-style," she says. Treatments will clean, exfoliate and moisturize the scalp, and they will include a gentle head massage. ("Yume" means "dream" in Japanese, a nod to the sleepy state the treatment leaves guests in.)

"But this is not a massage, this is not a head wash, it is actually a scalp treatment," Jung says.

Videos of Chinese and Japanese-inspired head spa treatments started popping up on social media in 2022 — the arc-shaped "waterfall bath" is especially visually intriguing. We chronicled the rise of the trend, which first began proliferating in Asian communities such as Arcadia, San Gabriel, Temple City and Rosemead, in 2024 and 2025 — now there are head spas across the city.

Scrubbing the scalp aids circulation, strengthens hair follicles and helps to prevent dandruff, itchiness and inflammation, among other benefits, practitioners and dermatologists say. In our coverage, we said it "might be the most relaxing spa service in L.A."

An hourlong Wi Spa head spa treatment will cost about $150 to $200, Jung says, adding that prices are not yet set. That's the upper end of average in L.A. for the treatment. Wi Spa's $40 entry fee (which includes access to spa amenities) will not be waived with purchase of the head spa treatment, as it is with other Wi Spa services, such as a body scrub or massage, which typically exceeds $160.

Also in the works: Wi Spa is planning to build a wellness center on its third floor, in what's now a skincare area. The new offering will likely include an infrared sauna and a red light therapy bed, among other things. This past summer Wi Spa also opened a salon for blowouts, called Root Style Bar, adjacent to its women's dressing room. So (cue the violins) guests no longer have to trek out to their car with wet hair or attend post-spa events with a DIY blowout.

Next up: a spa-wide renovation to freshen up existing areas.

In the meantime, visitors may not know: Wi Spa has an "Aescape" AI-powered massage robot on its premises.

We wrote about Aescape when it debuted at Pause, a wellness center in Studio City — it performs a 3D scan of your body to deliver custom robot massages. (Cyborg butt massages are not to be underestimated.) There are now several Aescapes around L.A., including at Equinox gyms. Wi Spa leased theirs this past summer. Guests can book robot massages for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or an hour for $1 a minute, making it more affordable than Wi Spa's manual massage offerings.

We're partial to the most affordable massage option at Wi Spa, however: the plush, blue-lighted massage chairs scattered throughout the spa. Bring cash. It's just $10 for a 30-minute "luxury" full body massage — and it's surprisingly effective.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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