PDX Filter: Looking for a day use open-air private hot tub / soaking tub in the Portland area.

March 15, 2012 8:12 AM

PDX Filter: Looking for a day use open-air private hot tub / soaking tub in the Portland area.

Similar to the cheap date questions, I'm looking for a place to take my wife for a day without the kid (who's only six months so it's hard to leave her overnight with anyone) so that we can just sit, relax, have our own light brunch and mimosas while enjoying warm bubbly water and a brisk breeze. I'm thinking soaking tub picnic. Is there anywhere like that in the Portland metro? Or anywhere within a 100 mile range of Portland? Not Bagby, and Breitenbush is a bit too public and nude for us. (We're not prudes, just private.) Looking for just day use - bonus points if they're big old wood tubs.

posted by brandoniain to Travel & Transportation around Portland, OR (8 answers total)

Best answer: I've never heard of this in Portland. You can check into Loyly -- I believe they have soaking tubs you can rent privately. I haven't been but I'm headed there this weekend.

Kennedy School has an open air soaking pool but it's not private. If you are a guest, you can use it during "guest only" hours. However, during the public hours, depending on when you go, there are families with kids using it.

I've heard that the soaking pool at Edgefield is quite nice and much larger than Kennedy School. I don't know what their public hours are but I imagine that it is not nearly as populated as Kennedy School. Plus, you can picnic on their grounds, or hole up in one of their many cute pubs. I believe you can take bottles of wine into the soaking pool if you buy it onsite. Not really sure about that. Or you can pitch-and-putt with a pint on their course and when you get tired, head to the pool.

Dosha on Hawthorne has a small soaking tub which you can utilize after your massage. Not private or romantic but very relaxing. Get a couples massage, drink some tea. Have a soak. Let her get her nails done while you get provisions for a picnic from Pastaworks and then head up Mt. Tabor!
posted by amanda at 8:42 AM on March 15, 2012

Onsen is in Eugene, 100 miles away. But I am sure that there are places like this in Portland.
posted by Danf at 8:43 AM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

You can also get massages at Edgefield -- I've had great luck with their masseuses.
posted by amanda at 8:43 AM on March 15, 2012

Common Ground Wellness Center is in NE Portland.

Or Bonneville Hot Springs, which is in the Gorge.
posted by medeine at 8:54 AM on March 15, 2012

Response by poster: Bonneville seems to be a decent opportunity - but it doesn't seem like they have outdoor spots. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Onsen looks quite good - and would be ok as we could drop the kid with family in Corvallis... Somewhere similar in PDX would be nice, too, though.

I looked at Common Ground, but it doesn't seem that they have private tubs - and again with the group nudity thing.
posted by brandoniain at 9:06 AM on March 15, 2012

Response by poster: Seem to have found a good potential: http://www.tubandtan.com/hottubbing.html

Thanks everyone!
posted by brandoniain at 9:45 AM on March 15, 2012

Tub and tan is exactly what you want!
posted by dipolemoment at 1:17 PM on March 15, 2012

For the record, if I'm not too late, my wife and I spent the night at Bonneville once and it was awesome. The tubs are mostly private on the balcony of the hotel rooms. They are filled with spring water and no chemicals. We stayed the night in January and the freezing air mixed with the hot water was fantastic. We tubbed, then got out and watched a pay-per-view movie, then got back in the tub again.

I don't know if they have non-hotel-room tubs, though. You might have to rent a room for the day.
posted by tacodave at 3:46 PM on March 15, 2012