Jose A.
Yelp
Great option for a private sauna at a reasonable price.
As I understand it, this is a collaboration between HigherDOSE, a wellness company that makes sauna and sauna-adjacent products, and 11 Howard, a boutique Soho hotel. Essentially, you're paying to rent out a hotel room where the bed has been replaced by one of HigherDOSE's saunas. I made an appointment online and arrived a bit early, so after taking the elevator to the third floor, I was led to a waiting room containing various HigherDOSE products. A staff member then led me to the sauna room, gave me a brief explanation of the amenities, and left me to my own devices.
The sauna consists of a small box big enough for me, a man of average height, to lie down in comfortably but with my legs tucked up. You're provided a towel, but since it's a private sauna, you can wear whatever you want (or don't want) to wear. It's an infrared sauna, so the heat is less intense and it takes longer to work up a sweat, but once you do, you'll definitely sweat. You can adjust the sauna's lighting, with different options (supposedly) providing different therapeutic benefits.
The room is thoughtfully laid out with blackout curtains, subdued lighting, a bench to rest or put your clothes on, and extras like a Bluetooth speaker, a pitcher of water, and a fridge full of cold towels and complementary drinks (I had miniature cans of flavored Perrier, including cucumber and pineapple). The room also contains a surprisingly large private bathroom, with a hair dryer and the kind of fancy shampoos and soaps you'd expect from a boutique hotel.
Overall, I'd say that the sauna itself is just fine, but the overall experience is great. Considering that you get a private room with its own shower, towels, and drinks, I think HigherDOSE is a great value and definitely plan on returning.
Sauna nerd notes:
- The sauna's thermostat was set to 174°, but the temperature never went above 165°. There is a gap between the glass door and the adjacent "walls" of the sauna box which released heat into the room. It's an infrared sauna, so I ended up sweating regardless, but I prefer more heat and wished it had gone up to the advertised temperature. I went in early May, too, so I'd worry about losing even more heat in the winter.
- The sauna is made of some synthetic material that remains fairly cool to the touch and doesn't have any particular scent. The only scent I experienced came from the cold towels in the fridge, which are treated with some pleasant herbal scent (eucalyptus?).
- Since the hotel is in an older NYC building, you can clearly hear noise coming from the hallway and adjacent rooms (especially the sounds of vacuuming and cleaning). If this bothers you, I'd recommend setting up white noise on the provided Bluetooth speaker.
- I wouldn't recommend this sauna for hot / cold contrast. Since the shower is in the room, it's easy to go back and forth, but the shower stubbornly remained lukewarm (normally a plus in NYC hotels, but...). The sauna's temperature is also low, so I suspect you'll get the most out of your session if you maximize your continuous sauna time.
- While you're charged if you stay past the time you booked, there's no checkout procedure, so you're able to enjoy the full advertised time.