Paradise Sauna

My wife and I were strolling the neighborhood and thought we’d peek in to see whether it’s worth visiting. From the outside, it looks really scary/​shady rough exterior with paint peeling and filthy windows. To set the scene, if you’ve ever seen the movie «the Shining», this place will be very familiar with long dimly lit hall except instead of an elevator opening up to a wave of blood, it is followed by an extremely rude old Korean lady/​bag who is unwilling to meet a simple request to walk through the facilities. When asked, she pushed forward a yellow sheet of paper listed what the place has, but I doubt it could resemble anything I could imagine. A picture would have been smarter –they were lucky I even walked in — whats wrong with these people?! In all seriousness, go to King Spa in Niles if you want a cleaner more positive/​professional experience. Paradise, this place this not and will never get my business.

If I could give negative stars I would. The spa now closes at 4 pm every day which is not noted anywhere online. I found out after driving there for an hour. Arrived five minutes before closing and asked if I could at least see it. The woman owner is extremely rude, unprofessional and yelled at me saying she doesn’t want me to see it that I have to come back, pay for it and then have a tour. She asked her husband to kick me out after I asked her why she doesn’t want to conduct her business in a proper professional manner. If you want to relax and enjoy your time don’t even think of coming to this awful service place. No matter how good the spa might be, you come there to relax and be treated properly not to be yelled at. Very negative energy place. They will probably run out of business very soon.

This place mainly lacks cleanliness. The whole place is old, smelly and needs a major upgrade. The dry-​sauna is not hot enough. Since it is right next to the whirlpool, it is very hard to relax as the noise of the bubbling water penetrates into the sauna cabin. There is a water fountain but the paper-​cups are about the size of a tequila shot recipient. If you can you should spend your $ 25 on one of the other sauna’s in the city, because I think most of them are of much better quality.

The snarky unprofessional woman who runs this place is a liar. Their business is open until 10:00 PM on Saturday and when I showed up there at 4:30 the steam room and sauna were COLD. The woman took our money, acting as if she is doing us a favor, and when I asked her why the rooms were cold she lied that they close at 4:00. Ok — so then why do you take my money, if your business is closed?!
I asked her to return our money and she refused to do it. The audacity she had and complete lack of common sense of how to run a business was astounding.
Better to go to any of the other places available in Chicago. She was extremely rude.
Still cannot wrap my mind about the fact that someone would lie when their business closes. Insane.

I am so very disappointed with the lack of service. I called AS A CUSTOMER, to ask about pricing and services. I asked if they have a website, and the woman hung up on me. I called back and the phone went to v.mail. So, I tried her from my cell phone. I explained I am trying to find out more about her services as a customer, and she hung up on me again. Whatever. Apparently this place doesn’t need customers.

Okay. If they want to make $$$ they need to work on their business practices.
On July 9, I stopped by to get a sense of the place since there is no website. I was greeted by a surly old Korean woman who didn’t answer my questions just told me to take a pamplet, which is actually just a sheet of paper explaining the glories of taking a sauna bath.
It’s $ 25 for a visit. Wanna spring for a year membership? $ 1800 or $ 1000 for six months.
No scrubs or massages.
On July 11, after a looooong week at my computer and fighting traffic for an hour, I arrived at 8:15p.m. only to be told by the same surly old woman they were closed.
Huh? I thought you were open until 10 p.m.
No. That’s only for men. Come back tomorrow.
Thinking there was subtext to this rejection, I called and asked. Sure enough she said she was closing at nine.
Forget it. I’ll just go the extra mile and go to King’s spa, where I know I’ll get the full deal.

I came in with the expectations of an nice upgrade after renovation but the place is extremely basic. Three pools, communital shower, one steamroom, two dry saunas (lots of sexual tensions from other patrons), and relaxation room with «Plastic» lounge chairs. ARE you kidding me? Red Square, King Sauna will do this much better at even cheaper prices and nicer amenities. You got great location but $ 25 is too much to pay for your facility.

