World Spa is simply out of this world.
The 50,000-square-foot, high-design super spa in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood offers a circuit of rejuvenating bathing rituals from around the globe. Guests glide from the Turkish and Moroccan tiled hammams to a Himalayan salt room, Finnish saunas, Japanese onsen pools, Eastern European banyas, saltwater swimming pools and the Jacuzzi. All together, there are more than a dozen “cultural experiences,” along with an excellent on-site restaurant and add-on treatments, including massages, facials and body scrubs. Four hours here feels like a vacation.
Here’s what a visit to the spectacular wellness facility (1571 McDonald Ave.), which opened in late 2022, might look like. After booking online, arrive 30 minutes before your appointment to check in at the front desk, change into a swimsuit and shower in the immaculate locker room, if needed. Forget your suit? The front desk sells flattering black bikinis and one-pieces, along with comfy slides. Hooded cotton robes, towels and toiletries are supplied.
Many people start their journey in one of the aromatic, kelo-wood banyas, said to open the respiratory system, improve circulation and stimulate the immune system.
After sweating for five minutes, rinse off in the nearby showers, where a rope releases a bucket of shockingly icy water overhead. Then head back to the warmth of the Grand Banya, where you can thwack yourself with venik, the term for bunches of birch or oak twigs, before cooling down again in the Finnish snow room.
The infrared sauna room, with its undulating alder wood benches, treats your back and spine with heat, while breathing the air in the detoxifying Himalayan salt room is said to support the immune, nervous, and lymphatic systems. For a refreshing dip between therapies, immerse yourself in the cold plunge pool.
Next, cycle through the cold, warm and hot onsen pools, inspired by geothermal hot springs in Japan, relax in the Jacuzzi, then enjoy a private treatment. Beginning May 6, the spa will offer four different types of IV therapies.
The restaurant, located in the middle of the spa floor, serves everything from poke bowls to burgers. Cocktails and wine are also on the menu.
Two types of passes are available: general admission (from $90) and the VIP Experience (full-day entry plus access to the Birch & Oak, the Members Club (from $165).
There are also memberships with unlimited entries and numerous perks (from $1,777 for three months). Another option is to book a 50-minute private treatment, which offers one additional hour of access to World Spa (80-minute treatments are entitled to 1.5 hours). Each hour of access after that costs $25.
World Spa can be booked for groups such as bachelorette and birthday parties. Options include reserving private event lodges, cabanas or buying out Birch & Oak for up to 80 guests.
Time to book an international getaway — in Brooklyn.
World Spa is located at 1571 McDonald Ave. in Brooklyn.
