The only way to describe my experience at Aire Ancient Baths in New York City is, surreal.
My stay in New York was hosted by my good friend of 6 years, Mikey, whom I worked at a set of venues in Sacramento with when I lived there. He lives in the Midtown East area of New York. You’ll be seeing pictures of his rad spot soon enough (think, rooftop!).
I booked my visit at the Aire Baths for a Monday morning at 9am. Today’s chosen experience was 60 minutes of private yoga (with one other person) and access to the baths. I woke around 7am in order to get to the Tribeca area of town where Aire Ancient Baths is located. It was funny being the girl with a yoga mat on her shoulder walking amongst all these snazzy city slickers on their way to work. Where were all my fellow yogis? I made a turn onto Franklin Street and it was like stepping into a portal. Think like Harry Potter when they jump through a brick wall into a different world. There were still people walking, but it was all very quiet. And being so early in the morning, the lighting was almost ghostly. I was so excited.
Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
I walked into the lobby, quite big and welcoming if you ask me, and was kindly greeted by the lone receptionist. That was nice… sometimes you can feel slightly confused about who to talk to when going into these kinds of places. Not the feel you want for your client. She asked me my name, what time my appointment was and if I’d been there before. Shortly there after I was pointed in the direction of the women’s locker room where I was greeted by a woman who showed me to my locker and how to use the really cool locker key/bracelet. It was a rubber band that went around your wrist and you just tapped it on your locker’s handle to lock and unlock it. It was waterproof too so you could wear it while using the facilities.
Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
After I put my things into my locker I made my journey to the area of the baths that I would be enjoying my 60 minutes of a somewhat Vinyasa flow styled yoga. Vinyasa is just a regulated flow of stretching in accordance to and with focus on the breath. It was just what I needed after a weeks worth of new beds and late nights (Miami & New York).
I walk through the women’s locker room sink area, past the toilet rooms, and through a door that leads me into this supernatural little world. I descend the stairwell, glass and steel banisters and all, and am gracefully greeted by little flickering lights all over this brick clad sanctuary. Blue pools are lighting up my eyes and my way was lead by another woman who showed me to my yoga teacher. We wrapped up our session and my teacher gave me some pointers and I made my way back to the locker room to change into my bathing suit in order to start my bathing experience.
Sidetone: Lucky for me the whole place was empty for that hour, seeing as we performed our session down in the baths area…I wonder where we would have done it had there been multiple people there?
Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
With the help and ideal-use-instruction of the baths by my yoga teacher Ana, I started my experience in the warm pool in the back. I waded in there just long enough to think about how seriously cool this was, and what my next move would be. From there I went into the hot pool. It was kind of like a jacuzzi but without all the jets (we’re getting there). After walking around this pool and admiring and digesting all of the materials used in this facility to make it so dreamlike, I made my way to the “frigidarium” – a 50 degrees small pool of water. It only accommodated 4 people max. So the sign said. I stepped in, plunged under very quickly and was out. WAY cold. But felt amazing.
Warm pool. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
Hot pool. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
Frigidariums. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
Frigidarium. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
After feeling a bit numb, I walked toward the steam room, but not before I served myself some chilled tea that was sitting on a low table, waiting to be drank. These facilities can be quite dehydrating and they encourage the consumption of water and tea always whenever I go. Onto the steam room I went. Ana suggested I do this before the salt pool so that my pores would open up and I would float better and absorb the salt. Walled in entirely glass, and centered in the facility it was a pleasurable experience to sit on the cedar wood of the steam room and feel drops of water drop down on you as you just breathed in the lush moisture of the air….again, thinking about what an amazing and relaxing experience I was going through. I felt so good.
After hanging out in there for a good 7ish minutes probably, I made the few steps it was over to the salt pool. This was probably my favorite part only because I’ve never experienced floating like this. It was extremely serene, to just float, spin, and practically feel nothing. My thoughts practically escaped me. And that’s rare. I enjoyed this for a good few minutes and then walked over to the jacuzzi. Roaring with jets, and also glassed in, I descended into it’s bubbly depths and pretty much just floated from jet to jet playing around. I was so happy about this purchase. This experience.
Salt bath. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
Jacuzzi. Photo creidt: Aire Ancient Baths for sharing. Thank you!
At this point I’d used all the pools and amenities in the room, so I appropriately showered off in one of the small open shower rooms they had down there, grabbed my robe, some more tea and headed back into the women’s locker room. I took another longer shower in there, and readied myself for the day. It was quite nice of them to supply a hair dryer and straightener. The woman who had originally greeted me in the locker room, offered to dry my bathing suit for me which was great. They even had a little machine and bags to put your wet one in.
I made my way back to the front to check out, where it was still quiet as ever, but a little bit sunnier than before. The woman was short and sweet, and I was on my way. I sat in the lobby for a bit, to enjoy that part of the building and to of course, post something on my Instagram. (@sablethena). & then I hit the pavement back to Midtown East to run some errands, feeling more zen than I have in a very long time.
There truly aren’t words for how cool this was and how amazing this felt. It was extraordinary. Extraordinary that the combination of materials, the construction of zones and spaces and the professional abilities of some can bring together such an otherworldly experience for the human race. That is what I love about interior design, and that is why I am so passionate about the spa industry. I believe in treating yourself and rather than always exerting yourself to “stay fit” I believe there is a need to satisfy our centered-ness in the way of enjoying our being in such sensational ways.
The AIRE Ancient Baths is based out of Spain, with locations in 5 cities. I’ll be headed to Barcelona in a week or so, and I’m debating if I’d like to experience the same thing but in a different area. We will see won’t we!
I would like to thank the New York City AIRE Ancient Baths PR department for providing me with the photos you see here on my blog. Thank you for being so accommodating all the way around!
With gratitude,
Sable
to BE inspired 