An American woman was surprised and embarrassed when she found herself to be the only nude person at a women-only spa in Paris.
The anonymous woman took to Imgur to tell her story, recalling how she booked a spa package for herself at O’Kari Hammam-Spa during a solo trip to Paris last month.
Since she had read reviews of the Turkish spa in which past visitors said swimsuits were frowned upon and most people went nude, she left her swimwear at home — and realized only too late that she was the only person to do so.
Oops: An American woman headed to a spa in Paris where she got completely nude, only to be mortified that she was the only naked person in the room
Detailing her entire experience, Imgur user ILoveRedLips, said she was visiting France in January when she decided to treat herself to a birthday present at the spa.
Reading about the spa on TripAdvisor, she noted several reviews from women who said that nudity was the norm here.
‘It was a very highly rated Turkish spa, women only, and it was several hours of going from a steam room to a pool to different treatments,’ she explained. ‘All the reviews on Trip Advisor warn that no one wears swimsuits and that you will stand out in a bad way as being an uncultured American if you do.’
Indeed, several reviews say just that. One reads:’I’d recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind nudity. You lay on a warm stone table surrounded by other naked women for a large amount of time.’
ILoveRedLips decided to go along with the nudity, even if it made her a bit uncomfortable.
Own it: She shared several memes to explain how she was nervous about the spa before even going
The norm: Reviewers on TripAdvisor had written that most people went nude at the all-women spa, and she decided to go along with it
Oh well: However, when she removed her robe and turned around, she saw that everyone else was, in fact, wearing a swimsuit
‘I feel nervous to walk around naked for three hours, but I decide to just own it and feel no shame,’ she wrote.
When she got there, though, things did not go the way she expected them to.
After being welcomed, she was walked to the locker room where she was given a robe and a tiny one-size-fits-all paper G-string thong, which barely covered anything at all.
After that, she was led into the ‘waiting room,’ which featured a steam room and pool, where she could stay and relax while waiting to be brought to her treatments.
‘The owner takes my robe to go hang it up… and I turn around. Every single woman is in a swimsuit. I am the only naked person in the room,’ she wrote.
Reviews: She decided to go nude based off TripAdvisor comments like this one that says ‘the bathing suit could be a hindrance,’ and ‘I only saw a few women that kept them on’
Naked: Another review about the spa also said in the last paragraph that ‘nudity is the norm’
Nudity: One reviewer shared, ‘you are very exposed,’ but also said you can a bathing suit if you want to, although ‘it is not necessary, as no one stares’
‘And to make it better,’ she went on, ‘I was the only American in the room. Those Parisians betrayed me with their sense of modesty.’
The Imgur user felt awkward in the moment, but quickly decided not to let it ruin her trip.
‘I try to be as “When in Rome” as possible when I travel, and it just backfired a bit for me here,’ she joked.
‘I had a moment where I froze and just didn’t know what to do,’ she said. ‘I’d already paid and I didn’t want to put my dirty underwear back on that I’d just worn during 14 hours of traveling.’
‘So, I just owned it. Once I just pretended to not care, I actually didn’t care and I really ended up enjoying it.’
Luckily, later on that day, a few more women showed up to the spa completely naked, which made her feel much better.