The Bathhouse Is Back. These City Spas Are Designed to Soak Your Stress Away.

In the West’s busiest cities, a new style of third space is emerging—one that doesn’t hinge on cocktails or conversation, but on stillness and rejuvenation. This new breed of urban bathhouses is quietly redefining the way we gather, offering calm in an increasingly fragmented world.

Fjord

Thomas J. Story

At Fjord, a smartly designed floating sauna moored along Sausalito‘s waterfront, guests slip into a space where the Nordic ritual of the Viking bath is given a very Bay Area twist. Built from reclaimed redwood and marine materials, the two-sauna structure sits atop a salvaged barge used at the local SailGP races. Peering through the panoramic sauna windows, you’ll watch sailboats and harbor seals drift by, then cycle in a cold plunge in the harbor’s frigid and wonderfully refreshing waters.

Onsen

Thomas J. Story

Tapping into the ritualized bathing culture of Japanese ryokans is Onsen, which recently reopened in San Francisco. The bathhouse pairs its communal soaking pool, sauna, and steam room with intimate pop-up dinners imbued with the Eastern ideal of hospitality known as omotenashi. Guests book in for a soak followed by a meal, which, on nights where in-house chef-owner Adam Wren is on the grill, may include a delicious selection of yakitori, housemade pickles and ferments, and black sesame s’mores ice cream.

Cascada

Courtesy of Cascada Thermal Springs + Hotel

Further north, Portland‘s new subterranean hot springs bathhouse and boutique hotel called Cascada invites guests to move between its five thermal pools, saunas, and a hushed sanctuary room. The experience feels by turns luxurious and monastic, but never austere—an urban oasis where the rush of the outside world falls away, even though the city is right outside. Come winter, it’s a cozy and restorative respite from the Pacific Northwest‘s rain and cold.