I went back to Paradise yesterday, not knowing there had been a change of ownership and renovations had taken place. I went because I had the time and thought it might be my last time, given the steep decline the place had been undergoing and my sorrow that somewhere I loved for +20 years was dying. Immediately upon entering I noticed the new guy at the counter and the different paint job at reception. I asked the new guy if it had been sold and he said no. Ok, weird answer, but I suspect he speaks 5 words of English… When I entered the lunchroom I noticed the signs were down from the walls and the lunch table had moved across the room. Ok. Then I entered the locker room and — the disgusting carpet was gone, replaced with pergo flooring. Wow, progress. The dressing room/​washroom had painted the toilet doors dark purple — funny. When I went into the ‘wet area’ I noticed immediately that the shower dividers were gone Ok. but the moldy caving in tile around the faucet was replaced and the shelves that hold the shampoo were replaced with shelves that are actually level. Yea! I walked into the dry sauna, noticing a new door, but when I got in I saw the new floor, some reinforced areas around the heater and a protective screen above the heater. I spent ½ hour in there luxuriating in the heat and the went into the steam room. WOW — the decrepit tile benches were retiled!!! I have been waiting for that to happen for +10 years. The hot and cold pools were no longer cloudy and the whirlpool was CLEAN and sublime. There is still work to do at Paradise Sauna, but they are addressing the really important issues. Please put the hose back on the spigot in the steam room, get some new chairs in the break room and nap room and you will have me back as a regular customer — even though I now have a steam room & whirlpool at home that I use +5 times a week.

So greateful to see MANY long-​needed renovations to this time-​honored venue. A great place to chill and relax after a long Chicago day. When the temps are hot, you can cool down. When it’s cold, there are tubs of varying temperatures to warm up. Guests are friendly and respectful; guys should know that there is a fair amount of nudity, so deal with it or use your washcloth to cover up. Deal, gents.

I used to go where before the renovations. Before, things were getting a bit out of control. Seeing mold on the ceiling, the steam and dry sauna not as clean as they should be, water temps in the cold/​hot dips not where they should be, etc.
After the reno’s (opened up the locker room, repainted the ceiling over the hot/​cold dips where mold resided, cleaned up the relaxation/​sleeping room butother than that it is still the same place.
If looking for a quick relax, it is ok to go to. There are much better spa out there if you truly want that spa feel.

The leather chars have been replaced with lawn loungers. Seedier every time I go. Mold growing (and smell) in the steam room. This place is stuck in the 80’s and needs a MAJOR overhaul.

Can’t believe I forgot to review these guys. They are horrible! I came here the day before my wedding for some last minute exfoliation. I made the appointment about 30 minutes in advance (on a weekday morning), and although I headed up there immediately I hit some good old Chicago traffic which made me about 10 – 15 minutes late. The guy at the desk barked at some woman, who barked back at him (all in Korean), and after a few minutes of yelling at each other the guy just said «too late» and went back to reading something. I begged and pleaded to let me do a short session (I REALLY needed it) but he just shook his head and went back to ignoring me. Jerks.

Visited May 6 2013. Called number on «closed for renovations» sign on door. Asian woman voice answered phone and said they will reopen in mid-​May. Will have to wait for deep tissue massage at a reasonable price.

Paradise Sauna is closed, as of April 2013.
There’s a sign on the door that says «Closed for renovations» but there is no indication of when it will reopen. No one answers the phone when you call.
The rumor going around is that the place was sold and that the new owners are cleaning it up and renovating… but outside the building there’s clearly no construction work going on (as I would expect to see at least a dumpster for the construction people to chuck the renovation debris). It just looks like a locked up, dark, building inside that is a shuttered business.
I will update this if I find out more, but if you are thinking of going to Paradise it will be a wasted trip since the place is not open for business as of April 20^th, 2013 or so and it was still closed as I wrote this review on May 1^st, 2013. The only option I can think of for something similar to Paradise is King Spa in Niles (and you have to take the Blue Line to Jefferson Park and then a PACE bus to get there).

