Aire Ancient Baths, which opened here in 2012 and has been closed for at least a few months, has reopened with a bigger footprint: an additional 5600 square feet (for a total of 16,600) in the building next door — 84 Franklin. They took the space in 2020 and I guess it took this long to trick it out.

The place is really unique, and I am glad to have these pro shots — there’s no way the phone could capture those underground-lair vibes.

The new expansion reimagines the existing space with four additional baths, including a hot plunge (104°F), cold plunge (55°F), tepidarium (97°F warm room typically found in Roman-style bathhouses) beneath a dramatic skylight, and a second flotarium (98°F and with added minerals so you float), plus additional heated marble beds for exfoliation, body wraps and foam massages and more individual and couple massage rooms.

Tribeca was the first US location for parent company Grupo Aire, which made a practice of seeking out historical buildings for its other three bathhouses in Spain. The 1883 building they landed on — 88 Franklin — was once a textile factory, and more recently, it was a gallery/studio. The space required $10 million dollars’ worth of work: everything was stripped away to reveal the brick walls, wood-beam ceilings, and cast-iron columns. The benches in the reception area—on the ground floor, along with the locker rooms—were made from beams that were removed during construction and they learned that those beams came from scaffolding during the construction of the Triborough Bridge.

There’s a “thermal circuit” that guests can follow over the course of an hour and a half; the spa controls the number of people at any given time so there are never crowds (the one time I went, eight years ago, my pal and I were the only two in the entire place). Pricing for the 90-minute Ultimate Bath experience starts at $175; massages are priced in addition to that, or exclusively. There are also gift boxes offering access to the baths and treatments that they will even deliver.

The brand has recently opened a spa on the Upper East Side, as well as locations in Chicago, London, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Sevilla, Vallromanes, Almería. A new Toronto location is opening this summer, with a Los Angeles location set to follow in 2026.

AIRE New York · Tribeca
88 Franklin | Church & Broadway
917-563-4542
Daily 8a to 11p