Lisa e.
Yelp
I went on a Wednesday at 2:00p, with a 'day pass' to simply use their pools, etc. This was on a VERY cold day in the month of January. First off, I was quite surprised at how busy the place was, on a weekday, and in the middle of the afternoon. I had to wonder...is it possible that with so many people working remotely now, that they all thought it might be nice to enjoy a bath house, and on a very cold day? Perhaps.
Anyway, this was my very first time at Bathhouse. First off, the person who checked me in wasn't all that great. They handed me a wrist bracelet...quickly mumbled something about 'this is for your locker...press it against the button to lock it.... go down there...turn left...towels are in the locker room'. I thought 'huh? I couldn't remember or understand anything they said to me...and not because they had an accent or anything...it was just as if they really didn't care to give me any meaningful information or want me to really understand how things worked there.
So I headed further into the establishment, and then wandered around, trying to figure out where to go. It's also made more difficult by the fact that the place is not only very dimly lit but...there are little to no signs directing you where to go. And the space is massive, BTW.
I finally found the women's locker room...looked for an available locker, but then couldn't figure out how to open a locker, so I asked another person there, who helped me. Then when it came time to LOCK my locker, I couldn't seem to get it to lock. Turns out, my wrist bracelet was apparently not working properly, as one of the attendants in the locker room subsequently confirmed to me. She gave me a different bracelet, and then I was finally able to lock up my things.
Then I head to the baths. There was a very large, cavernous space with about 4 different pools of warm water and maybe 2 pools of cold water. I headed for the warm pools and entered one of them. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that the pool area isn't exactly 'zen' or relaxing. Most people there were either couples, or small groups of friends, etc. As such, most people were having conversation with others (and not in a quiet way; the noise level in the pool area was rather 'loud', for a bathhouse). Therefore, Bathhouse didn't feel like a place to relax, as much as it did a place to .....'socialize'. Not exactly the vibe I was looking for.
I later tried the banya room (sauna) which was thankfully a bit more quiet (even though there were other people in there, they seemed to understand or treat that space with a bit more 'reverence' (using their inside voices ;-). Shortly after that, I went to relax for a bit on one of the stuffed couches/foot rests found next to the cafe/dining area. However, after a few minutes, a couple came and sat near to me, conversing rather loudly, so that ended that.
I don't think I'd ever come back here, and seeing as there is no way to know or to guarantee that the place won't be so crowded, or loud. I mean, after all, I was there on a Tuesday afternoon. If it's that crowded on a weekday afternoon, I can't even imagine what it must be like during the evenings or the weekend.