The FOUND day spa report
The FOUND day spa report
Bathhouse, World Spa, Great Jones Spa, Aire, plus Village townhouse beaut, where to sip outside, more
GETAWAYS • Staycations
Pooling resources: Day spa report (part I)
Four NYC day spas, presented in ascending order of entry price:
→ Bathhouse (Williamsburg): More of a party/social scene. If that’s your thing, book early; it sells out a month in advance.
Entry price: $45-$70 for a day pass.
What's inside: Nice locker rooms. Pools: one body temp, one cold plunge, one (usually crowded) hot tub, all small-ish. Saunas: one dry, one less dry, both run larger. And the one steam room: fine. Heated marble slabs are great. Bring a face mask and sprawl out.
Food: The on-site restaurant is expensive and blasted with cold air, which doesn’t really make sense because everyone is in a bathing suit. And the food is so-so. Can’t recommend.
→ Great Jones Spa (Noho): Less scene, more spa (and more adult). The somewhat dated environs and facilities remain clean and well-kept.
Entry Price: Two-hour passes $70, based on walk-in availability; if you spend $100 on spa services you’ll get two hours in the spa as well.
What’s inside: Large hot tub, small cold plunge, large sauna, fine steam room.
Food: Tea and snacks free of charge (best are the adorable wax bags of tortilla chips, nuts, dried fruit). Jolene and Il Buco Alimentari are both solid post-spa meal options down the block.
→ World Spa (Mapleton, Brooklyn, above): Huge, amazing new facilities deep in the heart of Brooklyn.
Entry Price: Weekend passes are ~$120 for 4 hours, weekday passes are ~$90 for the full day.
What’s inside: Best lockers, tons of rooms, clean, excellent huge pools. Not a ton of products, but they do have the usual shampoo/conditioner, body lotion, and good quality hair/swimsuit dryers.
Food: The restaurant in the spa has both booze (cocktails are strong) and ample fish/veggies. Regarding the $18 fruit platter: No idea where they're getting their fruit from, but it's excellent and hard to finish. Consider pairing with a visit to the original Di Fara.
Bonus pro tips:
On weekends, go early, 10-11am. It gets jammed in the afternoons. Weekdays are far less hectic.
Perfect plan: Cut out of work early, get there at 5-5:30pm, have dinner. You'll have until 9:15pm when the spa areas close (the building closes at 10).
Place your food order with the manager wandering around with an iPad — it'll show up faster.
→ Aire Ancient Baths (Tribeca): Spendy, but absolutely worth it. A tightly capped number of spa-goers at once and a no-talking policy put a fine point on the indulgence.
Entry Price: ~$150 for 90 minutes
What’s Inside: Locker rooms are very good, products are excellent. Spa itself is stunning — only candle lighting, fantastic pool choices. The salt water float pool is a favorite, hot tub is awesome, cold plunge pools aren't too cold, and the larger pool out the back just under body temperature is a good place to start a circuit. Steam room is perfect, and you won't find better service, but beware: You get exactly 90 minutes. Use them wisely.
Food: None. It is, however, dangerously close to Frenchette Bakery. –Kim Mackenzie
Are you in possession of spa intel — and, in particular, NYC hotel spa intel? Hit reply or email found@foundny.com.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Mark Bittman says he’s found Italy’s most beautiful town • Hiroki Odo cooking at zen Catskills retreat on June 4-5 • Are TSA Pre lines actually faster than Clear? • Legendary bartender Colin Field is out at Bar Hemingway in Paris.
GETAWAYS • Paris Report
Getting shelled by a French 75
French 75, the French version of the classic champagne cocktail, is making a comeback in Paris this Spring, nudging out the long-running summer favorite, the Aperol Spritz — a French snub to the Italians. Named after a French artillery cannon, the cocktail was first poured in 1915 at Harry’s New York Bar, a musky gin joint still frequented by locals and travelers.
The recipe: Mix simple syrup with lemon juice, a drop or two of absinthe, a shot of gin, brandy or cognac and shake with ice. Top off with champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Bonus: At Harry’s, a crunchy, freshly prepared French hotdog with a steamed bun and hot mustard. Be patient.
→ Harry’s New York Bar, 5 Rue Daunou, 75002. –Brad Inman in Paris
REAL ESTATE • Townhouses
Upscaled on West 12th Street
There's always plenty of high-end buyers seeking upgraded, turnkey real estate. More interesting, perhaps, are those profiting from them. To wit: The townhouse at 264 West 12th Street, purchased for $8.45 million in 2018, underwent a four-year renovation that left it with everything a buyer would want (except, regrettably, an elevator). It traded hands last week for $21.95 million. Now that’s an upgrade.
→ 264 West 12th Street (West Village) 5BR/4.5BA townhouse, 5100 SF. In contract: 5/26/23. Closing price: $21.95M. Days on market: 252. Listing broker: Leslie Garfield.
NYC REAL ESTATE LINKS: How to answer 12 tough co-op board questions • 1 Wall Street’s $9.4m trophy apartment is bedecked in art • Putting the finishing touches on RAMSA’s 200 East 83rd Street on UES • Plunge pools are the hottest new amenity.
RESTAURANTS & BARS • The Nines
Elevated cocktail scenes
Overstory (Fidi), wraparound 64th floor terrace with serious cocktail program
A60 (Soho), long-running exclusive rooftop spot atop Sixty Soho
Apotheke Nomad (Nomad), cellar space paired with penthouse patio
Nubluez (Nomad, above), José Andrés rooftop situation at Ritz-Carlton Nomad
Broken Shaker (Gramercy), NYC outpost of Miami hit on 18th floor terrace
Darling (Midtown West), 47th floor cocktails above Central Park South
Ophelia Lounge (Midtown East), cocktail haven atop Beekman Tower
Harriet’s Rooftop (Brooklyn Heights), rooftop of Brooklyn 1Hotel
Bar Blondeau (Williamsburg), sunset hour at the Wythe Hotel
Care to share outdoor cocktails intel? Reply to this email or to found@foundny.com.
RESTAURANTS & BARS • Friday Routine
The lure of a patio in summer
John McDonald, Mercer Street Hospitality (Bar Tulix, Lure Fishbar, Hancock St., Bowery Meat Company, Smyth Tavern, Galerie Bar, Butterfly, Bistrot Leo + Lure Chicago).
Neighborhood you live in: Soho
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
I’m up early with my two boys. Once they're off to school, I'm figuring out the most pressing project to tackle. At the moment, I’m focused on developing various improvements to the Bar Tulix and Lure Fishbar outdoor seating. Lure's structure was a new approach, entirely (see above).
Any restaurant plans this weekend?
Saturday, I almost always do brunch at Hancock St. on the patio if it’s nice or, if not, inside at Bar Tulix or Lure. Weekends are busy and typically chaotic, and when I eat with my kids, I need fast and flexible service. If I’m at someone else’s restaurant, that’s not within my control. For dinner I want to try Bar Mario in Red Hook.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Maybe a long bike ride and then the Tin Building to explore the wide range of food options. As for art, I want to check out the new Warhol show at Brant in the East Village.
Any weekend getaways?
I'm hoping to get up to INNESS and/or one of the Adirondack resorts that have recently opened up. Last weekend, we stayed with friends in the Springs East Hampton. On the way out, we stopped at Armin & Judy for their exceptional bread and pastries. And I also did a great breakfast at the beautiful, new Tutto Caffe in East Hampton.
What was your last great vacation?
Earlier this year I took a trip to Vancouver with a business partner to do a thing called 29029 Everesting. Having this much time focused on one goal without any real distractions was a mental vacation that would not occur resting on a beach.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Outdoor shows
Vibrant summer stages
Indigo Girls / Larkin Poe, Central Park SummerStage, Sun 6:30p, $79 per
Carly Rae Jepsen x AP Pride Party, Stone Pony Summer Stage (Asbury Park), Sat 8p, $59 per
Works by Ebony G. Patterson (above), New York Botannical Garden, …things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…, Sat/Sun 10a-6p, $35 per
NYC CULTURE LINKS: Sotheby’s buys Whitney’s Breuer Building for ~$100 Million for new headquarters • Siren: Next summer will be Billy Joel’s last at MSG (he’s playing tonight) • NFTs seized from Three Arrows Capital expected to fetch more than $5 million at auction • Taylor Swift’s most fabulous outfits go on view at Museum of Art and Design.
LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall
Dispatches from the frontline, from FOUND subscribers for FOUND subscribers:
A handful of favorite restaurants from new subscribers: En Japanese Brasserie (West Village) • Rosella (East Village) • Sereneco (Greenpoint) • Sushi Lin (Soho) • Odeon (Tribeca, “mix of sentimentality, consistency, perfect lighting, and the martinis are still ice-cold.”).