Bathhouse with friends in Lower Manhattan

A bathhouse with friends in Lower Manhattan is easiest to plan near Fulton St, the World Trade Center or Franklin St, where trains from Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey stop. Pick the place first by how the group wants to soak, then by who has the shortest trip. Maybe you want a sauna and a cold plunge after work, and nobody wants to cross the city to get there.

This post suggests six bathhouses, saunas and spas from Fulton Street to Canal Street. Then it covers group size, booking and getting home. It is part of our guide to Lower Manhattan.

Where can you go to a bathhouse with friends in Lower Manhattan?

Each of these six places is within a 6-minute walk of a subway station. Pick the one on a line most of the group rides.

Our picks in Lower Manhattan

Chosen by the Where2Meet team. Photos, ratings and addresses load live from Google Maps.

• Wall Street Bath & Spa 88

  A bathhouse on Fulton Street with a stone-heated sauna, a steam room, a cold plunge and a pool, about a 3-minute walk from the Fulton St station. Day passes are walk-in only, so the group can decide on the day.

• AIRE Ancient Baths New York · Tribeca

  Thermal baths in a restored 1883 textile building on Franklin Street, about a 1-minute walk from the Franklin St station on the 1. You book a time ahead, and it has experiences for two. Google lists it open until 11 p.m. Friday to Sunday and 10 p.m. on other days.

• Shibui Spa

  The spa in the Greenwich Hotel on Greenwich Street, with a heated pool and steam showers, about a 3-minute walk from the Franklin St station on the 1. It takes bookings by phone, and Google lists it open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.

• The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown

  The hotel spa on Barclay Street, about a 3-minute walk from the Park Place station on the 2 and 3. Guests who book a treatment can add a day at its 75-foot lap pool, and it offers an infrared sauna session.

• Clean Market

  A wellness center on the second floor of Brookfield Place, about a 6-minute walk from the World Trade Center station on the E. It books infrared sauna sessions, and Google lists it open until 8 p.m. every day.

• Remedy Place SoHo

  A wellness club on Greene Street with private infrared sauna suites and guided ice baths, about a 1-minute walk from the Canal St station on the N, Q, R and W. It takes bookings online, and Google lists it open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 p.m. on weekends.

Google Maps

The picks fall into three areas. Fulton Street suits friends coming from Brooklyn, since the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C and J stop at Fulton St. Park Place and Brookfield Place are close to the PATH trains at World Trade Center. Tribeca and Canal Street suit friends on the 1 or the Broadway lines.

How many friends can go together?

A shared bathhouse takes the whole group in one visit. Sauna suites and treatment rooms are private, so a bigger group splits up and meets again after.

Spa 88 also rents a private VIP room, with its own jacuzzi, for up to 20 people. Its VIP room page lists a 3-hour minimum, a $100 deposit to hold it and a private sauna option for groups of up to 6. Each guest still pays a day admission.

For two people, a booked bath session or a couples experience works better than a crowded day pass.

Should you book or walk in?

Book anything with a time slot, and book the whole group for one start time. Walk in only where the place says it takes walk-ins.

Spa 88 sells day passes to walk-ins only. Its VIP page lists admission at $65 per guest on weekdays and $70 on weekends and holidays.

The Four Seasons spa adds pool access only to a booked treatment, as its spa page says. So everyone in the group books a treatment, not just a swim.

Ask each place what to bring, such as a swimsuit or sandals, and how early to arrive.

How do you get home after a late soak?

Check the closing time and the late trains together. After a long sauna, nobody wants a transfer at midnight.

Late at night, the 3, 5, C, W and Z don't run in Lower Manhattan. The 2, 4, A, E, J and 1 run all night. The MTA's late-night subway map shows every line that runs overnight.

If the group wants dinner after, see our group dinner spots in Lower Manhattan. Brookfield Place also has places to eat around its Winter Garden.

How to do it in Where2Meet

Where2Meet lets the group choose the bathhouse together from one shared link.

1. Open Where2Meet, type Bathhouse visit in the first box, and set the day and the time.
2. Send the link to your friends. Nobody needs an account.
3. Each friend adds where they're coming from. An approximate area is enough.
4. Search for places around the group, or look one up by name. Compare each friend's travel time by transit, walking, car or bike, and see the routes on the map.
5. Vote on the places you like. The organizer picks the final one, and everyone sees it without a refresh.

Common questions

Can you go to a bathhouse with friends without booking?

Yes, at Spa 88, where day passes are walk-in only. The other places here book by time, so plan ahead for a group.

Which bathhouse suits two people?

A place that books a set time works best for two. AIRE offers experiences for couples, and Remedy Place has private sauna suites. For more ideas, see where to go on a date near Union Square.

Which station is closest for friends from New Jersey?

Try World Trade Center. PATH trains from Newark stop there at all hours, and Clean Market and the Four Seasons spa are a short walk away.