Seeking Budapest-type Bathhouse, not Babylon
April 21, 2019 8:20 PM Subscribe
The challenge: I wanna spend a day at a big-ass bathhouse in the New York area (or at least accessible by public transit, without paying a gabillion dollars). The hesitation: would rather be sure I'm not going to see anything....skeevy. Help.
What I'm seeking is something like the bathhouses I went to in Budapest, where there were about a dozen different hot pools, cold plunge pools, saunas, steam rooms, and such, both indoors and outdoors, on multiple floors of this one building and you could spend a day just wandering from one to the other and laying around on deck chairs for breaks now and then. I don't even need a massage or skin scrub or anything like that, I literally just wanna go from pool to pool to sauna to pool to steam room to sauna to pool to sauna to deck chair to pool to...
Spa Castle sounds like the obvious choice on paper - it's about the size I'm looking for and the price is spot on. But I've heard a few too many stories about questionable activity there and I'm a little spooked. Is that just rumor? Or have they cracked down on that? Or should I play it safe and try something else, and if so, where?
To counteract some suggestions: Aire looks too expensive. Body By Brooklyn is too small.
What I'm seeking is something like the bathhouses I went to in Budapest, where there were about a dozen different hot pools, cold plunge pools, saunas, steam rooms, and such, both indoors and outdoors, on multiple floors of this one building and you could spend a day just wandering from one to the other and laying around on deck chairs for breaks now and then. I don't even need a massage or skin scrub or anything like that, I literally just wanna go from pool to pool to sauna to pool to steam room to sauna to pool to sauna to deck chair to pool to...
Spa Castle sounds like the obvious choice on paper - it's about the size I'm looking for and the price is spot on. But I've heard a few too many stories about questionable activity there and I'm a little spooked. Is that just rumor? Or have they cracked down on that? Or should I play it safe and try something else, and if so, where?
To counteract some suggestions: Aire looks too expensive. Body By Brooklyn is too small.
Those baths have a very different vibe from a Korean spa, though!
Sojo Spa Club across the river in Edgewater would fit your criteria. There's a shuttle from Midtown.
posted by praemunire at 8:36 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sojo Spa Club across the river in Edgewater would fit your criteria. There's a shuttle from Midtown.
posted by praemunire at 8:36 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Last year I went to King Spa with a friend and it was great. Super relaxing, good food, and the midtown shuttle bus was pretty easy to get to. Lots of places to sit back and chill in between popping into the different saunas and rooms. We’ve also done the Russian and Turkish Baths. I recommend signing up for their discount mailing list and going on a David day. I got the platza treatment which everyone should do at least once.
posted by loriginedumonde at 8:49 PM on April 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by loriginedumonde at 8:49 PM on April 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
I've gone to Spa Castle a couple of times and it's big and luxurious and I've never seen anything that would trouble you and have a hard time imagining it.
The Russian and Turkish is a great place but depending on the day it's sometimes single-sex and there is nudity and sometimes stuff is seen to happen so you'll probably want to avoid it.
posted by Smearcase at 8:51 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Russian and Turkish is a great place but depending on the day it's sometimes single-sex and there is nudity and sometimes stuff is seen to happen so you'll probably want to avoid it.
posted by Smearcase at 8:51 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, both Spa Castle and King Spa would work for you, and both are very non-skeevy. I prefer the amenities at King Spa a little more, and the free shuttle from Manhattan is very straightforward (though it gets full on weekends, get there early) but Spa Castle has an outdoor area that King Spa doesn't.
posted by LeeLanded at 11:59 PM on April 21, 2019
posted by LeeLanded at 11:59 PM on April 21, 2019
Response by poster: I was looking at King Spa's website but didn't see anything about them having pools. Do they?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:59 AM on April 22, 2019
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:59 AM on April 22, 2019
King Spa has single-gender areas with ~5 hot tubs of various temperatures, plus cool tubs and cold plunge pools and steam saunas, all to be used naked. Then the mixed gender areas has all the steam rooms and other amenities, which you wear a uniform for.
Spa Castle also has the same set up of single-gender naked areas with hot tubs and cold plunge pools, mixed-gender uniform-clothed areas with the steam rooms, PLUS mixed-gender hot tubs and warm pools in the outside area, which you wear swimsuits in (you can "rent" a swimsuit if you don't bring one but I, ah, cannot recommend that course of action).
posted by LeeLanded at 5:52 AM on April 22, 2019
Spa Castle also has the same set up of single-gender naked areas with hot tubs and cold plunge pools, mixed-gender uniform-clothed areas with the steam rooms, PLUS mixed-gender hot tubs and warm pools in the outside area, which you wear swimsuits in (you can "rent" a swimsuit if you don't bring one but I, ah, cannot recommend that course of action).
posted by LeeLanded at 5:52 AM on April 22, 2019
Premier57 is the slightly-more-luxurious midtown Manhattan branch of Spa Castle, which is in deepest Queens. There's a Groupon, too.
posted by jcrcarter at 6:23 AM on April 22, 2019
posted by jcrcarter at 6:23 AM on April 22, 2019
The Russian and Turkish Bathhouse is wonderful, though, as mentioned above, you do have to be mindful of the day/gender designation. I've also really enjoyed Mermaid Spa (Coney Island/Seagate), Brooklyn Banya (Kensington), and Wall St. Bath and Spa.
posted by quatsch at 8:03 AM on April 23, 2019
posted by quatsch at 8:03 AM on April 23, 2019
Response by poster: Have just had my head turned by Sojo in Edgewater, NJ. Anyone else been there that can offer a hot take?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 AM on April 23, 2019
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 AM on April 23, 2019
Response by poster: update
went to spa castle after all
went there today
didn't see anything skeevy
the salt sauna scoured out all traces of the summer cold i've been nursing for two days
the waterjets in the pool in the top floor beat out some muscle tension I've had since about 2004
i'm back home now and very relaxed
goodnight
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:37 PM on May 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
went to spa castle after all
went there today
didn't see anything skeevy
the salt sauna scoured out all traces of the summer cold i've been nursing for two days
the waterjets in the pool in the top floor beat out some muscle tension I've had since about 2004
i'm back home now and very relaxed
goodnight
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:37 PM on May 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gwint at 8:30 PM on April 21, 2019