Where recent years taught us to go slow, the world’s wellness scene has revealed a transformation. Take London, where traditional spa experiences were confined to luxurious hotels or skincare conglomerates competing to deliver biotech results, often momentary. Suddenly, more simplified rituals that could be enjoyed together were embraced, from long walks in our city parks to cold-water swimming in lakes, matters became more mindful and without any pretense. Gracing the London scene in spring 2021, Aire Ancient Baths is a testament to this new wave of relaxation and self-care.
With global locations, including Copenhagen, New York, and Barcelona (and the next to open in Toronto in 2023), each and every outpost of Aire Ancient Baths harnesses the core elements its brand. Inviting users to embrace the bathing rituals of ancient civilizations, each site is unique with its own story and history to tell.
Located just off the Strand in Covent Garden, Aire Ancient Baths in London is positioned within an iconic 18th-Century townhouse previously resided by JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. The building was originally designed by neoclassical architect Robert Adam whose works drew heavy inspiration from both the Roman and Greek empires. Evident today by the original features still in tact, including vaulted brick ceilings, ceiling roses, and cornices.
Entering the building from the discreet entrance that appears as if a typical London home, guests are led to the dark wood-adorned Library where from the offset it’s clear this is an experience far different from the everyday spa ritual. From here, guests can choose their treatment with options including their standard ancient bath experience, a Himalayan salt treatment or a signature wine bath. Via a candlelit staircase, guests are led to the cavernous baths below where sensuality mulls the air with exposed brickwork, an array of flickering lanterns and candle, soothing music, and the gentle noise of lapping water. Guests are immediately transcended back in time to a Roman Baths where the mood is romantic, otherworldly, and deeply calming.
Staff are at hand to guide guests around the different baths to fill their 90-minute experience, including the Caldarium (a hot bath at 40ºC), the Frigidarium (a cold bath at 14ºC and ice bath at 10ºC), the Tepidarium (a warm bath at 36ºC), the Balneum (meaning a Bath of Thousand Jets), the Vaporium (a steam bath) and a Flotation pool (a salt-water pool with salt the density of the Dead Sea). Guests can also enjoy heated marble stones to relax in between baths with tea and water in ready supply to rehydrate. Whether a group experience or unadulterated alone time, Aire Ancient Baths soothes the soul immediately for the ultimate reset of city life.
Aire Ancient Baths, 2-3 Robert Street, Covent Garden, London WC2N
beaire.com
