Bathing Beauties.

IT's lunchtime in Koreatown and the parking lot of the Beverly Hot Springs is jammed.

Inside what is believed to be L.A.'s only natural mineral hot springs, more than a dozen men and women bathe, take steam baths or are massaged.

"I like having a natural mineral water spa right in the middle of Los Angeles," said Judith Kanter, an actress who drove more than an hour to get to the springs from her home in Palos Verdes. "It's a chance for me to relax and unwind. It's an adventure."

On this particular adventure, Kanter brought her sister, Ann Kanter, an attorney from San Francisco. "I like to calm down and meditate and look at the plants," she said. "I'm someone who likes to go to spas."

So do a lot of other people--about 200 a day soak and scrub at the Beverly Hot Springs, according to Cynthia Caberpe, the spa's manager.

Of course, this is far from the only spa in Los Angeles. Actress Connie Stevens operates The Sanctuary on Robertson Boulevard near Beverly Hills. There's Burke Williams Day Spa & Massage Center on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and hotels like the Peninsula in Beverly Hills have created a spa environment within their pool and athletic facilities.

But Beverly Hot Springs, located at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and Oxford Avenue, is billed as L.A.'s only natural hot springs. Every day, it pumps some 250,000 gallons of silky hot mineral water from a spring that's 2,200 feet below the earth's surface.

The alkaline water contains silica, iron, aluminum oxides, magnesium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate and sodium chloride.

Not the Ritz

The physical facilities are a far cry from the chi-chi world of Beverly Hills or the lavish health spas of Europe.

There are no fawning waiters or attendants bringing cool drinks. A snack bar that once operated on the premises sits empty (although Caberpe says there are plans to re-open it). Even some of the interior signs in the spa have letters missing, like one that reads, "ot Springs."

But in the often counter-intuitive world of Hollywood's young and trendy, that may be precisely the point.

"It's a scene," said Susan Miller, a real estate broker and ex-model who has been coming to the spa at least once a week for the past four years. "You are always seeing models and actresses in here."

Among the celebrity patrons, according to Caberpe, are Calista Flockhart, Vivica A. Fox, John Travolta, Yoko Ono and Brooke Shields. There's even a grand piano in the lobby if someone wants to strike up a melody; otherwise visitors make do with the classical music that's piped into the springs hot and cold pools.

"The Eastern philosophies are very popular with young actors today," said Stephanie Matolyank, director of business development at the Spa Finders Co., a firm that books spa vacations and visits. "It's also part of the wellness community, but stars are always ahead of a trend."

Clearly, the majority of those soaking at Beverly Hot Springs are not stars, or probably even actors. Being in Koreatown, about 30 percent of the clientele is Korean, many of whom use the spa daily as their bathhouse. Many patrons use the Springs several times a week. One of those is Scott Wells, the owner of Wells Antiques in Hollywood.

"The magic is the water," he said. "You soak and let your body absorb the minerals."

Spa's roots

The artesian well that pumps the 104-degree water into the spa was first discovered by an oil wildcatter around the turn of the 20th century. Disappointed that he had struck water and not oil, he capped the well and it was forgotten. In 1931, the well was rediscovered and drinking water from it was sold for 10 cents a gallon.

In the early '80s, Yang Cha Kim, a Korean acupuncturist, and her husband, Chang Bum Huh, a Korean weightlifter who competed in the 1964 Olympics, discovered the unused hot spring after learning about it from a friend. Upon securing a loan, they built the current facility atop the well. They added a faux waterfall and trees to help create a tropical atmosphere. Huh died in 1998, and Kim, now the sole owner, declined to be interviewed.

While it may seem like a clash of two worlds -- glitzy Hollywood and the conservatism of Koreatown -- it really isn't. Stars and celebrities long have been in the forefront of the exercise, fitness and diet scene. Koreans have been devotees of spas and public bathing and healthful eating for centuries. At the Hot Springs, the two worlds get along easily, patrons say, especially because it is so low-key and the famous can slip into the hot waters without being noticed.

"Nobody cares who you are," said Alicia Kaye, co-owner of London Temporary Services and a frequent spa-goer. "Everybody is naked and walking around minding their own business. It doesn't matter if you are a celebrity."

The Koreans, she said, are more aggressive in their approach to the spa, frequently plunging into and out of hot and cold pools. "It's the Korean culture," she said. "They are weaned on it and it is especially older Korean women who you see taking care of themselves and their skin."

'A booming business'

The number of full-fledged U.S. day spas -- excluding hair salons and beauty parlors with whirlpool baths -- has soared from 20 in 1988 to 869 in 1997 and 1,600 last year, according to Spa Finders.

"It's a booming business," said Matolyak. "People are moving very fast in the late '90s and they need balance in their lives. They can't get away for long vacations, so they retreat for an hour or two to a day spa. We are time- starved."

Others in the day spa industry confirm that business is booming.

"We increased our (spa-related) revenues fivefold over last year," said Ali Kasikci, general manager of the Peninsula. "People are very health conscious today. They work long hours and are stressed out, and this is one indulgence they allow for themselves."

And some Angelenos claim there's no better place to indulge than the waters of Beverly Hot Springs.

"It's like bathing in silk," said Jason Turner, a real estate broker. "I am someone who has been to spas in Israel, Turkey, Mexico and Northern California. There is nothing like this water. It's rejuvenation for me. It's my time to talk to God."

The spa charges $40 for admission during the week and $50 on weekends, with visitors welcome to stay as long as they like during business hours -- 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. The spa also offers a yearly membership for $4,500.