Hey, guys! Been a while since I posted here. Hope you are all doing great during my time elsewhere!

As the title implies, I wanted to make a thread for Qi Clay Spa in Charlotte. We've talked about it in several threads (and even other groups) and I've been meaning to check it out. So, I figured I'd make a thread to talk about my experience, and maybe encourage others to check it out themselves!

So, at first glance: I looked them up on Google and viewed their reviews. The reviews....are horribad. Enough that it turned me off of the idea of checking it out for a while since I felt it would've been a waste of money. After a bit, though, I got to thinking. They don't have a lot of reviews, maybe these are just bitter people that got kicked out or expected too much? There's one review there where the guy said along the lines of "the chinese looking staff were rude." For a Korean Spa.

Needless to say, I needed to check this out, myself.

So I went just this past Friday (27th of January 2017, for anyone reading this much later than when it was written). I got there about 7PM. Now, that turn off of Tyvola to get to the shopping center? Not going to lie. It gave me a frighten. It looked dark and gloomy, and I was thinking I was stepping into a horror movie. The shopping center itself was lit and easy to find, though, so no worries there. My first impression was hilarious, though. To the left of Qi Clay was a church, and to the left of that was Lady Godiva Spa which has rainbow stick figure ladies holding hands with pride. Needless to say, the irony of a church being in the middle of that was funny to me, but I can be cynical.

So, I step in. There's just one guy there. He seems very reserved, not really one for conversation, but that's alright. He wasn't rude, just wasn't giving me inflated customer service, which I can understand. $30 for a day pass and no restriction on time, wasn't too bad.

Its a small location, but long. They have a lounge area when you immediately step in, although unfortunately, you need to keep your towel on there since that area is considered public. Once you step into the hallway though, and the individual rooms? You're gold. As advertised, they have wet sauna, red clay sauna, salt room, a cold room, a Jacuzzi (squeeeeee! Love these), and this wood cabin sauna looking thing in the lounge area. The atmosphere is really calm, with soothing music playing on loop, audible in every room, with the jacuzzi being a mild exception since the sound of the jets can muffle it (WHO CARES: JACUZZI).

I personally enjoyed the salt room. It wasn't scalding hot, but it was warm enough to build a sweat. With the music playing there, made it perfect for meditation. I found myself loosing track of time in the salt room during my meditation, so mission accomplished! The rest of my time I spent it in the jacuzzi. Did I mention this place has a jacuzzi? Because it does, and its awesome.

They also offer massages by appointment only. On their website, they don't tell you their price. I'm not sure if this price changes depending on circumstance, but when I went, a massage is $80 for an hour. Not too shabby, but since I haven't tried it myself (yet), I don't want to imply its good without experience.

This place isn't perfect, of course. The steam/humid saunas are all the way in the back, and one of them was out of order. The broken one had a bit of a mold/bleachy smell to it. The one next to it was fine, though. Stuff breaks, it happens. Every thing else was as advertised, though.

People wise it wasn't very busy, although it was starting to be when I left around 10PM. If you're hoping this place can act like a hook up place like a bathhouse, nope. People there go to truly relax, and you can tell. Everyone was just doing their own thing, their own meditations and decompressions. Which is great! Makes nudism much easier without worrying someone is going to do something or say something inappropriate. Matter of fact, they have signs all over the place specifically saying that any sexual act means you get kicked out and banned from the location. Makes you wonder where these reviews stemmed from, no? (Especially that one guy who wrote 'not much action here'.)

Overall, I'd give it a 7/10 for a single visit. The reviews were MUCH harsher than they needed to be. Don't go there expecting some sort of five star resort. Its a small, privately owned spa trying their best to deliver on their promises of relaxation, and personally, they do a damned good job for $30.

I recommend you guys to go! Maybe we'll run into each other sometime. I definitely plan to be a regular! Cheers. =)

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