Summary
- The Russian and Turkish Baths in New York have been a reliable and unchanged place of relaxation since 1892, offering a unique experience for curious travelers.
- The bathhouse features various saunas and steam rooms, including the rare and extremely hot Russian Room, as well as a refreshing plunge pool.
- The mix of heat and cold at the baths is said to have health benefits, leaving visitors feeling revitalized and making new connections with fellow bathers.
Few places transport you back in time quite like the Russian and Turkish Baths in New York. This longtime East Village treasure is practically a Big Apple landmark. It's where New Yorkers have gathered to sit, sweat, and come away refreshed since it first opened in 1892. Much has changed in this bustling city since those early waning days, yet once visitors walk up the old stone stairs and step inside, it is easy to feel how much has stayed the same.
There is comfort in that, and, for the adventurous traveler, there are lessons here too. Sometimes new can be discovered in old, the constant, the unchanged—the reliable places that are always there—places your great-grandparents found relief in and places dependable enough to be there for you a century on. We recently spent a day at this bustling bathhouse—not quite a hole in the wall, not quite a trendy spa day, yet a unique secret among New Yorkers no longer. This is an experience every curious traveler must try. If, that is, you can take the heat.
And we do mean heat.
To Brave The Heat—And The Cold
There are plenty of incredible saunas throughout the world, and certainly, New York City has no shortage of ways to pamper oneself, but no spa or sauna is quite like the Russian and Turkish Baths.
Featuring five saunas and steam rooms, and a cold—and we do mean, very cold—plunge pool, this New York City treasure has seen the surrounding city change throughout the decades, yet much here has stayed the same.
Whether you are newly discovering it or a longtime believer, this is a must-experience stop in New York.
When guests arrive their first stop is by the front desk, where they exchange their wallets for a set of locker keys, and head off to the locker rooms. Years ago, the lock rooms had slightly rickety saloon-style swinging doors that barely offered privacy, but nowadays, the space offers sleek lockers, heated floors, and large mirrors to get ready for the outside world.
Guests can grab towels and slippers if needed, and head down into the wet, often slippery steps into the basement, which is a vivid scenery of wet floors, steam bursting out of quickly closing doors, and folks sitting around on benches, dripping sweat and wearing little besides the flush in their cheeks.
In this narrow, often sopping wet space, friends and strangers duck in and out of various steam and sauna rooms, walking in with smiles, and walking out with wilted expressions.
Yet just like a dip in natural hot springs, exposure to the heat in sauna rooms has long been touted to bring health benefits, and, as our recent day at the spa can attest to this, we came out feeling revitalized and glowing.
Sweating It Out In A New York Treasure
The Redwood Sauna room is heated by an electric heater, and the intimate space is a good place to start a day of unwinding. The Aromatherapy Room is steam heat, and the temps hover around 114 degrees.
It's spacious enough to lie down in, though the white tiles can get quite hot. The Turkish Room is heated by radiators and features long wooden benches to sit or lie on. The heat here can reach 128 degrees, but thankfully there is a cold shower to provide occasional relief for those who need it.
There is a milder tiny steam room off to the side, which provides a warm way to unwind without the overbearing heat.
Yet the real crown jewel of this place is the Russian Room. Only of only a few in the entire United States, this authentic, extremely rare, and fantastically hot room features an oven filled with 20,000 pounds of rocks that are cooked overnight.
In the daytime, they give off a radiant heat of 187 degrees. Few can last long in the room, where there are buckets that can be filled with ice-cold water to provide much-needed, albeit temporary, relief.
The Russian Room seems to appeal to anyone and everyone—the friends in bikinis trying out saunas for the first time; the older gentlemen with large potbellies and not a care in the world. It is, oddly enough, a great place to make even the briefest of New York friendships.
Sitting there, sweating profusely, one cannot help but strike up a conversation with your sweaty neighbor. Where are you from? (wipes sweat from face) What do you do? This is how those magical New York City connections are made: in unexpected places, in moments when no one is feeling self-conscious, and when the curious are open and exploring.
Perhaps it is the heady heat, but there is a feeling of being lost in time here.
When folks walk (or stumble) out of the Russian Room, they can dip into the ice-cold waters of the plunge pool. At 42 degrees when we were here, it was a shock to the senses, one that left this writer a little dizzy.
The mix of heat and cold is refreshing for the body and mind—and the stomach, and there is a kitchen upstairs with plenty of juices, stews, beers, and other delicious food to enjoy. There is also a roof deck to take in the sun (or the stars) and socialize further with your newfound friends.
With over a century of heat, sweat, and friendships, this longtime New York City treasure is worth the incredible experience.