Nico Spa & Massage

Most doors around Asok sell nuru. Nico sells a body scrub. Google files it under erotic massage, but the reviews describe something closer to a bathhouse: a scrub room, a massage room, sometimes a sauna and a salt treatment. Reviewers report paying ฿970 for a 90-minute scrub and massage, which is low for this junction.

It suits someone who wants a cheap, long scrub four minutes from the Skytrain and is happy to judge each visit on its own. Skip it if consistency matters. The 3.7 rating is low for this guide, and the complaints are serious ones: a session cut short, pressure to pay more, and, years back, a theft from a changing room. Reviewers repeat one point more than any other: it depends who you get.

No website text is on record, so the picture of how a visit runs comes from Google reviewers. The most detailed account, edited five months ago, describes a 90-minute scrub and massage course in four steps: a massage room to change in, a scrub room opposite where a staff member applies the scrub and washes you down, an aromatherapy massage back in the first room, then a shower.

An older review lists a sauna, body scrub, salt massage, hot towel and massage as part of the service, and another found the scrub and salt treatment refreshing. Several reviewers compare it with Sazanka, another Bangkok shop; one concludes the two have different charms and recommends both.

The building has its quirks. One reviewer was flustered to find a curtained bed occupied beside them during the scrub; another found it awkward moving between floors after scrubbing. One review praises lockers for guests' belongings and CCTV cameras; another, three years old, says money was stolen from the room while they were in the scrub room. One reviewer advises keeping your wallet with you as you move between rooms, and that advice costs nothing.

Nico publishes no prices. The figures here are what Google reviewers say they paid, without tips or extras:

• 90-minute scrub and massage course: reviewers report paying ฿970
• A bath on its own, no length given: one reviewer reports paying ฿780

That makes it one of the cheaper doors near Asok, and the under ฿2,500 list collects others. The headline figure isn't always the final one. Reviewers mention that extras are charged on top, and one says they assumed everything was included until staff began negotiating mid-session. Agree the total before you undress, not after.

The listing gives no phone, LINE or booking channel. A reviewer who reserved two hours still waited 40 minutes, and another says a requested masseuse turned out to be off only after payment. If you have a name in mind, ask whether she is working before you pay.

The shop is on Ratchadaphisek Road, in Khlong Toei, just south of the big Sukhumvit junction. BTS Asok is about 220 metres away, a four-minute walk, and MRT Sukhumvit 280 metres, about five minutes. BTS Nana is roughly 14 minutes on foot.

Google Maps lists the hours as 11:30 to 23:00, every day. That's an early close by Asok standards, but it leaves time to catch the last train. One review from nine months ago claims the place had been demolished and closed, yet a more detailed review edited five months ago describes a full visit, and the listing still shows daily hours. A look at the map before you walk over is sensible. The Asok district page lists the other shops around the junction.

Nico is for the scrub-and-bath crowd: people who want a long, cheap session of scrubbing and massage near the Skytrain, and who treat any extras as a separate conversation. Two regulars in the reviews say they come back for the scrub and the bath.

It's not for someone who wants a guaranteed experience or a quiet waiting room. One reviewer found the staff chatter loud enough to spoil the calm. For shops with steadier records around this junction, the Asok volume is the shortlist, and the near BTS and MRT volume covers short walks across the city.

Nico holds a 3.7 Google rating from 43 reviews, and the written reviews pull in two directions.

On the plus side, Google reviewers often mention a thorough body scrub and a good massage, kind staff and, in a couple of older reviews, an attractive interior. Several are regulars: one says they have visited about 15 times, another that they come for a bath every trip to Bangkok. Both stress the scrub.

The pattern underneath is inconsistency. Several reviewers say quality varies a great deal from one therapist to the next, and one 2-star review puts it bluntly: the gap between good and bad visits is enormous. The complaints that follow are single reports but specific: a 90-minute session that lasted about 40, a massage with little pressure, a 40-minute wait despite a reservation, haggling over extras, a booked masseuse who was off, a noisy waiting area and, three years ago, money taken from a changing room. Choose carefully and keep your valuables close.