Carly W.
Yelp
My sister and I got our first (and last) float at Halcyon Floats in early June.
As I understand, they had just reopened in their new location on Front Street, and we were excited to try the brand new facilities, as we had heard great things about the old location. When we walked in, it seemed as if they were not actually ready to open. There was nobody at the front desk, and there were bags of salt EVERYWHERE. The furniture in the waiting area seemed like old, dirty dorm furniture. It took a few minutes of waiting in the front and shouting "hello?" before we found the one employee working that day, who was apparently finishing the pod prep in the basement.
He asked us if it was our first time floating, to which we responded it was. He told us to have a seat in the waiting area as he began explaining the process from beginning to end. It was a few more minutes before we were taken down to our pods. The male employee who was working there then closed the massive storm door leading out to the street, and locked it. I'm assuming this was to give the space a more quiet, relaxing atmosphere, but it made my sister and I both feel on edge, as it was now just us two and a stranger male employee locked in a building together.
The stairs leading down to the new pod area were dirty, and covered in bags of salt taller than I was. It gave off a very unpolished, and unfinished vibe. The pod rooms are all located on the left when you get to the bottom of the stairs, and the employee walked us into a pod room to explain the deal, and from the moment I stepped foot into the room, I was uneasy.
It was the size of a small bedroom, and included a little shower head hanging off the far wall, a dorm style cart with half used bottles of generic brand soap and shampoo, and a small cup with used earplugs in it. Closest to the door there was a bench with dirty, used looking slides, an old, dirty looking white robe, and an old scratchy towel. Not at all what I would expect for the prices we were paying for the float. Luckily my sister and i had packed our own sandals and towel.
The float tank itself was not the beautiful, in ground pool that we had seen on the website, but rather looked like a giant industrial freezer sticking out of the ground on the left. The employee unlatched the door for us, and we looked in to see a smelly, 6 inch full bathtub with what looked like dirt and debris floating in the bottom. The lights were still on inside the pod, and I could see mold and limescale on the walls and around the handles of the (supposedly) brand new float tank.
At that point, I left my sister in her room, and went next door to my own where I prepared for my float. I rinsed off, waited until the last second to take off my sandals because I didn't want my feet to touch the clearly unclean ground, and got into my immersion tank. The water was not warm enough to create a sensory deprivation experience, I just felt like I was floating in a shallow, cold, bath. I could hear the market frankford rattling above me each time it passed, even with my earplugs in, but honestly it was a welcome sound because I was so creeped out by the room I was left in.
After about 15-20 minutes, I was not enjoying myself, and too upset to even think about continuing my float. I got out, rinsed off, and got changed thinking I would sit upstairs and wait for my sister to finish her relaxing 90 minute float. When I checked my phone, it turns out she had the same idea, and also got out much earlier than what we had paid for.
We both ran up the stairs and out of the building thinking about how it was one of the creepiest, least relaxing experiences we had ever had. I understand that this was a new location, but if you are not ready to open, you should have simply pushed back the grand opening. The facilities were dirty, the pods were not "spa-like" whatsoever and the atmosphere was creepy. Unfortunately, I would not recommend.
