Inside a Chic Bathhouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

"Inside a large, brick 1930s factory building in Williamsburg, I discovered a 6,500-square-foot basement wellness destination called Bathhouse whose designers preserved the building's vaulted ceilings, brickwork and even the old 100-foot smokestack — now the centerpiece of a semi-secret ritual room in the women's locker area. I entered through a neat waiting room and followed an attendant down a black-lit hallway that tunnels through a glass-enclosed chamber of glowing tropical plants; in the locker rooms I showered, anointed myself with cedar-scented tinctures, slipped on a kimono robe and descended into the baths. A massive Amit Greenberg mural evokes ancient Roman thermae above three thermal pools (104°F hot soak, 52°F cold plunge and 94°F neutral) with two heated hammam stones nearby, and radiating off the bath area are saunas — a humid “tropical” sauna set to 185°F (feels like 200°F), a dry Finnish sauna at 175–190°F — plus a dim steam room whose ceiling is lit like a starry sky. The facility also includes private treatment rooms, a marble scrub room, a cryotherapy chamber and a sensory-deprivation tank, and instead of standard spa fluff the team brought in fitness and sports-medicine experts (including a former Brooklyn Nets staffer) to offer athletic-recovery treatments. The vibe is social rather than silent — when I visited it was comfortably busy with conversation — and the site also houses a 40-seat restaurant by Akiva Elstein with marble tables, tropical plants, a soaring geometric bar of natural wines and custom dining robes by Tilit; chef Nejc Šeruga (Agern, Eleven Madison Park) serves a pronounced borscht that Goodman called "the best borscht in the city" along with house-made vodka infusions (jalapeño & serrano; cucumber & dill). Day passes start at $45 for early-bird (Mon–Fri until 11 a.m.), $55 Mon–Fri and $70 for Sat–Sun, with Night Owl passes available for 10 p.m.–midnight." - Hannah Walhout Hannah Walhout Hannah Walhout is a senior editor at Travel + Leisure, where she edits the Discoveries section of the print magazine and develops longer stories focusing on food, wine, and spirits. She has previously worked at Food & Wine and in the writing program at NYU Abu Dhabi. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines