In travel writing, the word “hack” is thrown around so often that it’s become a meaningless nonsense phrase, like “literally,” “narcissist,” and “we should totally start a podcast.”
Shortcuts made to improve certain bugbears of the travel experience are well-documented, and just about every self-fashioned influencer and their TikTok account claim to hold the key the improving anything and everything from the start of your journey to the end.
Some are useful. Most are common sense wrapped up in a nice little headline. But there is one pervasive, abstract concept that is perhaps the most important “hack” of them all.
You’ve heard the word before. A million times.
The key to travelling well is…wellness
In 2023, the “Global Wellness Industry” was reportedly worth $6.3 trillion, which dwarfs the sports and pharmaceutical industries, reiterating just how important this vague, hard-to-define concept has become.
Wellness is… broad. The World Health Organisation defines it as “an overall sense of well-being,” which is a difficult thing to grasp.
The Global Wellness Institute tries to be a bit more specific: Wellness is “the pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.”
So, it’s as much a feeling as a state of physical being. Your physical health matters, of course, but what centres you and helps manage your stress throughout the day is wellness too. And that’s different for everyone. Mental health is a very individual thing.
No one can really agree what wellness is and how it’s best served to the masses. The Japanese art of Forest Bathing has been noted as one undeniable way to dial in some wellness. For Buddhists, meditation and mindfulness take centre stage. Scandinavians live or die on sauna. Indians like to laugh. Egypt is big for cupping therapy. The Chinese love some acupuncture. Tibetans use vibrations, chanting and musical bowls to fill their cup. Many cultures look towards clean eating.
Happiness and healing look different for all, but there are usually three things that tie it all together: intent, action and setting.
You have to “intend” to relax before you can even begin to convince your subconscious to shut up and be present. That’s the first step. Then there’s the action. Laughing, bathing, eating, sitting, laying on a massage table face down in one of those G-string things.
Then it comes down to setting. Are you in a beautiful natural setting? A plane? On a cruise ship? Ambience is so profoundly important here that there’s little wonder the more expensive wellness experiences come with a big dose of atmosphere.
Which is where this unique chain of transportive blissful bathhouses comes into play.
AIRE Ancient Baths
Inspired by the ancient bathhouses of Rome, Greece and Turkey, AIRE Ancient Baths is a boutique collection of spaces around the world that have been meticulously designed to fuse the old-world with the new.
You’ll find a few of them scattered around Europe, with some of best-known AIRE Ancient Baths being in Copenhagen and London.
But they also exist in the US. During my most recent visit last year, there was one in New York City (in TriBeCa) and one in Chicago. I visited both.
Since my visit, a third location has popped up. There’s now two AIRE Ancient Baths in New York City, with the bigger, newer one on the Upper East Side in a heritage-listed 9,600-square-foot warehouse.
What’s so special about AIRE Ancient Baths?
The scene of luxury wellness experiences is vast. And it makes sense. Wellness is the part of your trip that actually feels like a holiday. It’s a vacation in the middle of all those stressful transit days, rushed sightseeing, overcrowded landmarks, expensive Uber rides and long wait times.
Therein lies the real value of seeking out these top-shelf wellness experiences. They reposition you during your trip, and it’s this calm that allows you to flow more seamlessly as you discover new cities and try to absorb as much as possible.
So AIRE Ancient Baths has a special role to play for any discerning traveller.
My first experience was at the TriBeCa location, with the urban spa facility buried deep in the bowels of a heritage-listed landmark building on Franklin Street, just inches from the famous fire station that was used as the Ghostbusters Headquarters.
88 Franklin Street is one of many fine examples of cast-iron architecture in the neighbourhood. The style is what distinguishes TriBeCa from the rest of Manhattan.
Walk on into the building and AIRE’s soft, calming design has an immediate effect. There’s no better proving ground for this concept than the chaos of Manhattan, so being able to juxtapose the two feelings makes that wave of relaxation even more palpable.
Within the main bathing space you have gorgeously high ceilings and a maze of pools of varying temperature, all glowing this gorgeous azure blue that’s contrasted with exposed red brick walls and complemented by soft lighting. It’s a cinematic, unforgettable scene, which is why I’m not surprised to hear it’s been used as a film set before (for John Wick).
A Flotarium salt bath sits opposite a propeller jet bath. There are two cold plunge pools in the distance, past the large steam room, that sit next to hot baths set at different temperatures. There’s a relaxation area where you can sit on a warmed marble slab and two treatment rooms to the side. One is for a range of body treatments while the other is a wine tasting room where the most high-paying guests can sit in a hot tub and sample fine vintages.
There are private nooks for peace but the lighting is to dim to sit and read. You sit and think instead. Ninja-like staff quietly mill around the space and keep track of each guest’s time spent in the room (depending on your package, you’ll know your time is up when you hear one of the soft chimes).
Conversation is allowed in very hushed tones but most people are quiet, clearly reorganising their thoughts and setting intentions, which is absolutely necessary in a city like New York.
And while having all these beautifully designed pools is like a masterclass in wellness, what really ties it all together is the ambience. There’s nothing like it.
The Chicago outpost is no different, but it’s even larger with longer pools and more space. The 20,000-square-feet of space carves out the guts of a restored factory in the River West district. Those big, dramatic ceilings and a palette of red brick and warm wood build the same sort of atmosphere, but there are a few slight differences such as an indoor-outdoor pool where Chicago’s famously cold climate contrasts beautifully with the warm water.
There’s even a small pool within the steam room.
Time is a concept that completely disappears when you’re immersed in such an atmosphere, which is why having the chimes to remind you that your time is up is absolutely necessary. Then again, I don’t see anyone wanting to actually leave this cavern of calm until their quite literally forced out. Next time, I’m booking two hours.
AIRE Ancient Baths TriBeCa
Address: 88 Franklin St, New York, NY 10013
Contact: +1 917-563-4542
AIRE Ancient Baths Chicago
Address: 800 W Superior St, Chicago, IL 60642
Contact: +1 312-312-9610
The author was a guest of AIRE Ancient Baths.
