Every time we’re in New York or Chicago, I want to go to the AIRE Ancient Baths but I never plan ahead enough to get a reservation. One of the many great things about staying in London for six weeks was having plenty of time to book things.
The AIRE Ancient Baths is a spa experience that includes multiple baths (pools), a steam room, and treatment rooms, all in a peaceful setting that practically forces you to relax.
When you arrive, you check in and are taken to your locker rooms to change. You can bring your own bathing suit or use one of theirs. They also provide a robe and water shoe-type slippers to wear.
The Husband and I went together so after we changed we met in the common area outside of the locker rooms and were escorted down to the baths. They are essentially in the basement with no windows, the only light by candles and a few strategically placed lights. Photos aren’t allowed in the spa, so these pictures are from the AIRE website.
We booked a package that included an hour in the baths, followed by a 45 minute hot stone massage, and ending with a glass of cava and some truffles. We started with the warm bath, which was the perfect temperature. We relaxed there for a while before heading to the hot bath. This was a smaller pool that felt like it was around 102°F. It’s larger than a hot tub and didn’t have any jets. There is a Jacuzzi, which we tried for a few minutes but the jets were more aggressive than we like, so we spent the least amount of time there.
There is also a cold bath, which we briefly went into and a few small, one-person frost baths. One of them was inside the steam room, so after sitting in the warm steam I went int the frost bath and it was super cold but rejuvenating, once you were used to it.
There’s also a saltwater bath, where you literally just float. It was really relaxing, and there was a shower with a salt scrub next to the salt pool, which was also really nice.
After moving around the baths for an hour, the attendant found us and took us to the treatment room for our massages. We changed out of our bathing suits and into disposable underwear provided by the spa. The massages were so nice, and the hot stones were the perfect temperature. You could tell the massage therapists are well-trained professionals who know what they are doing.
After the massages we put our bathing suits back on and headed downstairs for our cava and truffles to end our visit. Despite my love for Prosecco, I don’t like cava, but it wasn’t bad. The truffles were really good, as most chocolate outside the US is.
When we were done, we went back to the locker rooms to change. The locker rooms have everything you need to get ready, including showers, hair products, all the necessary personal items.
I loved our visit to AIRE Ancient Baths. At £428 for both of us, it wasn’t cheap but it was absolutely worth it. Unlike our visit to the Thermae Bath Spa in Bath, AIRE doesn’t book a ton of people at once. There were many times where we were the only people in the bath. It was comfortable, relaxing, and a unique experience that I recommend to anyone. I wish they had one in Tampa Bay!
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