New York spas with hot pools, saunas and steam rooms to warm you up

Take refuge from the cold at these four New York spas, where you can find Jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms and—in one case—an indoor waterfall.

By Marley Lynch Tue Jan 15 2013

Aire Ancient Baths

The microclimates inside these New York spas are pretty much the opposite of what you’ll find out there on the sidewalk. Hide from the wind at these luxurious water spas, steam rooms and bathhouses, where you can kick back in a hot tub, get a massage, or just let the warm air melt all the tension out of your bones.

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Aire Ancient Baths

Price band: 3/4

Modeled after the public bathhouses of ancient Greece and Rome, this candlelit sanctuary offers sumptuous, classically-inspired decor and a bathing cycle similar to those practiced by the Greco-Roman elite. During a 90-minute session, you’ll progress through a series of warm, hot and cold pools (including saltwater and multijet baths), plus a 97°F steam room. Top it all off with a cup of tea and a lie-down in Aire’s hot-marble relaxation area.

88 Franklin St, (between Broadway and Church St)

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Brooklyn Banya

Price band: 2/4

At this 10,000-square-foot Russian-Turkish bathhouse, you can hop between two saunas, a steam room, a Jacuzzi (99°F) and a 60–80°F half-pool, all beneath a supremely kitschy mosaic of a mountain landscape. Fuel up before you go with a snack from the on-site Russian restaurant.

602 Coney Island Ave, (between Beverley Rd and Ave C), 11218

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Great Jones Spa

Price band: 2/4

Cycle through a steam room, a Finnish-style river-rock sauna (kept between 150 and 200°F), a thermal hot tub and a cold-plunge pool at this subterranean Noho refuge. You can also kick back in a chakra-light steam room, which combines shifting colors and wet heat. Thanks to a luxurious lounge that features, among other amenities, a three-story waterfall, it’s easy to spend the day here, hiding from the cold.

29 Great Jones St, (at Lafayette St)

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Russian & Turkish Baths

Price band: 1/4

Open since 1892, this East Village mainstay boasts an impressive array of shvitzing areas, from a radiator-warmed Turkish sauna to an aromatic steam room. But the spa’s crown jewel is its Russian sauna, heated by a stone oven that makes it extra-hot (around 194°F, and sometimes higher), where you can sweat en masse with the regulars. Dump a bucket of frosty, refreshing water over your head to cool yourself down, or grit your teeth and jump into a cold pool (48°F).