Absolutely disgusting. Locker rooms were filthy and had a horrible smell from the air freshener that made me gag. Bathing area was so dirty that I was concerned I would get an infection, so I took a shower and went to the steam room… which was turned off. Went to the sauna… it was turned off too. Went straight back to the locker room to put my clothes on. Just as well nothing worked. I avoided all the bacteria.

$ 20 for the sauna and bath are too much. They are small, old, and dirty. King spa is a lot better with $ 25. The body massage was okay.

It’s been about a year and a half since we were here, so my wife and I decided to pay a visit on our day off, December 23, 2011, to relax and get some therapy. With all the latest crap I’ve been reading about the gay activity, I felt like I did not want to go and have to deal with it. But knowing we’d be here early in the day (like 9:00 AM), I felt that we would be among the regulars who use the spa for therapy, as what is is meant to be for, and not a place for some gay men to be looking for connections. I don’t know if the negative reviews coincide with an evening visit perhaps?
So, the rate is now $ 20 with no deposit back. You do need to be sure to bring your own flips (not that I ever used theirs) (gross!). As Mike J stated, the towels and robes have seen better days, and they need to pull up the carpeting in the locker room. It’s probably a great lab experiment in itself. Also be smart and leave your valuables locked in your car trunk. Never had a bad experience with that, but I’m sure it happens now and then as with anywhere else. They also no longer supply some of the grooming things they used to, like hair products and some of the body creams, so be sure to take your own.
The place did not seem any worse, and my experience was good. My wife also had a good experience without any problems on her side. The gay factor was null, unless I’m blind. There were about seven men there using the spa as it should be used. The ages were very mixed from young to old. Some guys wear towels, some go nude. Personally, I don’t like lugging a towel all around and soaking up the steam sauna bench water with it. I’d rather shower off all the time. There was no gawking or weird stuff, so I was relieved and able to relax and ease away a few aches and pains. I will return without a problem (early in the day).

A friend of mine who lives in LA told me about the Korean scrubs that she gets occasionally. I decided to try and find a place in Chicago to do the same — that is how I came to Paradise.
If I only wanted a steam, sauna, jacuzzi, then I would go to 1000 Waves which is cleaner and less dated and not much pricier. I came here for the scrub, and I have returned for the same.
The scrub — wow. Naked on a pink plastic covered table in the wet area, amidst the showers, cold and hot baths, and saunas/​steams. The lady scrubber in her undergarments exposed a whole new layer of pink, lovely skin underneath the dry, dull, epidermis that I came in with when we started. This is not for the modest or fainthearted. She will get in every area and you will shed your skin like a snake. This is a serious exfoliation process, and I loved it, and I have been back again.
Massages — more pressure than I like, lots of kneading, walking, etc. I liked the massage, don’t love them.
This is off the beaten path, you are not going to find it in Allure magazine. You should expect old towels, irish spring soap, cherry scented shampoo, limited english speaking staff, very reasonable prices, free parking in the Paradise parking lot, and EASY scheduling, and a phenomenal body scrub. Don’t forget to bring flip flops for the shower and tip your ladies.

I try to visit Paradise at least once a month, often more in the winter. As other reviewers have mentioned, it’s not exactly a shiny new facility. But I wouldn’t call it dirty, either. I think it’s excellent value for the price. I can only survive getting a scrub about twice per year, as it seems that I lose enough dead skin to make an extra person.
One thing I must mention is the atmosphere. Sometimes the other women in the sauna make me feel a bit out of place, like how dare I intrude on their sauna day. Once a woman yelled at me for talking to my friend, even though we were definitely not the loudest people in there. However, the people who actually work there have always been very friendly. I can’t fault Paradise if their clientele is sometimes rude.
I like the fact that it has been nearly empty lately, but I am worried they will go out of business! So please, Unilocalers, help me keep Paradise open.

They have a new scrub lady. She is amazing. My skin is buttery soft today.
They just need to renovate this place as it is old and run down.
Also — word on the street is that there is a new Korean sauna opening in Niles by H-​Mart. We’ll see!