A regular at both calls Spa Castle more Disneyfied (LED saunas and rowdy bachelorette parties) and King Spa (which plays Korean soap operas on the TVs) more authentic. Traditional K-spas like Spa Castle in Queens and King Spa in Palisades Park, New Jersey (you’ll need a car), are universes unto themselves with several floors and a buffet of saunas, such as a jade room (found at Spa Castle the walls emit muscle-soothing calcium and magnesium). ➽ Spend eight hours at a Korean jjimjilbang. The oak leaves contain a natural astringent said to remove toxins from the skin the thwacking boosts circulation. The Russian exfoliating treatment takes place in a 180-degree room, where you’ll get smacked with a bundle of oak leaves (called a venik) and lathered up with soap. Mermaid, says one Russian regular, is cleaner and known for its food (“Salo is hard to find in New York, so eat that,” he says). Brooklyn Banya and the Mermaid Spa, located in Kensington and Sea Gate, respectively, are filled with locals looking to get warm and catch up with friends - not so much for a lush afternoon at the spa. ➽ For a more old-world Russian vibe, take the Q train. Regulars say the rooms are significantly hotter on Boris weeks. Bathers on Boris weeks use a paper punch card those who go on David weeks use a digitized swipe pass and can often find a Groupon deal. ➽ At the Russian & Turkish Baths, check the calendar for “Boris weeks” and “David weeks.” Both owners have retired from East 10th Street, but their heirs continue to run the business on alternating weeks - an arrangement from the 1980s based on a mysterious feud.
At King Spa & Sauna and K-Town Sauna, you’ll go naked - policy prohibits any attire in their gender-segregated steam and treatment rooms.
You’ll need a swimsuit if you’re heading to a venue with co-ed rooms and pools (this includes the Mermaid, SoJo, and Bathhouse, below). Most bathhouses provide towels, robes, clean shower sandals, and, if you’re at a banya, a wool hat to protect your head from the heat. ➽ Pack a swimsuit and an ID for locker rental.
For a New Age atmosphere - with an Amit Greenberg mural and a flotation tank - go to Bathhouse in Williamsburg, which opened in November. Wall Street has a grander lounge area, while the Russian & Turkish Baths draw a more diverse crowd, from NYU kids to old Slavic men to, at least recently, Owen Wilson. There’s the Wall Street Bath & Spa and the 128-year-old Russian & Turkish Baths in the East Village, which are the city’s true banyas: The stone-and-wood rooms are bare-bones but clean. ➽ New shvitzers should start with a day pass, ideally to a place with a standard menu of thermal soaking pools, cold plunge tubs, steam rooms, and dry saunas.
0 kommentar(er)
